The Global Association of Master’s in Development Practice Programs (MDP), in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), will hold the Seventh Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) on September 24 & 25, 2019, at Columbia University in New York, USA.
If you would like to present at the conference, you must submit an abstract as directed below. The conference is also open to observers (i.e. non-presenters). Simply register on the conference website to join us. Registration will open in April.
The conference theme is Good Practices: Models, Partnerships, & Capacity Building for the SDGs. The aim of the conference is to bring together persons involved in research, policy, practice, and business. Participants will share practical solutions for achieving the SDGs at local and national levels. Abstracts should be directly relevant to one of the following conference topics.
1. Economics and Demography of Natural Disasters
Dr. Hiroaki Matsuura & Dr. Michio Naoi
As climate change rapidly continues, so does the consequence of increased natural disasters. This session will explore the populations who are affected by these disasters and identify best practices in resiliency.
2. Engaging Across the Generations: Children and the SDGs
Dr. Karen Brown & Dr. Susan Murphy
Building capacity for the SDGs requires attention both to how children and youth are affected by the SDGs and how they might be integrated into efforts to learn about and achieve the goals.This panel will examine examples of good practice in intergenerational engagement and models of engaging children to achieve the SDGs.
3. Good Practices at the Nexus of Water, Energy, and Agriculture
Dr. Sami Areikat, Dr. Bassel Daher, Dr. Rabi H. Mohtar, & Dr. Magdalena Muir
The interconnected resource challenges linking water, energy, and agriculture are increasingly well documented. This panel aims to look at both the theoretical and the practical aspects of the Nexus discussions. It invites submissions on advances in modeling interconnections, especially those that explore connections between the physical and social sciences. It also invites analyses of practical implementation of solutions addressing water, energy, and agricultural challenges, particularly in the Western Asia and North Africa (WANA) and Third Pole (Hindu Kush – Karakoram – Himalayan, (HKKH)) Regions.
4. Good Practices in Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Resilience
Dr. Desalegn Ayal & Dr. Olawale Olayide
Climate change research and practice can be broadly classified into climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. This session seeks submissions from researchers, practitioners, and members of government on policy, research, and practice around climate change issues.
5. Good Practices in Sustainable Food Production
Dr. John Dilyard, Dr. Sintia Molina, Prof. Ngozi Odiaka, Dr. Olawale Olayide
How agriculture is practiced not only influences local culture and politics, but it also has an enormous influence on a wide range of sustainable development goals, particularly 1, 2, 3, 5 and 12. This session invites papers on improving agriculture throughout the value chain to realize multiple social, environmental, economic, and sustainability objectives, at all scales of production.
6. Good Practices in the Energy Sector: Modeling and Simulation, Case-Studies, and Capacity Building
Dr. Maurizio Cellura & Dr. Francesco Guarino
The session aims to collect good practices and diffuse knowledge in the field of energy through collection of relevant case-studies, modeling and simulation work, successful partnerships, and capacity building tools. Papers discussing sustainability, the circular economy, and sustainability in the energy sector are highly encouraged. We aim to further multidisciplinary interactions within the session.
7. Indigenous Approaches to Sustainable Development
Dr. Femi Olokesusi, Dr. Saeed Ojolowo, Dr. Tamara Dionne Stout, Dr. David Wilsey
Indigenous approaches to sustainable development or sustainability relates to the importance of seeking diverse models, approaches, methodologies and techniques advocated and practiced by Indigenous peoples. This session will examine case studies and projects undertaken through such partnerships, with a special interest in applying traditional models in both urban and rural settings.
8. Pedagogy & Delivery Methods for Sustainability Education, Training, and Outreach
Dr. Soon Thiam Khu, Dr. Choon Heng Leong, & Dr. Zeeda Fatimah Binti Mohamad
Capacity building involves knowing how to deliver and share knowledge of sustainable development, which requires appropriate pedagogy for different situations. This session looks for papers on good practices in teaching and learning the SDGs in primary through tertiary levels, as well as trainings and lifelong learning settings.
9. Population, Sustainability, and Intergenerational Transfers
Dr. R. Stephen Dauda, Dr. Olanrewaju Olaniyan, & Dr. Noah Olasehinde
Population issues occur worldwide with developed countries facing high old-age dependency, while low-income countries are challenged by high child and youth dependency. Plans to achieve the SDGs need to consider population challenges and opportunities. This session aims to analyze how to build the capacity of the people through intergenerational transfers.
10. Responsible Consumption and Production
Dr. John Dilyard, Dr. Jorge Gomez-Prades, & Dr. Arunima Malik
This session will focus on the application of models, partnerships, and capacity building to assess and make progress towards SDG 12. We encourage submissions around topics such as corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, supply chain analyses, input-output analyses, life cycle assessments, circular economy initiatives, and any other related to SDG 12 and its targets.
11. SDG Partnerships and Whole-of-Society Engagement
Dr. Aparajita Banerjee, Dr. David Horan, Dr. Edna Murphy, & Dr. Patrick Paul Walsh
Research suggests that whole-of-society approaches and partnerships are required to achieve the SDGs. This session will explore successful projects and good practices to engage whole-of society in the SDGs, from the local to global level.
12. SDGs: Making Trade-offs and Synergies Transparent
Prof. Ngozi Odiaka, Mr. Femi Oyeniyi, & Mr. Famous Chiemerie
As efforts are increasingly being intensified globally towards achieving the goals, some of these will come at some costs as sacrifices will have to be made because these partnerships will be cross-cutting in nature. This session will touch on building multi-faceted partnerships and outlining clearly what the sacrifices (trade-offs) required in making a success out of these will be.
13. Stakeholder and Community Engagement for Sustainable Urban Change
Dr. Irene Litardi & Dr. Luana La Bara
The rapid and significant increase of the world population, which began in the 19th century and is still ongoing, it has been accompanied, as seen above, with a phenomenon of population concentration in the cities. The year 2007 marks an historical moment because more than half of the world’s population is concentrated in cities (it is expected to reach 60% in 2030). This phenomenon, if poorly managed, implies an impoverishment of the urban area in both economic, social and environmental terms. It is evident that the objectives of urban change became central issues in national and international dynamics and policies (SDGs 5, 10, 14, 15 and 10 of Agenda 2030). This session seeks papers on good practices that promote sustainable development in urban areas, specifically in which action the stakeholders could use to tackle the challenge of new millennium and in particular the role of community stakeholders in sustainable public policy development.
14. The Role of National and Transnational Knowledge Cooperation in the Implementation of the SDGs
Adolf Kloke-Lesch & Dr. Ariel Macaspac Hernandez
Networks play a key role in mobilizing sustainable development stakeholders into action, as well as coordinating action both within and between sectors. This session seeks papers on good practices in developing and organizing networks, clubs, alliances, platforms, etc., at the national and international level, as tools to implement the SDGs.
15. The Role of Transport in Achieving the SDGs
Dr. Steven Jones, Dr. Xinwei Lu, & Dr. Kenneth Odero
There exist incredible opportunities for knowledge exchange and technology transfer among nations/regions with varying levels of development. This session will explore partnerships that increase the capacity for interdisciplinary research and policy development to ensure a positive impact of transport development, including public transit, aviation, and shipping, on the SDGs.
16. Transforming the Higher Education System to Accelerate SDG Implementation
Dr. Julio Lumbreras & Dr. Tahl Kestin
Universities play a crucial role in SDG implementation through both research and education. This panel will explore best practices between disciplines and between research, training, and operations in universities as the only way to effectively implement the SDGs.
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Interested presenters should submit an abstract of at least 300 words but not exceeding 500 words, in English, by 1 May, 2019, via the conference website. Each abstract may only be submitted once and under one Topic. Failure to answer questions on the submission form or the submission of the same abstract under multiple topics is likely to result in the abstract being declined.
The scientific committee will review abstracts and send all decision letters by 31 May 2019. Abstracts can be accepted as either poster or oral (i.e. PowerPoint) presentations. Presenters invited to give oral presentations must submit a full paper by 1 August, 2019, in order to maintain their position in the program. Presenters failing to submit full papers will be moved to poster presentations. Presenters who do not register before the 1 September 2019 deadline may also forfeit their spot in the agenda.
Abstract Timeline
5 March 2019 Call for Abstracts Open
1 May 2019 Deadline for Submission of Abstracts
1 June 2019 Abstract Decision Letters Emailed
1 August 2019 Full Papers Due (For Accepted Abstracts Only)
1 September 2019 Registration Deadline for Presenters
Click here to download a PDF of the 2019 Call for Abstracts to access offline or share.
Submit An Abstract