Advancing Sustainable Development: Sustainability Science Summit 2025

Background
The Sustainability Science Summit took place in Berlin from 19 to 21 February 2025. The conference was held under the motto Advancing Sustainable Development and continued the series of German Future Earth Summits organized by the German Committee Future Earth (DKN). It provided a platform for the exchange of new scientific findings, research needs and aspects of research funding in the field of sustainability science. 

What happened at the Summit
Around 250 participants from Germany and abroad took part over three days. Three plenary panel discussions brought the participants together in the large hall of the Umweltforum and offered the opportunity for an intensive exchange. The topics included the question of how sustainability science can contribute to the transformation towards sustainability, as well as national and international trends in science funding. In many cases, current international political developments were addressed in the debates, as they have a direct or indirect influence on sustainable development and on sustainability science. The program also offered more than 30 parallel sessions that emerged from the open call for session proposals. Furthermore, interactive session formats provided space for networking and exchange beyond the topic-related content.

During the Summit, the DKN published a statement entitled Sustainability research more urgent than ever!, with the opportunity for the participants to sign the paper. The statement (in German language) and the possibility to digitally sign until 3 March 2025 can be found here. 

Thank you
The DKN would like to thank all participants for their valuable contributions, committed exchange and stimulating discussions. The results of the Summit are currently being processed and will be published in due course. 

Please note
The live stream of the introduction and the plenary panel discussions will be published on this website in the upcoming days, as will the visual recording results. You can find a selection of photographs at the bottom of this page.

Contact us

Read the Summit Program

Photo Gallery: Sustainability Science Summit 2025