What ‘SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals’ means to us (2)

The Elsevier Foundation operates within a dynamic system of partnerships in continuous interaction with each other. The Foundation is uniquely positioned to play a convening role, linking partners who work in similar areas with the aim of maximizing impact and supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Read more about what SDG 17 means to us in the first part of this article, an interview with our Director Ylann Schemm.

By creating synergies and joining forces with other organizations and stakeholders, we can augment our capacity and grow our positive impact in inclusive health and research.

Case Study #1 : Africa Health Agenda International Conference

At Amref’s AHAIC Conference in Kigali, Rwanda in March 2019, we delivered Twitter campaigns to share 5 different partner panels and workshops. Uduak Okomo, winner of the 2019 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards, was featured in a “Research to Policy” panel with Anne Roca (The Lancet) and Yap Boum (Epicentre Niger Research Centre) who also served as speakers in our “Catalyzing Health Tech Solutions in Africa” discussion with Amref, Innovate for Life and Iris de Graaf of IFC’s Tech Emerge Health Africa program. In addition, Research without Borders volunteers, Christine Aime-Sempe, Yasmina Ourharzoune worked with Dr. Pius Kabututu and Dr. Ernest Sumaili, editors from the Annales Africaines de Medecine journal to deliver a Francophone panel on multilingualism in science communication and a journal training workshop.

Case Study #2: The EF-ISC3 Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge

The Challenge is jointly run by the Elsevier Foundation, Elsevier’s chemistry journals and ISC3. The Challenge has enabled us to both strengthen our connection with Elsevier’s journals, and to develop new networks with industry partners in an area we hadn’t previously explored. In 2020 Reaxys, Elsevier’s chemistry platform supporting researchers with compound properties and chemical reaction data, will be offered in-kind to the Challenges’ winners for two years. In the past editions of the Elsevier Green & Sustainable Chemistry Conference, we’ve invited previous winners of the EF-OWSD Awards for Women Scientists to share their research – establishing further networks between them and international academia. It’s also interesting to note that most of the Challenge’s winners are from institutions registered in R4L, which can prove useful to showcase success stories from researchers in developing countries.