Meeting the challenge

As chemists, we all recognise the major role that our science plays in providing the comfortable modern lifestyles we appreciate, from healthcare to safe drinking water to high-yield agriculture. But what global challenges await us in the coming decades and how can the chemical sciences help tackle them?

The RSC's Roadmap project has set out to identify those global issues where the chemical sciences are needed most, and it will help focus the science community's efforts in these areas. It will also provide better direction to the RSC's engagement with UK and EU policy. 

In March 2008 the EPSRC announced that priority for its research funding would be given to major global challenges - the Roadmap will help the funding council realise these challenges.

The project began earlier this year through a series of workshops, with expert participants invited to establish the key thematic areas to investigate. The discussion has now been broadened with RSC members and non-members alike contributing. 

First consultation

The RSC gathered information from previous reports and the various related workshops and divided the challenges into the eight thematic areas of Energy, Food, Water, Raw Materials & Feedstocks, Human & Animal Health, Future Cities, Lifestyle & Recreation and Public Engagement & Trust. 

A series of issues fell under each of these areas and the RSC asked the wider community to comment and contest the findings, identifying the chemical science opportunities that would have the greatest impact in tackling the challenges. With a good response from members and non-members alike, totalling over 1200 comments, here are some of the debates.

Opportunities

Food sustainability attracted a lot of interest in the consultation and many of the responses coincided with the finding of the RSC and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) food report, which will be launched later this year.

Respondents generally agreed that the chemical sciences will be critical in ameliorating risks to supply, and in increasing production efficiency at all stages of the food supply chain. They also commented that the demands placed on the environment must be taken into account in a full life cycle analysis.

In the area of Energy several potential opportunities emerged. If we are to continue to rely on fossil fuels, a big opportunity could be in the development of carbon capture and storage. Likewise a number of participants considered the development of fuel cells as an important area for chemistry and related disciplines to explore. 

Advances in fuel cell technologies, such as improved membranes and catalysts, have the potential not only to increase their effectiveness but also reduce their cost, making fuel cells a practical and commercially viable option. 
Energy and Food weren't the only priority areas to generate numerous views in the consultation.

The issue of ageing, within the area of Human & Animal Health, attracted comments from 20% of respondents. Some identified diagnostics and monitoring as techniques that have the potential to tackle the challenge of an ageing population, whilst also being important for a range of other health-related issues. 

The subject of personalised medicines also provoked many responses. With a multidisciplinary approach, there is the potential for the chemical sciences to develop a greater understanding in genomics and epigenomics to remove the limitations of traditional medicines.

Moving forward

With such a wide range of responses, the RSC must now assess the findings, focussing on particular challenges and opportunities to take forward. 
To assist in this, the RSC held a workshop in August, bringing together the various disciplines, with representation from all of the RSC divisions and forums. 

Implementation of the Roadmap findings will play a major role in influencing RSC strategy as well as the work of industry, academia and the broader community. It will also provide a better mechanism to inform government and international policy.

This year's General Assembly on 14-15 November will be a platform to launch the initial findings and will provide an opportunity for RSC interest groups to get involved. 

Member participation has been a central part of the process so far and, alongside work with external stakeholders, will be key to the implementation phase.

What is needed now?

We are inviting all RSC members, as well as the wider community, to comment further on the chemical science priorities in the second phase of open consultation. 

This consultation will provide a chance to respond to the outcome of the workshop and to prioritise where the main opportunities lie for chemistry. For those interested in taking part for the first time, registration is open on the website (see link below).

The consultation will help determine what areas are taken forward in the future, by the RSC and external stakeholders, so let us know your views - they really will count!