COST was in New York last month for the Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly. COST hosted a reception for the international research and innovation community at the European Union’s delegation to the United Nations in order to showcase how COST Actions contribute to United Nations objectives.

COST research networks have been engaging with UN objectives for many years in various ways, either by partnering with different UN bodies, actively working to address the Sustainable Development Goals, or being officially endorsed by the UN. One of the four COST Actions explained was inDust.

inDust

The International Network to Encourage the Use of Monitoring and Forecasting Dust Products (inDust) aimed to to establish a network involving research institutions, service providers and potential end users of information on airborne dust that could assist the diverse socio-economic sectors affected by the presence of high concentrations of airborne mineral dust. A highly influential and impactful network, inDust ended in 2021 but it’s impact is long lasting, especially when you look at it’s policy influence.

Earlier in the summer the United Nations declared 12 July as the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms. The objective of this milestone day is to raise awareness about the importance for health and sustainability whilst also stressing the need for global and regional cooperation to manage and mitigate the effects of sand and dust storms. inDust was a precursor to this thanks to it’s influential work with World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and impact in the policy field as it advocated for global efforts and awareness raising.

Learn more about the varied impact of inDust in our Long Read.

Link to the event: https://www.cost.eu/action-contribute-un/