MDPI is proud to be a part of the World Sustainability Forum – now in its tenth year.

The 10th World Sustainability Forum (WSF2023) will be a 24-hour, hybrid event and will be held in three locations: Singapore, Basel, and Toronto. The date for the event is the 14th of September, 2023.

History of the World Sustainability Forum

The World Sustainability Forum, or WSF, started in 2011. It was held online and addressed a wide range of topics, including environmental sustainability; economical sustainability; renewable energy self-sufficiency; governance and sustainability, and more. It was a successful event, fostering dozens of avenues of research and ideas.

The first four forums (held from 2011 to 2014) were hosted online at MDPI’s event platform, Sciforum. In its fifth year, WSF was an in-person conference, and was held at Universitätsspital Basel, in Basel, Switzerland. The World Sustainability Forum continued to aim to be a platform for researchers to present and engage with research-relevant stakeholders on issues relating to sustainability. Three thematic areas were identified for the event. From Cape Town, South Africa, to Beijing, China, WSF has continued to grow and touch the lives of more and more academics around the world.

What is sustainability?

Broadly speaking, sustainability is defined in many different ways, but tends to touch on the same ideas. “Sustainability” aims for the sustainable development and growth of the environment, culture, economics, and aims for social sustainability of human beings. The subject areas might feel broad, but this is not a failure of defining sustainability – it is an indicator of how many aspects of our world it addresses.

It is not hard to see why the term “sustainability” is short form for “human survival”.

Why did MDPI launch Sustainability?

Sustainability is one of MDPI’s largest and most successful journals. At the time of writing, it boasts an Impact Factor of 3.889 and a Citescore of 5.0. One of the reasons why MDPI has invested so heavily in Sustainability‘s growth and success came down to the core principles that the company aims to espouse, those of a better and more sustainable world.

In brief, the journal launched in 2009 as a quarterly publication, and the following year switched over to a monthly publication schedule. It was only a year after that that the first World Sustainability Forum (WSF2011) was held. To learn more about the journal, and to review its Special Issues covering the many different WSF events, we encourage further reading.

If you want to learn more about the history of the journal, check out our Spotlight on Sustainability article.

World Sustainability Forum 2023

MDPI is thrilled to see the tenth World Sustainability Forum see so much interest. This year, WSF2023 will be held in three cities spanning the world.

The first, the Singapore Hub, will address questions of “Sustainability for Social and Community Impact” and will be chaired by Professor Horn Mun Cheah and Associate Professor Renee Tan.

The second hub, Basel, chaired by Prof. Dr. Anet Režek Jambrak and Dr. Lela Mélonwill be covering “Sustainability in Interdisciplinary Sciences – Tools, Organization, Approaches and Sustainable Transition”.

The third and final hub, Chaired by Dr. Umberto Berardi, in Toronto, will be discussing “The Sustainable Built Environment”.

WSF2023 – Singapore Hub

Professor Horn Mun Cheah and Associate Professor Renee Tan will be chairing the Singapore Hub of the 2023 World Sustainability Forum. The Singapore Hub will consist of three different panels:

1. Sustainability Through Innovation
2. The Future of Sustainability
3. Panel Showcase

There will also be Panels, Poster Sessions, and networking.

WSF2023 – Basel Hub

Chaired by Prof. Dr. Anet Režek Jambrak from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and Dr. Lela Mélon from ESCI-UPF, Spain the Basel Hub will cover four sessions:

1. Towards Low Carbon Emissions Processing and Digitalisation in the Food Industry
2. Impact of Food Research on Society, Economy and Environment
3. Sustainability in Higher Education
4. Corporate Sustainability

We’re also excited to note an excellent Keynote Speaker, Prof. Dr. Ilija Djekic from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, will be joining us.

WSF2023 – Toronto Hub

The Toronto Hub, chaired by Dr. Umberto Berardi from the Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada, is focused on “Sustainability in the Built Environment”. It will consist of three sessions:

1. Green Cities
2. Smart Cities
3. Low Carbon Cities

We’re delighted to have Prof. Dr. Ursula Eicker, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Cities and Communities from Concordia University Montréal and Prof. Dr. Mohamed Lachemi, President and Vice-Chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University, joining us as Keynote Speakers.

Participating in World Sustainability Forum 2023

We encourage the submission of abstracts for the World Sustainability Forum. Participating in this conference is something that can help the dissemination of ideas to the wider community and allows a bigger platform for visibility.

To submit an abstract, be sure to visit the Sciforum platform. If you want to participate in the events, you can also register online and directions to get to all of the venues, be it by plane or train, are available on the website. We look forward to seeing you there!

Don’t forget, the deadline is June 4th, 2023.

MDPI Sustainability Foundation

Finally, we would like to draw your attention to the MDPI Sustainability Foundation.

From the website,

One of MDPI Sustainability Foundation’s main purposes is to promote scientific dialogue and the exchange of information among interested organizations. As part of this effort, it has initiated the World Sustainability Forum (WSF), an international conference where the Award is presented, as well as its smaller counterpart—the local Sustainability Forum.

To learn more be sure to visit the site.