Future Earth

Future Earth is a major international research platform providing the knowledge and support to accelerate transformations to a sustainable world. Future Earth is a 10-year initiative to advance Global Sustainability Science, build capacity in this rapidly expanding area of research and provide an international research agenda to inspire natural and social scientists working around the world.

Future Earth is managed by a global Secretariat, which consists of nine Global Hubs based in Canada, China, France, India, Japan, South Africa, Sweden, Taipei, and the United States. The Secretariat is complemented by Regional Centers in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

The French Hub operates under the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The hub offices are located at the Jussieu campus of Sorbonne University in the 5th arrondissement of central Paris. The current team is composed of 6 full-time staff members.

Future Earth Paris Hub is currently seeking an intern for a 6-month internship.

Start date: November 2022.

The internship mission

The complex spatial and temporal interactions that exist between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must be accounted for in order to comply with the aim, set in 2015 by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, to provide a common, integrated global framework for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Emphasizing the limitations of dominant research modes in reaching this goal, in 2019, the Global Sustainable Development Report laid out a framework for researchers, practitioners, decisionmakers, funders and civil society to work together to achieve “universally acceptable and mutually beneficial sustainability science,” and identified the urgent need to produce knowledge and understanding in three key areas: systemic interactions, competing development agendas, and transformations in concrete contexts.

To build understanding of these key areas, Future Earth’s Science-based Pathways for Sustainability initiative role is to support and encourage researchers from diverse disciplines to engage with societal actors (e.g. civil society, governments, private sector) in processes of adaptive learning to design, implement, and evaluate pathways to sustainability. The aim of the initiative’s activities is to foster an active international research community making a strong contribution to pathways for sustainability in practice.

The intern will be mainly working on supporting and implementing the initiative’s outreach and communication strategy. Their tasks may include:

• Developing a monthly newsletter for the Pathways initiative;
• Identifying, researching, drafting and editing content on the website page, social media accounts and other digital communication outlets;
• Creating blog posts, briefs, brochures, etc. to promote the initiative and its research outcomes;
• Contributing to the development of webinars as part of the Pathways Forum webinar series;
• Contributing to the development and implementation of a contact database for the Pathways Initiative
• Helping with the organization of various Future Earth events.

Requirements

• Excellent level of written and spoken English;
• Currently enrolled in a Master’s level program in a relevant field (and will remain enrolled for the duration of the internship);
• Knowledge of sustainability and environmental challenges, and interest in transdisciplinary research;
• Motivated, organized and able to work independently to deadlines as well as to follow instructions, with attention to detail and good interpersonal and communication skills;
• Must be able to work on site at our office located in Paris (Please note that due to COVID-19, office rules may change);
• EU citizenship or in possession of a relevant French visa for the duration of the stage and eligible for a ‘Convention de Stage’1.

Salary

591,51€ per month (legally bound) plus associated benefits (subsidized access to University restaurants and transport card).

To apply

To apply, please send your Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a one-page cover letter written in English with the subject “Future Earth Internship” to: gilles.marciniak@futureearth.org

The offer will close on 30 August 2022 or as soon as a candidate is successful, whichever one comes first. Interviews can be held in person in Paris or online.

1 Convention de Stage is typical for work placements in France. It consists in a tripartite agreement signed by the student, the home university and the host organization that facilitates a short-term work placement.