Future Earth Launches Global Coordination Hub
New hub to strengthen sustainability research and international collaboration – hosted by GERICS and Arizona State University
The international sustainability network Future Earth is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and by the German Committee for Sustainability Research (DKN), which is mandated by the DFG Executive Committee. Future Earth is a global network of researchers advancing research to support transformations toward global sustainability. Its vision is a sustainable and equitable world for all, where societal decisions are informed by openly accessible and shared knowledge.
Future Earth is establishing a new Global Coordination Hub to better connect its globally distributed secretariat and to take on operational, strategic and communication tasks. The hub will be jointly hosted by the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory (GFL) at Arizona State University (ASU). A dedicated Executive Director, based at GERICS, will lead the hub.
The new hub will improve collaboration within Future Earth’s globally distributed secretariat which spans Africa, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Asia, Sweden, Taipei and the USA, as well as between its 25 global research networks. The aim is to further develop and support Future Earth’s strategic cohesion by harmonising and aligning the efforts of its secretariat while ensuring research is more effectively used in decision-making.
“By hosting the Global Coordination Hub, we are creating a sustainable structure that enables Future Earth to operate more effectively as a global network,” says Prof Daniela Jacob, Director of GERICS. “This collaboration strengthens the links between academia, politics, business and civil society.”
A Shared Hosting Model with a Transatlantic Focus
The partnership between GERICS and the ASU Global Futures Laboratory builds on more than a decade of collaboration. The hub will operate under a distributed structure: GERICS in Hamburg will serve as the European base, whilst the Global Futures Laboratory will act as the North American hub. Both institutions bring extensive experience in coordinating international research networks, establishing transdisciplinary structures and advancing science communication and stakeholder dialogue. GERICS has been closely involved with Future Earth for many years, hosting the DFG-funded scientific secretariat of the German Committee for Sustainability Research (DKN) since 2019.
The DKN is the German national committee of Future Earth and is represented by the DKN Chair Prof Daniela Jacob and by the Executive Director Dr. Sebastian Sonntag in the General Assembly and the Governing Council of Future Earth, respectively.
GERICS will be advertising the position of Executive Director to head the Global Coordination Hub. The role will be responsible for operational and strategic management and will coordinate the Future Earth global secretariat. The post is based in Hamburg and forms the organisational centre of the new coordination model.
Further Information
Contact person at the DKN
(externer Link), Executive Director, Tel.: +49 (0) 40 226 338 455
Contact person at the DFG Head Office
(externer Link), Humanity and Social Sciences 2: Social and Behavioural Sciences, Tel.: +49 (228) 885-2451