Collaboration and interdisciplinarity: Pathways to reviving the SDGs
Ahead of the 2025 symposium on gender equity and its intersection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), jointly organised by the University of Tokyo and 50業子, a conversation between the president of the University of Tokyo and the Editor-in-Chief of Nature highlights ways that we can collectively lift our game when it comes to the SDGs.
The 2024 report card is in for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and its not looking good. The Goals are not going to be met, said Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief of Nature. According to this years progress report, only 17% of the targets will be met. The consequences of not making the grade are much more serious than repeating a year at school the future of the planet is at stake.
It was against this sobering backdrop that Skipper met with Teruo Fujii, President of the University of Tokyo, in October 2024 to discuss what the research community can do to remedy this serious situation. In their conversation, Skipper and Fujii explored the need for an interdisciplinary approach and integrating diverse scientific domains and societal perspectives to tackle global, complex issues targeted by the SDGs such as climate change, biodiversity, and social equity.
We really need to grapple with how we can address interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary issues from an academic viewpoint.
Teruo Fujii, President, University of Tokyo
Going beyond disciplinary boundaries for interconnected challenges
Fujii believes there are several ways universities can help realise the Goals. The obvious one is through doing research that directly touches on one of the Goals. But he also noted the importance of promoting research that goes beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries and at the same time engages closely with stakeholders outside academia.
As an editor of a multidisciplinary journal, Skipper couldnt agree more. I think were seeing a renaissance of multidisciplinary journals because some of the most complex questions require complex solutions, she said. Its through disciplinarians coming together around a common problem that we stand our best chance of solving it.
But she added that publishing interdisciplinary research comes with its challenges. There are often communication issues because each discipline has its own language, she said. We have to think extra hard how to peer review multidisciplinary papers it requires real skill of the editors and careful oversight and judicious choice of reviewers, not to mention careful interpretation of referees comments.
Fujii specified three concrete ways the University of Tokyo is promoting interdisciplinary research. One is to explore research questions from multiple perspectives within the university. He cited an interesting example of past major earthquakes in Japan.
Big earthquakes and volcanic activities leave signatures in the geological record, but at the same time we have historical materials for them going back about a thousand years, he said. And so, by combining these two very different streams of knowledge that have insights from the natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, and humanities, we can get a better picture of what actually happened in an earthquake say 600 years ago.
A second way is to promote collaboration with industry. Nowadays, companies are looking at societal issues with their own business philosophy and perspective, Fujii said. And so holistic collaboration with the industry naturally involves bringing in different kinds of expertise.
Finally, Fujii specified collaboration with overseas institutions as the third plank in promoting interdisciplinary research at his university. Citing the example of microtechnology, he noted that it involves a diverse range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, and even nanotech. And so input is needed from experts around the world, not just across the corridor.
Partnering for sustainable development: Involving community
Another way Fujii noted that universities can make a real difference is by involving the wider community in research and sharing the benefits with them.
SDG 17 Partnership for the Goals is probably the most important SDG of them all. Because without partnership, none of the others can be achieved.
Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief, Nature
Again, Skipper was in whole-hearted agreement. She gave a beautiful example of community involvement in research by a microbiologist who was studying the gut microbiome of a tribe in Tanzania. One day after a session with the local community, she was sitting together with some people from that community and one of them said, Im really tired of giving parts of my body away. She was so struck by this, because it meant that their heart was not engaging with her research, said Skipper. So she asked them, What would make sense to you? How would you use the tools I have at my disposal? It turned out that that community was particularly preoccupied with maternal and child health. So she completely changed the direction of her study and now she uses microbiome data and microbiome tools to try to improve maternal and child health, said Skipper. Now its a true collaboration because shes helping the community and doing something with the community that the community really cares about.
The need to come together and combine forces to tackle these issues is actually enshrined in the SDGs, Skipper pointed out.
When I first looked over the SDGs, I was a bit puzzled by SDG 17, which is Partnership for the Goals, she recalled. My first reaction was that it seemed like the odd one out each of the other Goals has a specific focus. But when I started thinking about it, I realised that its probably the most important SDG of them all. Because without partnership, none of the others can be achieved.
Thus, the key to improving our collective performance on the SDGs is to fully embrace SDG 17 and collaborate on a wide range of levels. That is something that both universities and publishers have vital roles to play in.
Gender equity and the SDGs: A joint symposium from the University of Tokyo and 50業子
Fujii and Skipper also discussed diversity, especially gender equity and its importance for research and in research publishing. Equity, sustainability, wellbeing, and their intersection with the SDGs will be the focus of the upcoming joint SDGs Symposium on 8 February 2025, organised by the University of Tokyo and 50業子 as part of their longstanding collaboration.
The conversation between Drs. Teruo Fujii and Magdalena Skipper was held in preparation of the 2025 Symposium on gender equity and its intersection with the SDGs, within series, which brings together two guests to discuss a topic and share perspectives. Watch this space for the recording, which will be available in January.
Learn more about SDG 17 and its important role in supporting sustainable development. Explore news and insights, publications and events, all about SDG 17 and collaboration for the SDGs.
Teruo Fujii is the 31st President of the University of Tokyo. Prior to taking the Presidents office in April 2021, he was Executive Vice President in charge of finance and external relations for the university. He also served as the Director General of the Institute of Industrial Sciences (IIS) of the university from 2015 to 2018. He received his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1993 and held research positions at IIS and RIKEN prior to becoming a professor of IIS in 2007.
Dr. Fujii was an advisor to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) from 2005 to 2007, co-director of LIMMS-CNRS/IIS, a joint research laboratory between CNRS of France, and IIS, from 2007 to 2014, and the President of the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS) from 2017 to 2019. From March 2021 to February 2024, he held the position of an Executive Member (part-time) of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. Since 2019, he has served as the Chair of the Subdivision on Ocean Development of the Council for Science and Technology (MEXT). Dr. Fujiis research specialises in applied microfluidics systems and underwater technology.
Magdalena Skipper is Editor-in-Chief of Natureand Chief Editorial Advisor for the Nature Portfolio. She has considerable editorial and publishing experience, having worked as Chief Editor ofNature Reviews Genetics, Senior Editor for genetics and genomics atNature, and Editor in Chief ofNature Communications. She is passionate about mentorship, research integrity, as well as collaboration and inclusion in research. As part of her desire to promote underrepresented groups in research, in 2018 she co-launched the Nature Research Inspiring Science Award for women early career researchers. She holds a PhD in genetics from University of Cambridge, UK.
