Bridging the Gap: Humanities in Global Policy

Bridging the Gap: Humanities in Global Policy

BRIDGES Founding Executive Director, Steven Hartman, arrived in Paris last week to convene with partners at UNESCO, to architect what may be the most significant initiative of the year for the UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES Coalition.

This initiative aims to integrate more fully the vital insights of the Humanities, Arts, Qualitative Social Sciences, Educational Sciences, Local, Traditional, and Indigenous knowledge systems into the global science-policy interface. Adopting a model where these insights carry equal weight holds great promise for delivering actionable results within Member States.

The strength of this undertaking lies in a network of committed global partners.

BRIDGES are co-designing this framework alongside the Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Intergovernmental and Scientific Advisory Councils, the MOST Secretariat, and the UNESCO Futures Literacy and Foresight team.

Beyond UNESCO we are working closely with co-convening partners ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and The Club of Rome, and look very much forward to collaboration with partners Learning Planet Institute, World Academy of Art and Science, Globethics, Leonardo/ISAST, APHELEIA Humanities International Association and BRIDGES founding partners CIPSH and Humanities for the Environment, reinforced by our hubs and programme offices at Prifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant / University of Wales Trinity Saint David, University of Cologne (MESH - Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies in the Humanities), The City University of New York, Princeton University, University of Pretoria and our Flagship Hub in collaboration with the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation at Arizona State University.

Ensuring the Humanities actively shape the questions we ask and the policies we build

In an era of volatile environmental and social shifts, data alone cannot bridge the gap between policy and impact. Sustainability is anchored in ethics, values, and the narratives that drive human behaviour. By integrating humanities-led insights as a co-equal force in the global science-policy interface, we can build more robust forms of social-ecological resilience. This approach ensures that global action is rooted in the lived experience, historical memory, and diverse cultural relationships that define our connection to the Earth.

Ready to bridge the gap between deep insight and practical policy?

Does unlocking Humanities knowledge, expertise and insights for policy impact and building social-ecological resilience sound like something you may wish to contribute to? 

Get in touch! Email: unesco-most.bridges.ipo@uwtsd.ac.uk