The seminar provided an ideal platform for experts to share their work and expertise with special focus on science, technology and innovation and how they are aligned with SDGs.
The 2nd Calestous Juma Seminar Series themed ‘Steering Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ was held virtually on 29th-30th, November 2021. The seminar, which attracted more than 200 participants drawn from different parts of the globe, was jointly organized by the ACTS and the Calestous Juma Legacy Foundation (CJLF).
The first day featured insights from the Steering Research and Innovation for Global Goals (STRINGS) project, a global collaborative initiative led by the science policy research unit at Sussex University, whose key objective is to provide evidence and policy events and discussions to map, illustrate and better understand the alignments and misalignments between investments and priorities in STI and SGDs; and to get policy changes to improve STI and related investment towards SDGs.
The second discussion item explored a case study on STI pathways to sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in Lake Victoria Basin (LVB). The case study focused on innovations (technological, institutional and social) to strengthen monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) with a view to reducing illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and overfishing in the lake - cage culture pathway and pond fishing farming - two potential pathways to reduce pressure on inland capture fisheries. This was followed by an exciting panel discussion where experts explored technical issues relating to STI and their link to societal challenges.
The second day featured a rich memoir of Prof. Juma, ably delivered by Prof, Norman Clark from the University of Sussex. It explored the journey of Prof. Juma from his humble beginnings in Western Kenya to a global icon for the application of science, technology and Innovation.
Prof. Juma’s memoir paved way for a discussion on the global pilot program of STI for SDG roadmap, designed by the United Nations Interagency Task Team (UNIATT) whose main objective is align the SDGs with actions in STI. The final session of the seminar focused on steering agri-food system transformation and the role of STI.
The 3rd CJ seminar themed ‘Accelerating realisation of SDGs through deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions’ will be held on 14 - 16, June, 2022
Some of the key presenters during the 2nd CJ seminar series. Angela Christiana, CJLF (Top left); Prof. Tom Ogada, ACTS, (top right); Prof. John Mugabe, University of Pretoria, (bottom left) and Alison Field-Juma, CJLF, (bottom right).
Download
