Systems thinking and creative problem solving

In the interdisciplinary sessions at BSRS 2021, we collaborated with SDG Bergen, and specifically focused on the SDG Bergen Policy Brief series.

The task for our participants was to develop their own policy brief about a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) nexus, that is, the interlinkages between targets and goals, optimising positive interactions and minimizing negative ones. Specifically, participants were asked to:

• select specific targets / indicators and give policy recommendations directly on these, based on own and/ or others’ research
• think "local experience – global relevance" when preparing their briefs, something that is particularly important for making the policy brief relevant to policy makers

The policy briefs:

• We need to discuss degrowth
• Educating the Public on sustainable fish consumption
• Community access to renewable energy
• Leveling the playing field for women in STEM
• Climate displacement education
• Marine plastic pollution
• Women in small-scale fisheries
• Sustainability vs Starvation
• Deep sea mining
• Sustainable fisheries
• Equal access to quality education
• Fishers’ climate knowledge
• Water scarcity and gender
• Transport systems for gender equality
• Poverty and equality during the pandemic
• Food and nutrition education
• Subsidies and fishing

The 17 BSRS policy briefs produced entered a competition in which up to three would be turned into SDG Bergen Policy Briefs. These were:

• Transdisciplinary partnerships are needed to obtain sustainable fisheries across the globe
• Regulating deep sea mining for sustainable development
• Sustaining the invisible contributions of women in small-scale fisheries

At BSRS 2022, we collaborated with UNICEF with the challenge to envision policies to address individual citizens, institutional managers, national policy makers and private sector executives – seeking to give every citizen the possibility to live up to their potential, starting with a satisfaction of their basic needs. Specifically, the participants were asked to shape policy recommendations that:

• embrace each dimension (individual, family, society, planet)
• allow a gradual implementation by international organisations (i.e.UNICEF)
• are underpinned by the understanding that individual wellbeing is the cause and consequence of collective wellbeing

Heare are the ten policy briefs:

• A holistic approach to child welfare in addressing the root causes of child labour
• Ensuring children’s wellbeing: A special focus on the poverty issue of Rohingya refugee community in Bangladesh
• Influencing inequality through immunisation
• Target female access to education to reduce childhood poverty
• Equitable access to quality education in Nairobi, Kenya
• Policy recommendations addressing child poverty in Indonesia with a focus on education
• Tackling the burden of malnutrition arising from child poverty in LMICs. A holistic approach
• Increasing immunisation in the Sub-Saharan countries
• Poverty, children and the use of information and communications technology
• Reducing child poverty through child education

In 2023, we collaborated with SOS Children’s Villages. The challenge this time was to develop policy briefs on some burning questions related to child protection and welfare, like:

• Should a child's party status change from age 15 to age 12?
• How to deal with the right of children and parents to reunification and contact?
• Should Norway strengthen services for unaccompanied refugee minors between the age of 15 and 18 years?

After three years, the summer school was back as an in person event with about 70 participants. The nine groups each delivered a policy brief:

• Reunification & child protection rights
• A child’s rights to a family right
• Voice but no choice
• No child should be left behind
• Family reunification is the right of every child
• The quest for identity
• Where do we belong
• Towards a more equitable Norway
• Right of children and parents for reunification and contact

This year, we collaborated with UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education (UNESCO IESALC) with the challenge to develop policy briefs on the contribution of higher education institutions to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The briefs were to focus on the social, environmental or economic goals and their most important nexuses. Participants explored the role of teaching, research, engagement, and governance in achieving SDGs.

Teams with high-quality drafts would be turned into short blog posts on UNESCO IESALC’s website, or be invited to co-author a publication with a UNESCO policy analyst. Here is an overview of the ten BSRS policy briefs:

• The role of Higher Education Institutions in improving early warning systems for global health risks in case of a novel pandemic
• Advancing green campus initiatives through a decolonial approach
• Closing the gap between academia and policy: Enhancing Higher Education Institutes’ engagement for Public Health and the SDGs
• The contribution of Higher Education Institutions to decent work and economic growth
• Engaging global communities: The role of Higher Education Institutions in combating antibiotic resistance for a healthier future
• Environmental education in Higher Education Institutions
• Higher education’s role in reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases by promoting health literacy in low and middle-income countries
• Higher education institutions as change agents in climate action for people with disabilities
• Enhancing research funding efficiency and equity in higher health education institutions
• Rethinking higher education in light of climate action (SDG13): Harnessing traditional knowledge to mitigate and adapt the impact of climate change