The Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) operates under the Athena Research Center. SDU is scientifically directed by Prof. Phoebe Koundouri. SDU engages in cutting-edge research to enable the transition to resilience and sustainability, through the implementation of UN Agenda 2030 (17 SDGs), the Paris Agreement, and the European Green Deal. The Unit focuses on interdisciplinary systems research and the delivery of innovative solutions for the transition to a green, digital, job-based, and fair future. SDU is part of the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Aeiphoria (AE4RIA), an e-network for collaboration between research institutions, innovation accelerators, science-technology-policy interface networks, and scientific associations and academies focused on sustainable development. The work of its large interdisciplinary team focuses on the interdependencies between research and innovation, the economy, society, the environment, policy-making, and politics. The thematic priorities of the Unit are namely:
 
  1. Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
  2. Sustainable Blue Growth
  3. Water-Food-Energy Nexus
  4. Circular Economy
  5. Sustainable Finance
  6. Research Commercialization and Innovation Acceleration

 

SDU has attracted funding from EC H2020, EIT CLIMATE KIC, INTERREG, while the core team of SDU, during the last 25 years, has been extremely successful in attracting European Research funding, as well as research and deep demonstration funding from International and National organizational, institutions and foundations, together with public and private companies and financial Institutions. In collaboration with our international research partners, SDU brings together experts from the diversity of social sciences, mathematics, engineering, information technology, and natural sciences, needed to provide an integrated understanding of how these complex systems interact.

 
 

SDU Hosts:

SDSN Global Climate Hub (GCH) provides science-based solutions for combating the climate crisis.  As an offshoot of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, it harnesses a global network of experts. Chaired by Prof. Koundouri, the GCH is an international research-led initiative for tackling complex sustainability challenges and works with all relevant stakeholders to design country-specific action plans. It functions through 9 interlinked units that reflect the stages a country will transition through until it achieves climate neutrality and resilience. The coordinated work of these 9 units provides a unique approach to holistically addressing all levels of the human-environmental interface, offering truly sustainable solutions tailored to each case study or region.

 

 

SDSN Greece promotes integrated approaches to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, through education, research, policy analysis, and global cooperation. SDSN Greece coordinates Global, Euro-Asian, and European Initiatives, as well as many annual conferences, workshops, and education and training programs. SDSN Greece has been included in the SDSN network and is co-hosted by the Athens University of Economics and Business the Political Economy of Sustainable Development Lab and ATHENA Research Center.  It is co-chaired by Dr. Ebun Akinsete and Prof. Andreas Papandreou, aiming to contribute to achieving the goals of the SDSN network. The executive council is responsible for formulating the Greek Leadership Council which consists of politicians, entrepreneurs, academics, and representatives of the civil society. The Greek chapter, SDSN Greece, works closely with other United Nations agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement in Greece. SDSN Greece has 27 Universities and Research Centers in its network in Greece. 
 
   

EIT Climate-KIC Hub Greece, directed by Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, works towards a prosperous, inclusive, climate-resilient society founded on a circular, zero-carbon economy EIT Climate KIC Hub Greece hosts many deep demonstration and research projects, as well as many innovation programs, one of which is the EIT Climate KIC innovation acceleratorEIT Climate-KIC is a knowledge and innovation community established and funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)  in 2010. Our purpose is to tackle climate change through innovation. We are Europe’s largest public-private partnership with this purpose – a growing pan-European community of diverse organizations united by a commitment to direct the power of creativity and human ingenuity at the climate change challenge. We bring together large and small companies, scientific institutions and universities, city authorities and other public bodies, start-ups, and students. With over 350 formal organizational partners from across 25 countries, we work on innovation to mitigate climate change and adapt to its unavoidable impacts. 

 
 
 
 
SDU has a strategic partnership with the Research Laboratory on Socio-Economic and Environmental Sustainability ReSEES, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). ReSEES founded by Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, does policy-relevant interdisciplinary research on environmental, natural resources, and energy issues. The overarching goal of ReSEES theoretical and empirical research is to support the understanding and implementation of Sustainable Development. ReSEES has an impressive track record in attracting research funding from the European Commission, International Organizations, and Foundations. Its research tools include, among others, financial analysis, socio-economic and econometric analysis, environmental valuation, political and institutional analysis, integrated environmental-economic modeling, life cycle analysis, risk analysis, geographical information systems, game theory, information technology decision-making tools development, and systems innovation approach.
 
 
 

 

SDU is an EU Climate Pact partner. The European Climate Pact is a movement of people united around a common cause, each taking steps in their worlds to build a more sustainable Europe. Launched by the European Commission, the Pact is part of the European Green Deal and is helping the EU to meet its goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2050)

 

 

 

Scientific Board

Chair of the Scientific Board: Prof. Phoebe Koundouri

Members of the Scientific Board: