Founding Partners of BRIDGES

UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding and a more perfect knowledge of each other’s lives. UNESCO’s programmes contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in the 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.

In this spirit, UNESCO develops educational tools to help people live as global citizens free of hate and intolerance. UNESCO works to ensure that every child and every citizen has access to quality education. By promoting cultural heritage and the equal dignity of all cultures, UNESCO strengthens the bonds between nations. UNESCO fosters scientific programmes and policies as platforms for development and cooperation. UNESCO stands up for freedom of expression, as a fundamental right and a key condition for democracy and development. As a laboratory of ideas, UNESCO helps countries to adopt international standards and manages programmes that foster the free flow of ideas and the exchange of knowledge.

Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST)

MOST sits within the human and social science sector of UNESCO cooperates with national authorities, scientific communities and civil society to help UNESCO Member States strengthen the connection between research and policy and between knowledge and action. This is key to fostering positive social change towards inclusive and sustainable development. MOST has defined three objectives:

  1. Use social and human science knowledge to support policies and build capacities
  2. Transmit knowledge through research-action activities.
  3. Contribute to national and international policy debates and agendas.

MOST cooperates with national authorities, scientific communities and civil society to help UNESCO Member States strengthen the connection between research and policy and between knowledge and action. This is key to fostering positive social change towards inclusive and sustainable development.

MOST’s three operational pillars include (1) Research to produce and promote knowledge, (2) Intergovernmental forums that engage Member States and (3) Policy support and capacity building.

As an intergovernmental programme, MOST has a direct link to its Member States through its Intergovernmental Council, which meets every two years to define research focus areas, discuss policy and funding issues, and interact with government authorities. The Scientific Advisory Committee of MOST encompasses internationally recognised experts representing various disciplines in the social sciences. Its specific role is related to programme conceptualization, strategy development and scientific advisory research regarding MOST projects. MOST also organizes regular Ministerial Forums to encourage dialogue between research and policy on specific topics of interest. The Forum declarations express political commitments that are followed up by national action and regional exchanges of experiences and skills.

The Bureau of MOST holds an ex officio seat on the BRIDGES Governing Council and the President of the MOST Scientific Advisory Committee holds a seat on the BRIDGES Scientific Committee for strategic decisions and the evaluation of projects seeking BRIDGES endorsement.

International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH)

CIPSH was founded in 1949 under the initiative of UNESCO. It is a non-governmental organisation within UNESCO, which federates hundreds of different learned societies in the field of philosophy, human sciences and related subjects. CIPSH has a special framework agreement of cooperation with UNESCO, being involved in several collaborative projects and acting as advisory Council for the Humanities. It favours the exchange of knowledge among faraway researchers in order to improve the communication among specialists from different disciplines, to enforce a better knowledge of cultures and of the different social, individual and collective behaviours and bring to the fore the richness of each culture and their fruitful diversity. It has played an instrumental role in developing BRIDGES because it continues to see a gap between sustainability science and the hopes for practice.

The President of CIPSH holds an ex officio seat on the BRIDGES Governing Council for strategic decisions and the evaluation of projects seeking BRIDGES endorsement.

Humanities for the Environment (HfE)

HfE is a global organization of observatories working together to mobilize the arts and humanities. Our goal is to address social and environmental challenges in civil society and academic life, and to see how the humanities can contribute to pro-environmental behaviour. HfE has 8 research observatories in Africa, Asia, East Asia, the Circumpolar Region, Australia, Europe, North America and Latin America. Its network consists of 164 contributors, 36 international projects and 230 worldwide partners.

The President of HfE holds an ex officio seat on the BRIDGES Governing Council for strategic decisions and the evaluation of projects seeking BRIDGES endorsement.