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All six Grand Challenges are working together to support collaborations that addresses the themes of Place, Age, andÌýthe UN SDGs

Special Initiative Themes for AY 2022/23

In academic year 2022/23Ìýthe six Grand Challenges willÌýworkÌýtogether to support workÌýunder the overarching themes of:

Climate CrisisÌý

Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. People and ecosystems least able to cope are being hardest hit.
(IPCC Sixth Assessment, Press Release February 2022)

The Climate Crisis requires collaborative, cross-disciplinary and cross-boundary responses. This special initiative will provide support for those collaborations.ÌýExamples of current 911±¬ÁÏÍø research interest and researchers addressing the breadth of this challenge can be found at the UCL Climate Hub and the UCL Environment Domain.

Food Security

While it is widely accepted that growing global populations, urbanisation, and the climate crisis represent major risks for future food production, the long-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current conflict in Ukraine present a particular set of challenges for international food security. A recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated that between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020, and the negative outcomes of malnutrition disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations.

UCL Grand Challenges’ special initiative of Food Security will provide the opportunity for researchers across UCL to identify topics that require cross-disciplinary attention as a basis for further research, for problematizing current debates, and considering critical issues.

Place & DisplacementÌý

Recent conflicts and political events have also served as a sharp reminder of the place-basedÌýdimension of human rights and how hard-fought struggles for equality can dissipate rapidly. The special initiative of Place & DisplacementÌýwill support projects that take a cross-disciplinary approach to societal challenges that areÌýplace-based or are linked to displacement.Ìý

UN SDGs: Pathways to Achievement

This theme supportsÌýcross-disciplinary and cross-boundaryÌýcollaborations that address the achievement of theÌýÌý(theÌý), also known as the .

• Ìý- 2020 conference from UCL Grand Challenges andÌýUCL Global Engagement,Ìýframed around Wellbeing, Infrastructure, and Natural Environment.
• UCL and the UN Sustainable Development GoalsÌý-ÌýFind out how UCL is supporting the UN SDGs

17 UN SDGs: 169 Targets for a Better World

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals were laid out in the .ÌýThe goals incorporate 169 specificÌýtargetsÌýwhich wouldÌýlead to a better world by 2030.

You can view a set ofÌýÌýproduced by the .

Previously supported themes include:Ìý'Place: Equality & Prosperity',Ìý'Intergenerational Dynamics' and 'Green Recovery from COVID-19'.

Previous Special Initiative Funding Awards

• Awards in 2020/21 for pan-GC themesÌý
• Awards in 2021/22 for pan-GC themes

Evolving the Grand Challenges

The includes a plans to , and introduces four new candidate themes:

1. Climate Crisis
2. Inequality
3. Data-Empowered societies
4. Mental Wellbeing

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