The Regional Bureau's science support strategy 2010-2013: meeting society's needs with science-based solutions

This strategy emphasizes the need to better understand the complex relationships between development and emerging challenges such as climate change, pollution, population growth and environmental degradation that cause hazards to become more severe and frequent, and to approach them in a holistic way in order to provide concrete, workable, and context-appropriate solutions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and improve people’s lives. It highlights the importance of science in addressing global development issues and aims at promoting science, technology and innovation as a solution to achieving sustainable development.

It presents UNESCO's Overarching Objective for the science sector, and its three Strategic Programme Objectives, including the contribution to disaster preparedness and mitigation, which are translated into the Asia-Pacific regional context as four strategic themes based on the regional challenges, priorities and needs: (i) Water for People and the Environment; (ii) Climate Change and Environmental Resources; (iii) Science Policy and Science Education; and (iv) Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation; as well as four regional flagship programme such as 'FORCE: Fostering Safer and Resilient Communities – a natural disaster and climate change education programme'.