Researchers, leaders to address challenges faced by developing countries at Sustainable Earth 2017

Leading figures addressing the many and varied challenges faced by developing countries will be attending a major conference at the University of Plymouth.

Sustainable Earth 2017 is a two-day event taking place on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June.

It will offer researchers, businesses, community groups and individuals the chance to hear from inspirational speakers and join creative workshops designed to spark ideas and encourage collaborations.

This year's event is themed around the Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF), a £1.5 billion Government fund currently supporting a number of cutting-edge research projects.

There will be six keynotes at the conference addressing a range of topics and delivered by leading national and international figures, including:

• Tackling Drug-Resistant Infections Globally -- Lord O'Neill of Gatley, Chair, UK Government Review on Antimicrobial Resistance;
• Marketing Global Challenge Messages -- Meaghan Ramsey, Partner, Brunswick Group;
• Future Earth and Solutions (the World in 2050) -- Owen Gaffney, Director of International Media & Strategy, Stockholm Resilience Centre;
• A Fevered Planet -- Professor Hugh Montgomery, Head, Centre for Human Health & Performance, University College London;
• Climate Change: why so toxic? Professor Chris Rapley, Professor of Climate Science, University College London;
• Communicating Risk -- Lisa Robinson, Senior Adviser, Resilience & Humanitarian Response, BBC Media Action.

The conference is being organized by the University's Sustainable Earth Institute, which organizes a series of events aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge about a range of issues affecting society and the environment across the UK.

Iain Stewart, Professor of Geoscience Communication and Director of the Sustainable Earth Institute, said: "The conference is our annual shop window, and as ever offers an eclectic mix of environment-related interests, with this year's headline sessions merging global health and climate change. Infusing the event, however, is arguably our greatest academic challenge of our time -- communicating effectively with those communities that are most at risk.

"The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals -- global targets around environment and development which the world has signed up to delivering on by 2030 -- are looking ever more tricky to comply with. The GCRF, around which Sustainable Earth 2017 is based, is a welcome effort to direct scientific excellence at real-world problems through close collaborations with in-country partners and the application of transformative interdisciplinary actions."