Springer Nature launches 17th SDG content hub to mark International Day of Education
London | New York | Berlin, 24 January 2022
To mark International Day of Education (January 24th) Springer Nature has launched a new content hub for UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number four, Quality Education. The hub contains research and resources relevant to SDG4 and marks the completion of Springer Nature’s commitment to create a content hub for each one of the UN goals.
The 17 SDG Hubs are a central part of Springer Nature’s broader SDG publishing programme, bringing together multidisciplinary peer-reviewed research content from across Springer Nature’s output of journals and books (including the Nature, Springer, BMC and Palgrave imprints), alongside supplementary insights, journalism and multimedia in a variety of languages including French, Japanese and English. The programme aims to connect the policy and business practitioners charged with resolving the world’s toughest challenges, with the research that provides the information and evidence they need to do so.
Since 2015, Springer Nature has published nearly 400,000 articles and chapters on SDG-related topics such as health, poverty, justice and biodiversity. 2021 was a year of accelerated progress in publishing, processes and partnerships intended to enable delivery of the SDGs:
- Publishing: 2021 saw the launch of several special editorial projects bringing new perspectives to topics such youth mental health, in a cross-imprint journal collection (including Nature, Springer and BMC journals) in partnership with Wellcome Trust, to the first cross-imprint book series from both Springer and Palgrave Macmillan - recognising that the SDGs bring people working across different fields together, working towards a common goal.
- Thought leadership and partnerships: We brought policymakers, practitioners and researchers together for events exploring SDG issues from the economy, to climate, to health and inequalities, including our fifth Science on the Hill event with policymakers in Washington DC, our second Science for a Sustainable Future conference with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and our dedicated campaign ahead of COP26, Climate Research in Action, which we shared with UK governmental stakeholders.
- Engaging colleagues on the SDGs: We launched the first Springer Nature SDG Impact Festival which recognised and celebrated colleagues working to aid the achievement of the SDGs.
- Addressing SDGs in our business operations: In 2021, Springer Nature signed the Climate Pledge and committed to setting science-based targets to reduce its carbon emissions in line with what is required to meet the Paris Climate goals. A newly developed sustainability team is driving forward these activities, led by Thea Sherer, Director of Sustainability and Climate Action Officer - an industry first appointment. Since then, the new sustainable business team have worked with publishing and operational colleagues to further develop a sustainability focus throughout the business: from committing to plant 10,000 trees to mark our one millionth open access (OA) article, to continuing to drive forward the SDG Publishers Compact of which we were early signatories, through our role as publishing partners in the Fellows group.
Commenting on the new content hub, Head of Publishing for Springer Nature’s SDG Programme, Nicola Jones said:
“Since 2016, Springer Nature has worked to advance the UN SDGs through a dedicated publishing programme with the aim of publishing more of the research that will help the Goals to be achieved and getting it to the people that can make this happen. In the past year, enormous progress has been made, culminating in the launch of our final SDG content hub for SDG4, Quality Education.
“SDG 4, Quality Education, is central to the success of the sixteen others: as publishers of resources and content for teachers, educators and students we firmly believe all research, advancement, and development must proceed from education. In addition to the resources we publish for teachers and educators around the world through Macmillan Education, education researchers have published a wealth of relevant research with Springer Nature in recent years so we are delighted to announce the launch of this resource repository, to support the vital work happening across the globe to advance the pursuit of quality education.”
Commenting on Springer Nature’s SDG publishing programme, Debra Rowe, Ph.D, President of the US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development said:
“The SDG Publishers Compact is designed to support a breadth and depth of commitments and actions aligning education and scholarly research with the SDGs. We also appreciate the participation of Springer Nature staff as Fellows for the SDG Publishers Compact.
“Springer Nature, as a signatory of the Compact, is providing substantial contributions that will enhance the work being done by educators, researchers and practitioners to address the Sustainable Development Goals. What Springer Nature has done with its integration of SDGs into so much of its activities, including via its educational materials, its hubs and its facilitation of enhanced collaboration, is helping to catalyse solutions for the SDGs globally. Springer Nature's new hub for SDG4 is a very important and welcome addition.”
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Springer Nature's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Programme aims to connect the researchers who are tackling the world’s toughest challenges with the practitioners in policy and business who desperately need those insights to achieve their goals in improving the world, by making our publishing activities more visible to our key communities through a variety of channels.
More information on Springer Nature’s SDG Publishing programme can be found at www.springernature.com/sdg-programme.
More information about Springer Nature’s operational commitments as a Sustainable Business, including its commitment to carbon neutrality, can be found at www.springernature.com/responsiblebusiness.
Springer Nature opens the doors to discovery for researchers, educators, clinicians and other professionals. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals, platforms and technology solutions reach millions of people. For over 175 years our brands and imprints have been a trusted source of knowledge to these communities and today, more than ever, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that fundamental knowledge can be found, verified, understood and used by our communities – enabling them to improve outcomes, make progress, and benefit the generations that follow.
Maeve Dunne | Senior Communications Officer, Sustainability | Springer Nature
maeve.dunne@springernature.com
