Press Release: Forward Thinker Webinar Series launches

World Future Council to share its expertise in 2021 Forward Thinkers Webinar series to address ecosystem loss, the food crisis, the rights of children and youth, and other urgent challenges

Hamburg, 25 February 2021 – The World Future Council is launching a new webinar series, looking at proven policy solutions to tackle the world’s most urgent challenges. The Forward Thinkers webinar series is designed for decision-makers from the policy level, civil society, science, and business, with World Future Council Members and Future Policy Award winners sharing their expertise. The free online events are going alongside UN international days.

Topics include the loss of ecosystems, the food crisis, rights of children and youth, protection from hazardous chemicals, and peace and disarmament. The first five events of the webinar series, which will stretch over the course of 2021, have been confirmed:

• 11 March 2021, 11 a.m. CET: Protecting children in Africa from (sexual) violence during the Pandemic – International Women’s Day
• 18 March 2021, 4 p.m. CET: Covid-19: Forests offering solutions to recovery – International Day of Forests
• 8 April 2021, 4 p.m. CEST: From children’s health to public health and universal health coverage – World Health Day
• 20 May 2021, 4 p.m. CEST: Preventing pandemics: Living in Harmony with Nature – International Day on Biodiversity
• 3 June 2021, 11 a.m. CEST: Preserving diversity. 30% of the oceans by 2030 – International Day of Oceans

More webinars of the series will be announced soon.

High profile speakers, such as Maria Fernanda Espinosa (President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly), Wanjira Mathai (Chair, Wangari Maathai Foundation), Julia Marton-Lefèvre (environmentalist, academic and former Director General, IUCN), Jan McAlpine (former Director, UN Forum on Forests), Dr. Nkatha Murungi (Assistant Director of the Centre for Human Rights),  Anna Oposa (Co-Founder, Save Philippines Seas), as well as Baskut Tuncak (Attorney, scientist, former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and toxics) and Leonardo Trasande (internationally renowned leader in children’s environmental health) have been confirmed.

“Our work is based on the conviction that policy solutions for the most essential challenges to humanity’s future exist”, says Alexandra Wandel, Executive Director of the World Future Council. “In these difficult times, it is important to share solutions that spread hope and optimism. We are very excited to launch this series this month.”