Frontiers | Science news

Science news post list

35 news posts in Sustainability

Frontiers news

22 Apr 2025

Powering climate action: Frontiers and the Frontiers Planet Prize push for adoption of open science solutions at San Francisco Climate Week

Frontiers and the Frontiers Research Foundation, in partnership with Swissnex, will host a high-impact event during San Francisco Climate Week titled “Achieving a Global Green Renaissance: Closing the Climate Implementation Gap with Breakthrough Research.” The event will bring together leading experts, innovators, and researchers to explore how open science and transformative research can accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. With a focus on addressing the gap between scientific advancements and real-world action, the event will provide a platform for shaping the future of planetary health research and sustainability.

Frontiers news

10 May 2024

Villars Institute Summit 2024: Catalyzing systematic change through interdisciplinary cooperation

The Villars Institute Summit 2024 was a pivotal gathering of minds, set against the picturesque backdrop of Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. Over three days, more than 280 experts, entrepreneurs, investors, and philanthropists met to address the pressing challenges of our time: the climate and biodiversity crises. Through plenary discussions, workshops, and roundtables, participants focused on how interdisciplinary cooperation can accelerate systemic change and address these crises in a holistic manner.

Featured news

16 Aug 2023

Sustainability in space travel can aid efforts here on Earth

by Angelo Vermeulen/Deborah Pirchner, Frontiers science writer Image: E|A|S (Evolving Asteroid Starships)/Joris Putteneers Dr Angelo Vermeulen is a space systems researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where he explores advanced concepts for interstellar exploration. Over the past decade, he has collaborated closely with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) MELiSSA program, developing concepts for bioregenerative life support systems for space. In such systems, a variety of microorganisms progressively break down human waste and the resulting compounds are harnessed by plants to produce oxygen and food for the crew. Beyond his scientific pursuits, Dr Vermeulen is also an accomplished artist and a co-founder of the SEADS (Space Ecologies Art and Design) collective. SEADS creates artworks that seamlessly integrate concepts and technologies from a diverse array of scientific disciplines, including biology, neuroscience, computer science, and astrophysics. He is the author of a recently published Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences article in which he and his co-authors describe a new model that theoretically produces all required food and oxygen during long-duration and remote space missions, removing the necessity for resupply from Earth. In this latest entry to the Frontier Scientists series, he has caught up with us on his current […]

Sustainability

19 Jul 2023

Uniting generations for a sustainable future: Insights from the 2023 Villars Symposium

Established in 2022, the Villars Institute is a non-profit foundation dedicated to accelerating the transition to net-zero emissions. It aims to create a healthier planet through intergenerational collaboration and systems leadership. Last month, a team of Frontiers staff led our first collaboration with the Villars Institute by taking part in its 2023 Villars Symposium, an event that fosters intergenerational collaboration and promotes transdisciplinary cooperation. Young minds embarking on their journey toward becoming lifelong systems leaders. The Symposium was created to unite the Villars Institute’s Knowledge Partners with a group of exceptional young minds who are embarking on their journey toward becoming lifelong systems leaders. The blog, Five traits to look for in a Systems Leader, explains more about what this concept is and represents. The Villars Symposium unites high school-aged youth and sustainability experts worldwide to address urgent global challenges. Participants, future systems leaders, explore intricate complex systems (ecological, economic, political, and social) while developing skills for driving systemic change. By engaging with professionals in sustainability and international affairs, they gain insights, forge connections, and align their passions with a sustainable future. Representatives from the Frontiers family of outreach and engagement initiatives led two sessions during the Symposium. “Mobilizing Science […]

Climate action

08 Dec 2022

Flocking to fire: wildfires don’t deter Americans from moving to at-risk regions

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Scientists investigated whether environmental hazards put people off moving to regions at risk and found that heatwaves and hurricanes deter newcomers, but wildfires don’t. The climate crisis has caused humans to move both within their countries of origin and across borders. Although climate migration is often treated as a phenomenon of the ‘global south’, a team of scientists led by Mahalia Clark at the University of Vermont (UVM) turned the spotlight on the US. The US has experienced numerous destructive weather events recently, which have killed and injured many people and done billions of dollars of damage. But the team found that despite the death toll, more people are moving to areas in the United States that are at serious risk of wildfires. “Our original motivation was the increasing number of headlines each year about record breaking heat waves, hurricanes, and wildfires,” said Clark, a researcher at UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment. “I had been studying natural amenities — features of the climate and environment that are attractive to movers — but I began to wonder if the threat of these hazards might have a deterring effect on migration.” Read original article […]