Geoscience for Sustainable Futures

Whether at the scale of a field, a village, a city, a country, or a continent, geology is fundamental to understanding human-environment interactions and delivering the UN SDGs. This project will, for the first time, integrate BGS research on groundwater, soils, minerals, energy, urban planning, environmental modelling, and geohazards. Such an approach will deliver applied science that positively impacts on lives, livelihoods, and the natural environment.

Three interlinked Research Platforms (RPs) will help address the development needs of up to 13 countries on the DAC list of ODA recipients (our ODA partners). Key to success is research co-designed and delivered with our partners, sharing experience and building capacity to ensure effective knowledge and data exchange. We aim to leave behind a long-term legacy of UK-international interdisciplinary research networks.

Eastern Africa (RP1) faces severe natural resource challenges due to exponential population growth, rapid urbanisation, and economic development. BGS has strong and diverse research experience in this region. We will build on this to address the responsible use of natural resources by: (i) quantifying how climate and human stressors impact water resources and identifying the appropriate water abstraction technologies and how these are governed to ensure they remain functional in the long term; (ii) enhancing the understanding of the mineral and energy resource potential in the region to facilitate informed policy development, support effective governance mechanisms, and aid inward investment; and (iii) using geological science to increase agricultural productivity and tackle micronutrient deficiencies by carrying out research linking bedrock geology and minerals to soil type thus informing decisions on improving soil quality, use of fertilisers, water retention, and plant nutrition.

Asian cities (RP2) are exposed to multiple natural hazards, the pace of urbanisation is often overwhelming and their resilience to environmental change unknown. Our research will: (i) identify how innovative use of data-informatics, sensor technologies, and modelling systems can improve urban planning; (ii) assess the effect of multiple environmental and demographic stresses on the city and its rural catchment, and the extent to which further urbanisation can be sustained; and (iii) determine inter-dependencies between human and Earth systems in cities, and whether this understanding can be used to make city services more resilient.

Natural geological hazards and their associated risk (RP3), including volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides, and their impacts, are of key concern to long-term economic growth. Our research, focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, and the regions covered by RPs 1 and 2, will: (i) advance research into environmental processes and the interactions of multi-hazards (e.g., an earthquake triggering landslides); (ii) develop and utilise novel data collection, monitoring, and communication/ visualisation techniques to improve disaster resilience; and (iii) build on our humanitarian assistance activities, and long-term planning experience to co-develop proactive systems to support NGOs, governments and mandated authorities when geohazards occur.

Research will be co-designed using participatory workshops. It will aim to build sustainable networks of scientists, policy makers, NGOs, and communities. The long-term benefits of this research are knowledge exchange and its contribution to achieving the SDGs. Throughout the project, the RPs will act as a catalyst for BGS and UK-based research applications to GCRF, Newton, Royal Society and other funds. It is anticipated that leveraged and parallel funding will provide the principle mechanism to support project partners. Other return benefits to the UK research community will include advances in interdisciplinary understanding of human-Earth systems, open-access data, and new research partnerships.

The three Research Platforms have been designed to address key development needs in 13 ODA partner countries. Our proposal reflects BGS strengths in multiple sub-disciplines of geoscience. This will allow the development of (inter)nationally outstanding research which will benefit the academic geoscience community. However, the main beneficiaries of this research will be:

(i) Government and policy makers: BGS has experience in informing a wide range of policy and we work with UK Government ministries to provide expert advice (e.g., guidance on the use of subsurface geology in city planning for UK Government Office for Science)1. We will work with overseas government ministries to co-design research to meet their development priorities (e.g., Ministry of Health, Malawi; Minerals and Geoscience Department, Malaysia), to ensure our research has impact from the outset. This will include research to assist establishing/updating procedures and measures related to the sustainable use of natural resources (RP1), urban planning (RP2), and responses to natural hazards (RP3). As part of this collaborative work, we will co-design technological products (e.g., smart phone apps) for data collection, and facilitate (through training) the development of national databases for geoscientific data, advising on long-term data use and stewardship.

(ii) Civil society: Voluntary organisations, including national and international NGOs, are critical to facilitating development impact at multiple scales (local, national, international). We will partner with civil society (e.g., African Collaborative for Earth System Science, Institute for Social and Environmental Transition International), drawing on their expertise of community development. As these partners are helping to shape the research questions and types of output, this work will be of direct benefit to the challenges civil society seek to address. For example, research into groundwater management and protection in eastern Africa and Asia will support NGOs implementing UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation for all). Further benefits for NGOs include provision of capacity building in the use of geoscientific research to inform and improve development outcomes.

(iii) Regional and global development bodies: BGS has established links with coordinating organisations such as the European Space Agency, European Cooperation in Science and Technology (TU1206 Sub-Urban), World Health Organisation, and 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), so that our research can inform their work. For example, city resilience strategies are being produced by 100RC for Asian cities, and could be informed by the combined understanding of the subsurface developed through RP2, and the multi-hazard dynamics in RP3.

(iv) Local communities and the wider public: Local communities in all our ODA partners will benefit through improved welfare and economic growth. In the long-term, our research will support health and sustainable livelihoods of rural populations (RP1), resilient cities that have a more secure future for millions of people (RP2), and improved disaster risk reduction, a foundation for sustainable development (RP3). For example, as part of our research into sustainable groundwater use, we will work closely with women so they are directly involved in the management of water supply and sanitation. This will help empower women, and improve access to safe water for all (SDGs 5, 6). Communities will have opportunities to contribute to this research (e.g., through a citizen science initiative in RP3). Previous research in ODA partners has highlighted community involvement and engagement as critical to understanding development issues.

The level of our impact and the timescale on which it will occur will vary across the RPs and will depend on the maturity of science collaboration in the different countries.

[1] Bricker et al. (2015). Available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications