Meeting the SDGs demands a step change in collaborative research

Universities remain on the front line in the fight against Covid-19.

We have worked closely with governments throughout the world to deliver epidemiological models to guide public health policy. We have developed new vaccines and devised new and rapid tests in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry – not to mention the breathing aid developed with a Formula One team that is now used in hospitals around the world. Many universities have also engaged directly with local communities to support them at various stages of the pandemic. Right now, we are racing to help counter India’s second wave.

We have integrated research and development at a level rarely seen before, and we share more data and knowledge than ever, with bold new approaches to intellectual property and technology licensing.

The pandemic accelerated existing trends in higher education. Universities recognise that tackling global challenges requires them to think outside of siloed academic fields. Fostering collaborations across academic disciplines, across international borders and across the public/private sector divide has become a priority.

That has seen the creation of new interdisciplinary research networks, departments, institutes and even entirely new campuses, such as Imperial College London’s White City or UCL East, all aimed at increasing the opportunities for engineers, chemists, clinicians and businesses to come together.

Now, as we look to redress the societal impact of the pandemic and create a better and more equitable and sustainable future, we know that we can, and must, do more.

The UK government, for instance, wants to “build back better” after the pandemic. The global reach of the country’s universities will be key to that. Humanity faces an urgent and unprecedented set of challenges, including climate change, plateauing crop yields and the continuing epidemics of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV – in addition to our proven vulnerability to pandemics. To address all these, research transcending boundaries must mature from being an emerging trend in academia to becoming central to our way of life.

The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a focal point to draw universities, industry, third sector and government partners together, at local, national and international level, to develop and deliver innovative solutions.

For instance, an EU-India team led by Heriot-Watt University’s Bhaskar Sen Gupta has installed the world’s first water treatment plant that doesn’t use chemicals or produce waste (and is therefore very cheap to operate). It will protect millions of impoverished rural people in India from exposure to high levels of arsenic in water and the concomitant risk of developing various forms of cancer.

Since 2000, Imperial’s Kathryn Maitland has been leading a group in East Africa that has pioneered research in emergency care to tackle childhood mortality in resource-limited hospitals. Her team conducted the largest trial in critically ill children ever undertaken in Africa, examining fluid resuscitation strategies.

Yet the SDGs are not the end of the story. The interconnectedness of our modern world, displayed during the pandemic, also needs to be reflected in our approach and our ambition in the decades beyond the 2030 SDG timeline. We must be focused on anticipating and preparing for challenges to arise 20, 30, even 50 years into the future.

At Imperial, we’re taking a system-wide and collaborative approach to such long-term global challenges through our Transition to Zero Pollution initiative. Building a future that is free from human-made pollution demands a complete realignment of almost all aspects of modern industry. This requires scientists, engineers and economists to collaborate on a scale not seen before. We will join forces with colleagues in the US, Japan, Germany and beyond to make this happen. We will inspire fundamental changes in areas such as food production, the use of materials in manufacturing, and the impact of all types of pollution on people’s health.

International collaboration at this scale will require investment. The US has already grasped this, with the Biden administration proposing a $6.8 billion (£4.8 billion) boost to its annual international affairs budget, taking it to $63.5 billion. This includes $10 billion for global health programmes, $10 billion for humanitarian assistance and $2.5 billion for international climate programmes.

The need for a holistic systems approach to tackling grand challenges has led us at Imperial to establish a Global Development Hub. This will explore innovative new partnerships that move away from the traditional academic mould to work with local groups that have in-depth knowledge of the issues in their communities. It will support education programmes that instil a passion for sustainable development and the skills and thinking needed to rise to the challenge of the SDGs and beyond. And it will provide a point of focus for the mission-driven start-ups that are constantly emerging from our labs, hackspaces and incubators.

Speaking at the launch of the hub, Amina J. Mohammed, deputy secretary general of the United Nations, argued that science, technology and innovation are absolutely key to a recovery from Covid-19 that “lives up to the 2030 Agenda’s principle of leaving no one behind”.

The pandemic will hold our gaze for some time to come. But that must not prevent us from also paying attention to numerous other threats. Tackling them all simultaneously is the only way to secure a sustainable future for humanity and the natural world.

Alice Gast is president of Imperial College London.