The 19th Global Development Conference took place in Bonn, Germany, from 23-25 October 2019 under the theme ''Knowledge for sustainable development: the research-policy nexus''. Hosted by the Global Development Network (GDN) and its partners, the conference aimed to facilitate the research-policy interface in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and also marked the 20th anniversary of the GDN, since its launch in 1999.

This episode focused on how intergenerational collaboration can truly contribute to science and research for making sustainable development works. Collaboration across generations is crucial when it comes to addressing climate change. The #GretaEffect shows us exactly how this works: on one hand senior experts and scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came up with the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C (SR15), on the other hand, young people go on the streets and engage with the media to raise awareness and ask for stronger political commitment to tackle global warming, using science-based evidence from the IPCC report. Therefore, when the elders work together with the younger generations, they can increase their power as citizens to make the world a better place by getting their message out! Do science and research constitute a significant part of Greta's message to making climate action and sustainable development effective in our world? Without hesitation, we can say that it is the case.

In this episode, I had the opportunity to talk to the Chair of the Global Development Network (GDN)'s Board and to the Co-Chairs of the Working Group on climate change and disaster risk reduction of the Global Young Academy (GYA). They all played a key part in the #K4SD conference where I met them. You will learn about their work as well as explore their motivations to collaborate across generations in tackling climate change and enabling global sustainability in their fields of expertise. I am pleased to introduce to you:

Khamarrul Azahari Razak is from Malaysia. Holder of a Ph.D in geosciences from the University of Utrecht, he currently serves as a senior lecturer at the Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). In 2013, he was awarded the Top 11 Young World Geomorphologist given by the International Association of Geomorphology in Cite des Science de La Villette, Paris, France. Khamarrul has published many research and technical articles at international and national levels. 

Shabana Khan is an Indian citizen. Fellow of the World Social Science on Risk Interpretation and Action with the International Social Science Council, Shabana is pursuing research on water issues in megacities, and communications in disaster recovery and reconstruction in her home country. Her previous research has looked into water-related hazards, vulnerability and governance in Dwarka as part of the EU-funded project ''Chance2Sustain''. She has worked as an assistant professor at the University of Delhi, Department of Geography.

François Bourguignon, a French national, is the Chair of the GDN Board. Emeritus Professor at the Paris School of Economics where he has served as Director. As a former Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at The World Bank, François holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. His fields of research include income distribution, inequality and poverty, redistribution, economic development and he has authored a number of books related to these issues. François has received several awards and merits for his works.

Thank you for listening!