Science, technology, and innovation (STI) for ecosystem performance – Future sheets

This report was elaborated as part of the project “S&T&I FOR 2050. Science, Technology and Innovation for Ecosystem Performance – Accelerating Sustainability Transitions”, implemented on behalf of the European Commission. The overarching ambition of this project is the “identification and mapping of future scientific and technological developments that can radically improve ecosystem performance”. The main outcome is to provide “reflections towards the 2nd strategic plan of Horizon Europe (HE), in its broad direction to support the Sustainable Development Goals.”

In this context, a two-round Dynamic Argumentative Delphi (DAD) survey was carried out by Institutul de Prospectiva in the period December 2021 – March 2022. The Dynamic Argumentative survey engaged relevant experts from around the world in an argument-based exploration regarding the contribution of science, technology and innovation (STI) to the capability of ecosystems to flourish from now to 2050; the survey also invited participants to reflect on the potential harms that STI could incur. Finally, based on the promising directions and the potentially significant harms identified, respondents evaluated the impact of the STI progress in the selected domain on planetary ecosystems by 2050.

A dedicated report of the DAD consultation presents the full spectrum of results.

The focus of this visual, synthetic report is the outcome of the second round of the Dynamic Argumentative Delphi survey. For each of the 21 thematic domains the report highlights:

• the most promising STI directions, considering their potential to contribute to the capability of planetary ecosystems to flourish from now to 2050.
• the potential significant harms that STI could inflict on the capability of planetary ecosystems to flourish from now to 2050.

To read the synthetic report click on the Download button on the left of the page.