As part of 2017's NI Science Festival, local and international minds came together for a world cafe event revolving around the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Under the spotlight were nineteen scientific minds from eight countries across the globe, all PhD scholars hailing from the Newton Fund, a programme targeting economic development and welfare through science and innovation. Blended with these minds was a group of twenty local experts and academics, each of whom embodied one of the key three pillars of sustainable development: economics, society and environment. Together, they were asked; How can entrepreneurialism go hand in hand with sustainable development, with Northern Ireland leading the way through innovation?
To answer this, the partcipants were divided into five groups and each given a different scenario correlating to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The lively discussion that followed focused on Northern Ireland’s future in terms of land, health, fuel and cyber security with a number of interesting insights.
The report that can be downloaded below, looks at each scenario individually and what potentially could be done to ensure Northern Ireland remains at the forefront in the global race for sustainable development.