Science-policy highlights of 2012

One of the most significant communication impacts the centre had in 2012 was the screening of the "Welcome to the Anthropocene" video during the official opening of the Rio+20 conference. The video was produced as part of the launch of the website bearing the same name, Welcome to the Anthropocene

Voices of the Future: concerns and questions from school children in Brazil, Sweden and the United Kingdom accompanied the Rio Declaration which urged world leaders to move beyond aspirational statements and seize the moment to act now. Read more about the Rio Declaration here

One of the most significant outcomes from the 2012 Rio+20 Summit was the agreement to develop the Sustainable Development Goals, a new set of goals to succeed the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. A Sustainable Development Solutions Network was also launched and will be led by Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The Stockholm Resilience Centre will play a central part of this network.

Centre researcher Thomas Elmqvist was leading scientific editor of the world's first comprehensive analysis of how urbanisation and urban growth impact biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics. The Cities and Biodiversity Outlook (CBO) was officially launched at the UN CBD COP11 in Hydrabad in October. Read more about the Cities and Biodiversity Outlook here

Between March and June 2012, the centre co-hosted an exhibition demonstrating the close links between humans and nature. With a range of curiously crafted installations, visitors could feel, listen, play and discover what resilience, planetary boundaries, ecosystem services and biomimicry is all about.

Departing from the planetary boundaries concept, Oxfam Senior Researcher Kate Raworth has looked at ways to also include social and economic aspects of the nine boundaries. We asked Kate Raworth to explain what these aspects are at the Planet under Pressure conference in March 2012.

In April 2012, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner visited the centre to discuss issues related to the upcoming Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the role of UNEP and how the world must move forward.

In a seminar held in honour professor Gretchen Daily, the 2012 winner of the Volvo Environment Prize, Daily presented challenges and research frontiers when moving from theory to real-world application in achieving more sustainable land management practices.