Stepping Forward: FEA's Belmont Forum Membership
Future Earth Australia is excited to announce we have taken helm of Australia’s representation to the esteemed Belmont Forum from June this year.
The Belmont Forum is an international body dedicated to funding environmental and sustainability collaborations. It uses its global networks to mobilise funding of transdisciplinary research and accelerate its delivery to remove critical barriers to sustainability.
Our Steering Committee co-chair Dr Jemma Purandare said that Future Earth Australia’s (FEA’s) membership to the Belmont Forum is a long-awaited strategic milestone. The partnership will see both organisations work collaboratively to drive progress in sustainability.
“It opens the door to new funding opportunities for Australian researchers.” Dr Purandare said.
Access to Belmont Forum programs is now exclusive to members of FEA. This provides more Australian researchers a chance to access the Forum for the first time in six years. To date, the Forum has committed A$382 million across 177 projects, averaging $13 million per collaborative research call and $1.26 million per funded project.
We are excited to deliver and advance transdisciplinary sustainability research and international collaboration alongside the Belmont Forum. This generates opportunities to engage in a dynamic global network that fosters and amplifies research impact.
Dr Nicole Arbour, the Executive Director of the Belmont Forum, has warmly welcomed us. “Future Earth Australia will be taking on the responsibility from CSIRO, which has represented the invaluable perspectives and expertise of Australian researchers since the Forum’s inception,” Dr Arbour said.
“This relationship transition will enrich our joint efforts towards addressing global environmental challenges.”
Dr Arbour states her excitement about FEA working towards the delivery of the Belmont Forum Challange, “so that we can safeguard our planet for generations to come”. The Belmont Challenge is the guiding mission of the Belmont Forum—focused on international transdisciplinary research that provides knowledge for understanding, mitigating and adapting to global environmental change.
To cement this new partnership, Future Earth Australia's Program Manager Kate Nairn, and Steering Committee co-chair Professor Wendy Steele will be attending the Belmont Forum Plenary in Finland, as part of this years Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress.
Our membership to the Belmont Forum marks a fantastic step forward for Future Earth Australia. “This is an exciting new chapter for Future Earth Australia, and we are excited to be able to bring our members and partners along with us,” said Dr Purandare.
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See the Australian Academy of Science’s media release.
See the Belmont Forum website.