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Author: Deidre Hudson Reuss

Senior Marketing Manager

Demonstrating how research contributes to real-world change is an increasing priority for institutions working towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  As explored in The publication-to-policy connection: Supporting the real-world impact of research, impact depends not only on producing high-quality evidence, but on how effectively it is translated, shared, and applied in policy and practice. This case study builds on that perspective by examining the work of AE4RIA (the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Aephoria), showing how a systems-based approach, combining integrated data, stakeholder collaboration and aligned financing, can help move research beyond policy influence into coordinated, implementable action.

P站视频’s recent report, shows that evidence is already shaping national and international policymaking when it comes to the SDGs. But ensuring that research is not only accessed, but also acted upon, requires more than visibility. It requires the capacity to translate knowledge into coordinated, implementable action.

For institutions committed to strengthening research impact, supporting multi-stakeholder collaboration, or contributing to national sustainability agendas, (the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Aephoria) offers a practical and replicable framework. Working at the intersection of economics, earth systems science, and policy, their systems-driven approach is grounded in integrated data, stakeholder co-design, and aligned financing to help move the SDGs from ambition into action.

Through the work of AE4RIA, Director and co-chair of the 2027 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report, Professor Phoebe Koundouri and colleagues explain how a systems?based approach can help institutions move research beyond policy influence into tangible, funded outcomes.

The implementation gap: from framework to delivery

For AE4RIA, the SDGs provide a powerful framework for addressing what Professor Koundouri describes as a “permanent multi-crisis” across environmental, economic and social systems. “The SDGs for us are a brilliant science-based structure that can allow us to move away from the permanent multi-crisis of natural, social, and economic systems into a sustainable pathway,” she explains.

However, while global progress has been significant (196 countries signing the SDGs and 20% implementation in just ten years), translating this framework into delivery remains complex. The challenge is not only political or financial, but structural. “Even the most developed countries lack the capacity to organize the necessary data, modelling, stakeholders, or funding approaches, and very few people work on this kind of large-scale integration,” Professor Koundouri adds. “Those who do are mainly scientists, and they don’t have continuous interaction with policymakers, governments, and all the other stakeholders needed to implement change.”

For institutions, this highlights that producing high-quality research is not enough to impact the SDGs. Success depends on the ability to connect evidence across disciplines, stakeholders, and systems in ways that support implementation.

A systems approach to research impact

AE4RIA’s methodology is designed to address this gap by translating the SDGs into actionable, financed transition pathways. At its core is a systems-based approach that integrates four interconnected domains, nature, infrastructure, economy and society, recognising that progress in one depends on coordinated change across all.

Professor Koundouri outlined the methodology’s three structured steps:

1. Measure and understand where you are 
   Using integrated data frameworks, AE4RIA helps define where a country, region, or sector currently stands in relation to SDG targets. “We have continuous monitoring and assessment of the scale we want to work on. We have co-developed with other institutions an extensive framework of matrices that allow you to quantify where you are.” 

2. Develop pathways that cross silos and sectors
   Next, stakeholders work together to map out how to move from the current state to SDG-aligned outcomes. “We make explicit where we are, where we want to go, and then we design systems-based pathways that allow the transition for each sector of the economy to a sustainable interaction between the four main systems: nature, infrastructure, economy, and society.” The process is iterative and co-designed with stakeholders at each stage. 

   Underpinning this step is an integrated modelling system – a “digital twin” of the economy and environment – which allows stakeholders to test transition pathways before implementation. By simulating different scenarios, stakeholders can identify trade-offs, understand cross-sector impacts, and prioritise the most effective interventions.

3. Align financing with the transition
   “The third step is to secure the money and instruments needed to deliver the plan described in step two.” This involves identifying funding sources, designing blended finance strategies, and structuring portfolios of projects that can realistically be delivered. For institutions, this reinforces a critical point: research impact depends not only on generating evidence, but on connecting that evidence to real-world funding and delivery mechanisms.

Putting systems thinking into practice: Living Labs

AE4RIA implements this approach through structured “living labs”: collaborative environments where research, policy, and practice come together to design and test real-world solutions.

For institutions, living labs offer a practical model for embedding research within decision-making processes, bringing together policymakers, industry, researchers, financiers, and civil society to co-develop solutions grounded in both evidence and local context. “We have developed different case studies across Europe, bringing together stakeholders to co-design the problem, the capacity on the ground, and potential solutions”, Phoebe Koundouri explains. 

One example focused on improving the climate resilience of Mediterranean ports (and by extension SDG13 and SDG14). Stakeholders included port authorities, ministries, businesses, financial institutions, regulators, NGOs, and researchers. These groups first agreed on the current state using shared data and modelling insights. They then co-designed a future vision and year-by-year transition actions to reach SDG targets. A digital innovation platform, BRIGAID, supported knowledge sharing and the integration of market-ready climate adaptation solutions.

Enabling collaboration: Engagement and digital infrastructure

Co-development of solutions like this relies heavily on participation from a wide range of stakeholders, which can be a challenge. “It’s a volunteering process, but it’s costly,” explains Eleni Toli, Senior Researcher, AE4RIA. Maintaining participation relies on transparency and accountability, as well as financial support for key contributors.

“Sometimes you start with high ambitions and engagement, but after some time, people tend to be less involved. It’s also a burden for the organisers. It’s important that key stakeholders are reimbursed for their work and also supported in doing [it].” - Eleni Toli, Senior Researcher, AE4RIA

These challenges directly informed AE4RIA’s development of digital tools to support its . These tools function as shared knowledge infrastructure, providing democratic access to information, a record of actions, and continuous collaboration across stakeholders.

Crucially, the platform connects participants to the underlying modelling system, enabling stakeholders to move beyond discussion to evidence-based decision-making. Different policy options, investment choices, or technological interventions can be explored and tested within the model, helping participants understand trade-offs, identify synergies across sectors, and anticipate economic and social impacts before implementation.

Ensuring knowledge transfer and scalability

AE4RIA’s approach is designed to scale learnings from one setting can be applied in others, without having to start again from scratch. “The systems thinking and modelling approach aims to cover all countries in the world”, explains Professor Koundouri.

Using a taxonomy of similarity (economic, political, policy or socioeconomic similarity), elements of a case study can be transferred and replicated to others across the region. While transferred pathways may not have the same level of detail as a full case study, they provide a strong foundation for integration into national plans. For institutions, this demonstrates how research impact can extend beyond individual projects, contributing to broader, transferable solutions.

P站视频’s SDG report highlights the growing connection between research and policy. AE4RIA’s work demonstrates what it takes to extend that connection into implementation.  For institutions, the opportunity now lies in moving beyond knowledge production and dissemination to actively supporting the systems that enable research to be used, connecting data, stakeholders and funding in ways that translate research into delivery.

Take a closer look at the report: .

About Professor Dr. Phoebe Koundouri

Professor Dr. Phoebe Koundouri is a globally renowned mathematical economist who has pioneered human-centred, interdisciplinary modelling systems for the sustainable interaction between nature, society, and the economy. She brings nearly 30 years of academic leadership and research excellence at leading institutions, including the University of Cambridge, University College London (UCL), the London School of Economics (LSE), the University of Reading, and the Technical University of Denmark. She is consistently ranked among the top 2% of world scientists in multiple prestigious international listings, with an academic record that includes 21 books, more than 800 published papers, over 100 large-scale research projects, and measurable impact in more than 120 countries.

She is currently Professor at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB); Visiting Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge; and Senior Research Fellow at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, her alma mater. She is the Founder of the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Aeiphoria (AE4RIA), a global research and innovation network bringing together more than 200 researchers. AE4RIA is anchored in ReSEES.AE4RIA at AUEB and SDU.AE4RIA at the ATHENA Information Technology Research Center, both research centres directed by Professor Koundouri.

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