The Forum on Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development
is an attempt to outline the burgeoning field. Rather than looking broadly at sustainability, the Forum focuses on the way in which science and innovation can be conducted and applied to meet human needs while preserving the life support systems of the planet. It highlights people and programs that are studying nature-society interactions and applying the resulting knowledge to create a sustainability transition around the world.

Learn more about Science and Technology for Sustainability

• Download the key documents that provide an in-depth look at the principles underlying the field.
• Peruse the edited directory of individuals and institutions that are actively engaged in the field, and browse through the projects in which they are involved.
• Use the Framework to find content focused on specific sectors, regions, sustainability challenges, or core scientific questions

The Forum will continue to evolve along with the field, and we invite your participation in that process. Contributions and suggestions for posting to the Forum are always welcome, and individuals who are working in the field are invited to join the Network.

Update on 2009 Forum for Sustainability Science Programs

I draw your attention to the notes from the 2009 Forum for Sustainability Science Programs held in Chicago, which are now available online at:
http://sustainabilityscience.org/content.html?contentid=2512.

Participants brought up a number of important issues that warranted
more discussion than was possible. These included:

• What makes sustainability science unique?
• Core Competencies for Sustainability Science
• Teaching Sustainability Science
• Institutional Structures Supporting Sustainability Science
  
  Discussion threads for each of these topics are posted online at:
  http://discussion.sustainabilityscience.org/forums/21.aspx.

I encourage you to visit the site and post your thoughts. In the coming months, we plan to convene a series of teleconferences to discuss each of these topics in more depth and present findings and recommendations at the next Forum.

Note: The 2010 Forum for Sustainability Science Programs will be held at the AAAS Annual Meeting next February in San Diego. For the past several years, there has been a track within the meeting for sustainability science and next year*s theme-*Bridging Science and Society*-particularly lends itself to this type of work. I encourage you to consider proposing a symposium, and am happy to help you identify panelists. Please note that the submission deadline is Tuesday, 28 April 2009.