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Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress, SRI2025 this June in the US, spotlighted vital pathways to sustainable solutions by sharing implementation strategies and successful approaches to critical sustainability issues. The SRI-event celebrated its fifth anniversary, provided opportunities to overcome existing hurdles in engagement, resourcing and numerous “disconnections” that still slowing perspective transition to the Sustainable Development Goals’ solutions.
Background: SRI Congress
The Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress, SRI was held Chicago, Illinois (it was the first time that the Congress was held in the United States) during 16-19 June, 2025; the SRI-event is an annual congress focusing on action-forward, knowledge-based and inclusive approaches to sustainability. It was for the
Co-convened by Future Earth and the Belmont Forum, and hosted by the University of Illinois System, the SRI2025 brought together more than 1,300 scientists, national leaders, policy experts, youth delegates and innovators from around the world “united under a shared mission: to accelerate tangible sustainability solutions rooted in equity, creativity and collective actions”.
Source and citations from: “Global Sustainability in Focus: A Recap of the SRI Congress 2025”, in: https://sricongress.org/
Generally, SRI2025 spotlighted pathways to the Sustainable Development Goals’ solutions (SDGs), sharing positive examples in implementation strategies and successful approaches to critical sustainability concerns facing, e.g. the United States and the world. It also provided opportunities to overcome certain hurdles that presently slow down the states and global transition to more resilient and equitable future.
one of the world’s leading academic conferences on evidence-based, actionable, and inclusive approaches to sustainability.
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN, as one of the world’s leading academic networks on evidence-based, actionable and inclusive approaches to sustainability) took active part in the Sustainability Research and Innovation (SRI) Congress.
As a lead congress partner, the SDSN chaired a series of sessions, exploring how transformative change requires new ways of working across disciplines, sectors and geographies. Out of the SDSN participation, some key themes emerged: the importance of co-designing solutions by empowering communities; the growing influence of AI and the urgent need to guide its use responsibly; the necessity of reshaping university structures to better support transdisciplinary collaboration; as well as the critical role of science diplomacy, which must be fully integrated with communication efforts rather than treated as an afterthought.
Advancing SDGs: higher education and research
Higher education and research institutions play crucial role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs both nation-wide and globally. The SRI congress emphasized the need for international and interdisciplinary collaboration, calling for a “coalition of the willing” across sectors and disciplines to reform frameworks for science, research and cooperation.
The SRI’s participants suggested active efforts to “mobilize universities, create tools and foster networks to support SDG implementation”; besides they addressed the challenges posed by rising nationalism, research security concerns, reduced funding, as well as emphasizing the need to “reform institutional structures and incentives to support collaborative, trans-disciplinary work”. Despite these difficulties, the participants expressed optimism, particularly regarding youth perspectives on tackling social issues, which signals a potential shift in higher education’s role in sustainable development”.
General reference and citations from “Global Sustainability in Focus: A Recap of the SRI Congress 2025”, in: https://www.unsdsn.org/news/global-sustainability-in-focus-a-recap-of-the-sri-congress-2025/
Pathways to SDGs challenges: climate mitigation examples
For example, focusing on practical responses to climate change, the session on “Pathways to Climate Resilience: Innovative Adaptation Strategies for a Sustainable Future,” detailed cutting-edge solutions from such EU-funded projects as ARSINOE, CARMINE, and IMPETUS.
This SRI’s session featured some vital aspects in four projects.
= Thus, the CARMINE project, is an initiative focused on strengthening climate-resilient development in Europe’s metropolitan regions. The project comprises 32 partners from 11 countries across eight European Case Study Areas, with stakeholders spanning science, policy, communities and local authorities. At its core are Living Labs (LLs), collaborative spaces for stakeholders to co-design adaptation strategies, and Digital Twins (DTs), simulating real-time climate risks and interventions tailored to each metropolitan context.
More on CERMINE in: https://carmine-project.eu/
= Practical and innovative Heat Awareness System, HAS is developed as part of the IMPETUS project to strengthen protection for cities from extreme heat. The web-based application identifies heat stress hotspots within cities and enables users to design and evaluate adaptation measures in a game-like tool. This allows municipalities, architects, urban planners, and citizens to explore how choices in urban planning have a significant influence on experienced heat stress. Already implemented by more than ten municipalities in the Netherlands, it can also easily be translated abroad.
More about HAS in: https://climate-impetus.eu/partner-solution/heat-awareness-system/?agent=general
= the Hybrid Financial-Sustainability Model (HF-SM) was created as part of the ARSINOE Project to monitor short-term and long-term Environmental, Social and Governance, ESG targets and reporting. Conceived by AUEB, the model combines sustainability and financial metrics to measure certain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) relating to critical ESG and SDG issues such as water-use, labor conditions and responsible investment.
The model enables the evaluation of SDG performance both at the company level and throughout the full value chain. For example, the ARSINOE Mediterranean Ports Case Study served as a pilot for implementing the model by identifying 188 sustainability and financial KPIs across 13 “material issues, mapping them to ESG and SDG goals”, as well as benchmarking performance against top global port authorities.
Source for HF-SM in: https://climate-impetus.eu/partner-solution/heat-awareness-system/?agent=general
= The research undertaken by the CROCUS Urban Integrated Field Lab is aimed to explore the effect of different types of urban greenspaces on flooding and water movement. By monitoring 10 green spaces in Chicago (US), the Lab collected detailed data on water levels, soil moisture and energy flow to understand how parks, schoolyards and natural areas help absorb stormwater, even in areas with shallow groundwater. These findings show that expanding and connecting urban green spaces could be a powerful strategy for reducing flood risk and building more resilient cities.
More on CROCUS Lab in: https://www.anl.gov/crocus
Financing the SDGs: perspectives
The SDSN President, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, in his keynote address reinforced the message that “systems change must be backed by financial systems designed for fairness, accountability and global inclusion”. He addressed the urgent need for broad-based financing to achieve the global transformation required for decarbonization. He focused on two primary challenges: developing governance frameworks to support decarbonization efforts and financing at scale, particularly for lower-income countries.
He also noted that while the US was a leader in innovation, it has struggled with creating effective policy frameworks to manage a resilient and efficient energy system; he also noted that most countries need to adopt integrated regional strategies with neighboring countries to successfully achieve decarbonization.
Participating in the Fourth International Conference for Financing for Development (FfD4, during 30.06-3.07.2025 in Spain), Prof. Sachs underscored the need to restructure the international financial system to enable all countries, especially low-income countries (LICs), to invest in this transformation. While wealthier nations have access to affordable financing, the LICs are hindered by poor credit ratings and very few have access to reasonably priced borrowing, exacerbating the challenges they face in decarbonization, he underlined.
Note. The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) provided a unique opportunity to reform financing at all levels, including to support reform of the international financial architecture and addressing financing challenges preventing the urgently needed investment push for the SDGs. More on FfD4 in: https://www.uneca.org/eca-events/ffd4
Prof. Sachs outlined at the SRI2025 congress some key steps to lower the cost of capital for LICS and middle-income countries to drive investment for sustainable development.
Generally, the participants also discussed the intersection of AI and energy, suggesting that AI could support emissions reductions and efficiency; however, the regulatory frameworks needed certain altering to ensure that these digital technologies would complement broader sustainability goals.
As the participants noted finally: “truly sustainable development requires prioritizing the needs of those who are the furthest behind”.
Source and all citations are from the SDSH-website (July 23, 2025) in: https://www.unsdsn.org/news/global-sustainability-in-focus-a-recap-of-the-sri-congress-2025/
AT the SRI2025 conclusion, the participants confirmed that the outcomes of the even cemented the renewed global community’s readiness “to translate knowledge into action and insight into sustained transformation”.