BSRS 2015: SDGs to meet Global Development Challenges

Welcome to the Bergen Summer Research School June 23 to 27, 2015! 

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) have over the last 10-15 years directed worldwide attention to neglected global social issues and have triggered much research in a wide range of disciplines. But with the challenges appearing in the wake of a changing climate, many people ask whether the MDGs have actually made a contribution to sustainable development.

The MDG Progress Chart 2014 shows that several important targets have or are close to be met by 2015 in many regions and sub-regions, while progress in other areas is far from sufficient.

Courses          Keynotes         Common sessions    

The United Nations emphasises the importance of research and institutions of higher education in shaping the global development agenda. New knowledge, critical analysis, and scientific methods should underpin discussions on what should follow the MDGs.

Transformation vs. adaptation

The process of developing a framework for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is well under way, and will be in place by the end of 2015. These new development goals provide the framework for the scientific courses and the important discussions they will create at the Summer Research School in 2015.

BSRS’s five courses will deconstruct the SDGs and look at energy of the future, challenges related to fair governance and inequalities, and health provision for vulnerable groups such as children and women in vulnerable positions.

Analyses and creative solutions

The summer research school in 2015 is largely a synthesis of BSRS’s previous sessions which raised, with the help of Bergen’s many research clusters, interdisciplinary aspects of the Millennium Development Goals. Last year's focus was on how governance can meet global development challenges.

The courses are intended as a basis for reflection, critical analysis and constructive discussions. A series of roundtable discussions will gather activists, politicians, practitioners and researchers within science, humanities, social sciences, and law to sharpen their arguments and gain new insights and ideas. Many of the events are open to the public.