ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUSTAINABILITY PARTNERSHIPS
SUMMARY OF A WORKSHOP
Derek Vollmer, Rapporteur
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by funding from the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, the United Nations Foundation, Mars Incorporated, and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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STEERING COMMITTEE ON PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Emmy Simmons (Chair), Former Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade,
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
William Clark, NAS, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development,
Harvard University
Sam Dryden, Chief Executive Officer,
Emergent Genetics and
Managing Director,
Wolfensohn & Company
Kathryn Fuller, Chair of the Board of Trustees,
Ford Foundation and
Former President and CEO,
WWF
Hank Habicht, Vice Chairman,
Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF)
Gerald Keusch, IOM, Assistant Provost of the Medical Campus and Associate Dean,
School of Public Health, Boston University
Robert Stephens, International Chair,
Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance
ROUNDTABLE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Pamela Matson, NAS (Co-Chair), Dean of the School of Earth Sciences and Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies,
Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University
Emmy Simmons (Co-Chair), Former Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade,
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Matt Arnold, Co-founder and Managing Director,
Sustainable Finance Ltd
Ann M. Bartuska, Deputy Chief for Research & Development,
U.S. Forest Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture*
Arden Bement, Director,
National Science Foundation*
Michael Bertolucci, President,
Interface Research Corporation
John Carberry, Director of Environmental Technology,
DuPont (retired)
Leslie Carothers, President,
Environmental Law Institute
William Clark, NAS, Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development,
Harvard University
Glen T. Daigger, NAE, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer,
CH2M HILL
John Dernbach, Professor of Law,
Widener University
Sam Dryden, Managing Director,
Wolfensohn and Company
Nina Fedoroff, NAS, Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State,
U.S. State Department*
Kathryn Fuller, Chair of the Board of Trustees,
Ford Foundation and
Former President and CEO,
WWF
M. Granger Morgan, NAS, Professor and Head,
Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
George Gray, Assistant Administrator,
Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency*
Hank Habicht, Vice Chairman,
Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF)
Jeremy Harris, Former Mayor of Honolulu
Mohamed H. A. Hassan, Executive Director,
The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS)
Geoffrey Heal, Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility,
Graduate School of Business, Columbia University
Rosalyn Hobson, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering,
Virginia Commonwealth University
Jack Kaye, Director,
Research and Analysis Program of the Earth-Sun System Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration*
Gerald Keusch, IOM, Assistant Provost of the Medical Campus and Associate Dean,
School of Public Health, Boston University
Kai Lee,
Conservation and Science Program, Packard Foundation
Thomas E. Lovejoy, President,
The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment
J. Todd Mitchell, Chairman,
Board of Directors, Houston Advanced Research Center
Mark Myers, Director,
U.S. Geological Survey*
Raymond Orbach, Director,
Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy*
Larry Papay, NAE, Former Senior Vice President,
Integrated Solutions Sector, SAIC and
Senior Vice President and General Manager,
Bechtel Technology and Consulting
Merle Pierson, Acting Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics,
U.S. Department of Agriculture*
Prabhu Pingali, NAS, Head,
Agricultural Policy and Statistics, Agriculture Development Division, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Per Pinstrup-Andersen, H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy,
Nutritional Sciences,
Professor,
Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University
Peter Raven, NAS, Director,
Missouri Botanical Garden
Robert Stephens, International Chair,
Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance
Denise Stephenson Hawk, Associate Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Director of the Societal-Environmental Research and Education Laboratory
Dennis Treacy, Vice President,
Environmental and Corporate Affairs, Smithfield Foods
Vaughan Turekian, Chief International Officer,
The American Association for the Advancement of Science*
Staff
Marty Perreault, Director,
Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability
Pat Koshel, Senior Program Officer
Derek Vollmer, Associate Program Officer
Kathleen McAllister, Senior Program Assistant
Preface and Acknowledgments
The Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability was established by the National Academies in 2002 to provide a forum for sharing views, information, and analyses related to harnessing science and technology for sustainability. Members of the Roundtable include senior decision makers from government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations who deal with issues of sustainable development, and who are in a position to mobilize new strategies for sustainability.
The goal of the Roundtable is to mobilize, encourage, and use scientific knowledge and technology to help achieve sustainability goals and to support the implementation of sustainability practices. Three overarching principles are used to guide the Roundtable’s work in support of this goal. First, the Roundtable focuses on strategic needs and opportunities for science and technology to contribute to the transition toward sustainability. Second, the Roundtable focuses on issues for which progress requires cooperation among multiple sectors, including academia, government (at all levels), business, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions. Third, the Roundtable focuses on activities where scientific knowledge and technology can help to advance practices that contribute directly to sustainability goals, in addition to identifying priorities for research and development (R&D) inspired by sustainability challenges.
To apply these principles, the Roundtable constituted a working group in 2004 focusing on linking knowledge with action for sustainable development. Discussions at the workshops conducted over a three-year period yielded several ideas which seem to be robust across sectors and provide
useful guidance for successful efforts in this arena.1 At a summer workshop in September 2006 Roundtable members explored further the effectiveness of partnerships as a strategy for linking knowledge with action for sustainable development. The meeting brought together experts with in-depth knowledge of selected partnerships in three areas in which sustainability is an important goal: international agricultural development, global public health, and green chemistry. Discussion suggested that there may be common characteristics of partnerships that successfully address sustainability objectives. The Roundtable agreed to continue discussions in this area using the 2006 workshop observations as a starting point.
In June 2008 a steering group of Roundtable members convened a symposium to develop a better understanding of the multi-stakeholder2 partnership record in addressing issues associated with sustainability. This symposium focused on the challenges that the partnerships have addressed, including: involvement of several sectors, action at varying scales, from local to global, a combination of public and private financing, and a complex set of science questions. The experience of eleven partnerships, presented as case studies, shaped the analysis and discussion. These case studies were conducted by experts with experience in analyzing partnerships involving science and technology issues. The case studies used a common framework and set of questions to describe and analyze each of the partnerships. The steering group organized the symposium program based on a review of preliminary drafts of the case studies, in order to encourage discussion among all participants of issues that cross-cut the review papers. Full versions of each case study are available on the CD provided with this summary report.
This summary has been prepared by the workshop rapporteur as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop. The statements made in this volume are those of the rapporteur and the individual authors and do not necessarily represent positions of the steering committee, the Roundtable, or the National Academies.
This workshop summary is the result of great efforts and collaboration on the part of several organizations and individuals. Emmy Simmons, co-chair of the Roundtable, also served admirably as the co-chair of the steering committee which oversaw this project and helped organize the symposium. Other members of the steering committee included Roundtable members Bill Clark, Sam Dryden, Hank Habicht, Jerry Keusch, and Bob
1 |
See the 2006 National Academies’ workshop summary, Linking Knowledge with Action for Sustainable Development at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11652. |
2 |
Here, multi-stakeholder refers to an arrangement involving a combination of government, private sector, and civil society actors. It is roughly synonymous with “cross-sector” for the purposes of this report. A more complete definition can be found in Chapter VI of this report. |
Stephens. I wish to extend a sincere thanks to each of them for their contributions in scoping, developing, and carrying out this project.
Gregory Symmes, Pat Koshel, and Marty Perreault have all, at various points, provided program direction for this project, for which I am grateful. Kathleen McAllister and Priya Sreedharan also deserve special recognition for their research and program support throughout the various phases of this endeavor.
This project would not have been possible without the financial support of its external sponsors: the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, the United Nations Foundation, and Mars Incorporated. Each organization also made substantive contributions in shaping this project, making it in some respects a partnership in itself. The project also benefitted from internal support provided by the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science.
This volume has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for quality. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of the report: Ann Bartuska, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Patricia Chaves, United Nations; David Constable, GlaxoSmithKline; John Dernbach, Widener University; Monica Ellis, Global Environment and Technology Foundation; and Elaine Ooi, The World Bank.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report. Responsibility for the final content rests with the individual authors and the rapporteur.
Derek Vollmer
Rapporteur