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.
Achieving a global green renaissance: Closing the climate implementation gap with breakthrough research
Date: April 25, 2025
Location: Pier 17, San Francisco, CA
Time: 9:30am – 12:30pm PDT
Dr Zia Mehrabi, who was recently named the United States’ Frontiers Planet Prize National Champion 2025, will present the research that has put him in line for the US$1 million Frontiers Planet Prize International Champion award. Dr Mehrabi’s prize-winning research demonstrates how diversifying farming practices can help keep agricultural systems within planetary boundaries while promoting more sustainable and just global food systems, offering invaluable insights into the power of scientific discovery to drive impactful solutions.
Building on the National Champion 2025 announcement, Tom Ciavarella, Head of Public Affairs for North America at Frontiers, will highlight the critical role of open science in closing the climate implementation gap, ensuring that cutting-edge research translates into global impact with support of dedicated initiatives like the Frontiers Planet Prize.
This discussion will continue in a dynamic panel session featuring experts in climate research, sustainability, and open science. Moderated by Tom Ciavarella, the panel will explore how systemic change can be created and sustainable solutions can be advanced. Together, panelists will tackle pivotal questions such as: What are the obstacles to making winning research and planetary boundary science truly transformative? And, while science must be made open, what additional steps are needed to ensure it can effectively bridge the gap between research and real-world impact? Panelists will include:
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Dr Zia Mehrabi, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder; 2025 US National Champion, Frontiers Planet Prize
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Prof Gaurav Sant, Pritzker Professor of Sustainability, UCLA; 2025 US National Nominee, Frontiers Planet Prize
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Sarah Harbarth, Founder and CEO, KUORI
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Chloé Smith, Associate Specialist Research Fellow, Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, Berkeley Law
San Francisco Climate Week, taking place from April 19-27, 2025, brings together global leaders, innovators, and activists to address the pressing challenges of climate change. This week-long gathering will feature a series of conferences, workshops, and exhibitions aimed at fostering collaboration and driving actionable solutions for a sustainable future.
As a leading open-access publisher, Frontiers is committed to the power of open science. The event will emphasize how broader access to research can accelerate the adoption and implementation of innovative solutions to meet the planetary crisis head-on. Frontiers’ dedication to sharing scientific knowledge openly and globally aligns closely with its mission of advancing healthy lives on a health planet – a mission that lends itself to the Frontiers Research Foundation and serves as a foundation for the Frontiers Planet Prize’s vision for ushering in a green renaissance.
“Research is the foundation of modern society and at Frontiers, we are committed to unlocking the full potential of science by making it openly available to all. This approach accelerates discovery and empowers communities, like those here in California, to take action on pressing global challenges. San Francisco Climate Week is the ideal setting to continue this conversation, as it brings together innovators, researchers, and changemakers in one of the world’s most innovative hubs. It’s here, at the intersection of open science, policy, and technology, that we can truly drive the transformative solutions needed for a sustainable future,” said Tom Ciavarella, Frontiers’ Head of Public Affairs in North America.
Launched by the Frontiers Research Foundation on Earth Day 2022, the Frontiers Planet Prize rewards scientists for their groundbreaking research that drives transformative solutions to keep humanity within the nine planetary boundaries. The Prize is designed to mobilize the scientific community to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges, with a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, scalability, and actionable outcomes.
“The Frontiers Planet Prize serves as a catalyst for fast-tracking planetary health solutions, but it’s not just about recognizing exceptional research – it’s about bridging the gap between scientific discovery and real-world impact. By supporting transformative solutions and fostering collaboration, the Prize helps ensure that breakthrough innovations can be scaled to address the most pressing planetary challenges of our time,” said Jean-Claude Burgelman, Director of the Frontiers Planet Prize.
For more information about the event and to register, visit: https://lu.ma/8iay1q84
About Frontiers
Frontiers is a leading research publisher. Our role is to provide the world’s scientists with a rigorous and efficient publishing experience. Scientists empower society and our mission is to accelerate collaboration and discovery by making science open – enabling researchers to find the solutions we all need for healthy lives on a healthy planet. Powered by custom-built technology, artificial intelligence, and a collaborative peer review, our community journals give experts in more than 1,800 academic fields an open access platform to publish high quality, high impact research. Through our outreach work to build strong partnerships with business, policymakers, and educators, we’re leading the transition to open science.
About the Frontiers Research Foundation
The Frontiers Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in Switzerland, which was founded by Kamila and Henry Markram, neuroscientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (EPFL). It raises funds to support programs that accelerate scientific solutions for healthy lives on a healthy planet.
About the Frontiers Planet Prize
The Frontiers Planet Prize is a global competition for scientists and research institutions to propose solutions to help the planet remain within the safe operating space of any one or more of the nine planetary boundaries. It was created by the Frontiers Research Foundation on Earth Day 2022 to mobilize the global scientific community, make it complete at the highest level of excellence, and contribute to the acceleration of concrete solutions to the challenges defined by the planetary boundaries. To date, it has drawn together hundreds of scientists, 20 national academies of science, 610 leading universities and research institutions to compete for three prizes of 1M US dollars each as adjudicated by a Jury of 100 leading sustainability scientists.