The 5th World Sustainability Forum

2015 is an important year for all of us. We are taking stock of the accomplishments based on the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were adopted in the year 2000. The results of these efforts are immensely positive. In most countries around the globe, extreme poverty and hunger have been reduced, and infant, child, and maternal mortality have decreased. Girls have better access to primary schooling, progress has been made in slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, access to safe drinking water and sanitation has improved, and more information and knowledge is available to more people via the internet than ever before. However, not all goals have been achieved and some regions have benefitted less, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.The period marked by the MDGs will end in December 2015. As part of the post-2015 development agenda, the international community is working intensely on a new set of goals, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be adopted at the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly in the second half of September 2015. The new set of goals, despite their similarity in some aspects, go beyond the MDGs in that (a) the formulation and focus of the goals are more encompassing, explicitly requiring active participation from wealthy and poor nations alike, and that (b) the overall focus is shifting away from ameliorating the situation of poor and underdeveloped regions and societies toward improving the sustainability of global economic and social development while concurrently protecting the environment.The 5th World Sustainability Forum aims to be a platform for researchers to present and engage with research-relevant stakeholders on issues relating to sustainability. We seek to contribute to policy-relevant, change-oriented, and transdisciplinary research and collaboration from science and technology, the life sciences, and the social sciences. Three thematic areas have been identified to structure this event:

As part of the output of this conference, we plan to publish a special issue in Sustainability, as well as three edited books, one for each of the three thematic areas (please read the Instructions for Authors). We, the co-chairs of the conference and I, as well as the organizing institutions, are looking forward to welcoming you at the 5th World Sustainability Forum at the University of Basel from 7 to 9 September 2015