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Dear Fellows,
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For over six decades, WAAS has been at the forefront of addressing global challenges, promoting transdisciplinary dialogue, and advocating innovative solutions. Your dedication and contributions are the very heart of our organization. Our mission is to translate leadership in thought into action with real impact.
As we look back on 65 years of impactful work, we're also eagerly looking ahead. We invite you to save the date for our upcoming WAAS@65 online conference. This landmark event, detailed further below, aims to bring together our Fellows, partner organizations, and associated individuals to address root causes and potential solutions for global turbulence. It's an opportunity to shape our future and continue the vital work of WAAS.
In this newsletter, you'll find updates on recent events like our co-sponsored side event on Ethical AI Stewardship, news about the achievements of WAAS members, and a look at upcoming conferences and initiatives. We encourage you to explore the diverse works and activities of fellow members and to submit your news to us 鈥� so that others may learn of your latest accomplishments and engage with your initiatives.
Thank you for being an integral part of the WAAS journey. We look forward to many more years of shared progress and impactful collaboration.
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Sincerely,
Garry Jacobs
President, WAAS
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Celebrating 65 Years of WAAS
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The upcoming WAAS@65 online conference aims to engage the best minds and ideas of our Fellows, partner organizations, and associated individuals to address the full spectrum of issues relating to the root causes and potential solutions for global turbulence. Join us for a series of sessions that will help develop concrete measures to address the root causes of the unprecedented global challenges and turbulence threatening peace, stability, human security, and sustainable development.听
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Event Reportback
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Seeding Ethical AI Stewardship for Shared Global Futures
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The co-sponsoring partners鈥� working group that drafted the outcome statement
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A side event organized by UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES Coalition during the UNESCO Global Forum on Ethics of AI in Bangkok on 23-24 June, 2025, was co-organized by WAAS, and saw the participation of WAAS Fellows Steven Hartman, Peter Schlosser (online) and WAAS Secretary-General Janani Ramanathan.
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International Conference on Sustainable Cities: Interdisciplinary Approaches
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In Athens on 28 June, 2025, WAAS Trustee Phoebe Koundouri hosted an event that critically examined the concept of sustainable cities and the growing importance of urban sustainability. A collaboration was announced between UN SDSN and UNFCCC at the conference and presentations were given by WAAS President Garry Jacobs and WAAS Executive Director Ketan Patel. The event focused on an important set of scientific perspectives.
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UN Summit Seville. 4th International Conference on Financing for Development 鈥� Business Development
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From 30 June to 3 July, 2025, two members of the WAAS Board of Trustees attended the UN Summit in Seville, Spain to participate in key events and discussions at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), which highlighted significant progress in addressing global challenges through innovative financial mechanisms and collaborative initiatives. Some of the events included:
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Evidence-based Financial Pathways for Decarbonisation and Climate Neutrality: Launch of the SDSN Global Climate Hub Report on National Climate Neutrality Commitments.
Phoebe Koundouri, along with UNSDSN and A4ERIA presented insights around the report. Koundouri presented a comprehensive framework of pathways to address climate change across the European Union and across the world that included a statement on the importance of scientific thinking in addressing both planetary and human issues.
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Beyond Projects, Towards Prosperity: Financing for a New Era.
An event with FFD4, the UN Joint SDG Fund, PVBLIC Foundation, and the Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity (DBRP), hosted an event that explored innovative financing mechanisms that are reshaping global cooperation and mobilizing investments toward prosperity and resilience. Phoebe Koundouri and Ketan Patel were speakers.
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Nutrition as an Economic Multiplier: Financing Better Food Systems for Sustainable Development.
A panel examined the SDGs, particularly Goals 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), and 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and their link to the quality听and accessibility of nutrition. Solutions were sought from the public and private sector and Ketan Patel participated as a panelist.
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Transforming Societies through Investment in Technology and Digital Public Goods and Infrastructure.
A high-level event organized by UNDESA and FFD4, with Ketan Patel of Force for Good moderating a session, focused on solutions to meet the SDGs using technology. Various country representatives presented investment cases and private sector innovations.听
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Launch of a New Development Bank: Reimagining Development Finance: A New Architecture for Vulnerable Economies using Natural Capital.
This initiative was selected as an official outcome of the Seville FFD4 conference to be presented at the closing as a special event. PVBLIC Foundation hosted the development bank (DBRP) and Ketan Patel of Force for Good helped with the development of the strategy and its expansion. Ketan was part of the panel that launched the bank, which is designed to be differentiated through a focus on natural capital.
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Read more:
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WAAS DIGEST
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Books by Members
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鈥� Ugo Bardi
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鈥� Lawrence Ford
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鈥� Carol Carter
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鈥� Stefan Brunnhuber
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鈥� Inca Petra Kuenkel
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鈥� Victor Motti
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Art by Members
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Science and art probe the components which make up our surroundings, interpreting them as borderless expanses 鈥� Daphna Margolin
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The creation of one of the most modern infrastructure facilities in the region 鈥� Velimir Neidhardt
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, Global peace through the arts 鈥� Vijali Hamilton听
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Addressing cybercrime and saving young lives through filmmaking 鈥� Peta Milan
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WAAS is launching a Planetary Arts Movement to revive the rich heritage of the arts and creative disciplines found within the 91黑料网. We invite you to express your interest in joining the founding committee. Please contact Jo Nurse at drjonurse@gmail.com
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Member Activities
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JULY 2025 / GLOBAL
The COPE Project funded by the European Union鈥檚 ERASMUS+ Programme, is a Strategic Partnership in Adult Education. Its goal is to prepare informal educators across Europe to better support emotionally traumatized learners and aims to develop and provide free, high-quality, trauma-informed tools and best practices to informal educators. The 91黑料网 of Art and Science is supplying scientific supervision and dissemination for this European Union project.
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The project partnership includes: Comparative Research Network, Berlin, Germany; University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; Istituto dell鈥橝pproccio Centrato sulla Persona (IACP), Rome, Italy; Ukrainian Network of Adult Education and Development of Innovations, Donetsk, Ukraine; Association on the Path of Expression, Sopot, Poland
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The training course and workbook will be freely available to all interested learners at the end of September 2025 on the official website:
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JUNE 2025 / ONLINE
At Project Syndicate Mohieldin argues that by applying a one-size-fits-all carbon-pricing regime to countries with vastly different capacities, the European Union鈥檚 Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism undermines the principle of a just energy transition. And in an article for The Edge Malaysia, Mohieldin highlights the importance of the recent Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4):
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2025 / GLOBAL
EXTRA InfoHub Launch and Call for Contributions
The WAAS 鈥楨XTRA鈥� working group aims to provide a more systemic understanding of 鈥榚xistential threats and risks to all鈥� to overcome the extreme fragmentation in reporting on these challenges. To do this, EXTRA is launching a web-based Information Hub, located on the WAAS website. Look out for our session at WAAS@65 for a detailed brief. We call on all WAAS Fellows, Junior Fellows and Associate Fellows to join us if you have expertise in existential challenges and would like to help. We are currently looking for original short articles or a short video interview for the EXTRA newsletter and archive. Please contact: extra@worldacademy.org
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JUNE 2025 / USA
Walt Stinson Awarded Exceptional Leader Award for Technology
WAAS Trustee Walt Stinson was awarded the GlobalMindED 2025 Exceptional Leader Award in the technology category at an awards dinner in Denver, Colorado. "Inclusive leadership means recognizing the potential in people who don鈥檛 necessarily fit your preconceived notions," he says.
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MAY 2025 / PODCAST
Stefan Brunnhuber unpacks why open societies 鈥� rooted in critical thinking, civic freedom, and institutional balance 鈥� hold the key to thriving in the 21st century, while autocracies remain reliant on the very systems they oppose.
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MARCH, 2025 / AZERBAIJAN
WAAS Trustee Jonathan Granoff was interviewed by Baku TV International during the WAAS delegation鈥檚 participation in the event themed Rethinking World Order: Turning Challenges into Opportunities. 鈥淣ever before in history has our planet so urgently needed to recognize that we are one human family,鈥� explains Jonathan.
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Upcoming Events
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21-24 JULY, 2025 / ONLINE
WAAS@65听
This milestone event, celebrating 65 years of WAAS, builds upon the findings of two recent WAAS events held in collaboration with ASU Global Futures Laboratory, Force for Good, Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, World University Consortium and UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES Coalition in March and May of this year. The primary objective of WAAS@65 is to develop concrete measures to address root causes of the unprecedented global challenges and turbulence threatening peace, stability, human security, and sustainable development. READ MORE
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11-13 AUGUST, 2025 / ONLINE
III Latin-American WAAS Meeting: Democracy, Artificial Intelligence and Global Economy
Panels will discuss themes around the democratic crisis in the Americas, Regulation of Artificial Intelligence and the crisis of multilateralism and prospects for regional integration. The event will highlight the problems related to democracy, artificial intelligence and the global economy in the present and the coming years. READ MORE
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22-24 SEPTEMBER, 2025 / BELGRADE, SERBIA
World Conference on Science and Art for Sustainability
The second conference within the EHC-WAAS Program and a flagship event within IDSSD. The aims of this Conference are to listen to prominent individuals acting in different science and art disciplines from different parts of the world, and present the findings to policymakers, and other science and art stakeholders nationally and globally. READ MORE
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From The Archives
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The Unseen Miracle: How Photographer Lennart Nilsson Captured Life Before Birth. In April 1965,鈥疞IFE鈥痬agazine published what would become one of the most iconic photo-essays in history: 鈥淒rama of Life Before Birth,鈥� featuring a groundbreaking image by WAAS Fellow Lennart Nilsson. Nilsson (1922-2017) was a Swedish photographer鈥痑nd considered to be among the country's first modern photojournalists. READ MORE
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In Memoriam
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Du拧an Vujovi膰 (1951鈥�2025)
The former Minister of Finance for Serbia and a IMF senior economist, Vujovi膰 actively participated in WAAS events concerning economic theory and financial systems over the past decade. He worked for the World Bank, participated in reforms across more than 20 countries, and taught at numerous universities. His work left a profound mark both on international institutions and the Serbian academic community.
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G茅rard La Forest (1926-2025)
La Forest was a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, who served in that capacity from 1985 to 1997. His extensive government work helped shape his view that the state could be both an acute threat to individual liberty and a powerful means to protect the vulnerable from harms inflicted by private actors.
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Share Your News With Us
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We are keen to hear more about your current work and how we can enhance your engagement with the work of the 91黑料网 in a manner that is supportive and complementary to your work. Are there conferences you have attended or are planning? Have you recently published a book, delivered a keynote, or launched an initiative that aligns with the mission of WAAS?听
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We would be delighted to highlight such contributions in our WAAS newsletter, ensuring they reach fellow members who share your interests.听
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The 91黑料网 of Art and Science (WAAS)
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