All ARCHES'​ projects are currently sustaining the achievement of different targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; these include Goal 1 - No Poverty, Goal 2 - Zero Hunger, Goal 3 - Good Health and Well-Being, Goal 5 - Gender Equality, Goal 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy and Goal 13 - Climate Action.

These projects are part of the following main programmes:

Healthy Lives for All

The health and well-being of people at all ages lie at the heart of sustainable development. In particular, healthy ageing is fundamental to the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC), implicit in Goal 3 of the 2030 Agenda. However, without considering the health and social care needs of the ever-increasing numbers of older people, UHC will be impossible to achieve. The provision of complementary and integrative health approaches may have a positive impact on the health status of the ageing population. These include immunonutrition, which refers to the potential to modulate the activity of the immune system by interventions with specific nutrients. However, this provision requires attention to developing robust, integrated systems of health and long-term care seeking to maximize function and well-being in older age. Optimizing opportunities for good health at all stages of life will ensure that older people can maintain independence and increase their social and economic participation in society while reducing healthcare costs. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated our global health fragility and exacerbated existing inequalities leaving many vulnerable. To tackle the long-term effects of this infection and prevent other pandemics, it is crucial to understand the virus-microbiota axis. Thus, in line with the UNs’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ARCHES is also devoting many research efforts to developing an innovative approach for the analysis of the human microbiome with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). In this specific programme, our centre is supporting the achievement of different targets of the 2030 Agenda, particularly Goal 2: Zero Hunger and Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being.

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Sustainability for All

Sustainable development is often seen as a process within the context of globalization, encompassing the economic, social and environmental dimensions. In recent years, the rapid pace of globalization has accelerated change in all of these dimensions thus causing trends and processes in various spheres to interact with one another in unpredictable ways. Particularly complicated problems, however, make it increasingly difficult to address individual issues without facing the risk of unintended consequences. This uncertainty presents a further challenge for decision-makers tasked with formulating sustainable policies that effectively address intertwined problems. Indeed, this also raises the question of a more inclusive and holistic approach to innovation policies that takes up such a complex issue. Hence, addressing sustainability challenges implies a radical systemic change in multiple dimensions, including policy, culture and civil society. This also means that there are no blueprint approaches to the governance of critical sustainability issues. As a result, policymakers should adopt a learning process rather than imposing final solutions. Thus we devote specific attention to foresight and the policy learning processes necessary to cope with complexity and uncertainty in a rapidly changing world. In line with the UNs’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ARCHES is devoting many research efforts to fostering sustainable development at different levels around the world. In this specific programme, our centre is supporting the achievement of different targets of the 2030 Agenda, particularly Goal 2: Zero Hunger, Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, and Goal 13: Climate Action.

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Higher Education for All

The adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a change of paradigm of the international policies on development cooperation. The EU has committed to implement the SDGs both in its internal and external policies. Among those policies, higher education policy is increasingly important. The widespread recognition that higher education is a major driver of economic growth in a knowledge-driven global economy has made high quality higher education more important than ever before. Clearly, issues of equity in higher education in many countries need to become more prominent in national debates. Thus making the quantum leap to a sustainable development paradigm depends heavily on higher education, especially if we facilitate the access of socially and economically disadvantaged groups such as women and minorities. At the end of 2013, before the launch of the 2030 Agenda, we started a programme to support talented young people interested in pursuing advanced degrees in the area of science and engineering. The first phase of this programme is devoted to India, where ARCHES has established collaborations with several academic centres in various States. Tenzin Tashi, a Tibetan monk and member of a very poor family of Tawang (North-East India), was the first beneficiary of this programme that allowed him to study at the Mahendra Engineering College (Tamil Nadu). Afterwards, other talented disadvantaged students were included in this specific programme, which is supporting the achievement of different targets of the Agenda 2030, particularly Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 4: Quality Education, and Goal 5: Gender Equality.

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