CheMNet Inaugural Event: Making connections, exploring collaboration and the gaps
Published: 17 July 2025
Commentary
Dr Michelle Bloor writes that the launch of the Intergovernmental Panel in June 2025 set the stage for CheMNet’s inaugural July event, which united a global community to explore collaboration and shape the network’s future.
On the 20th June 2025 the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel for Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISPCWP) was established at an Intergovernmental Meeting in Punta de Este, Uruguay (Bloor, 2025). This historic moment was the perfect backdrop for CheMNet’s inaugural event that took place on the 8th July 2025 with the support of UKRI Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAA) funding. CheMNet is an interdisciplinary chemicals, waste and pollution stakeholder network, which has a global, multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary membership.
CheMNet’s inaugural event ‘making connections, exploring collaboration and the gaps’ was an opportunity to network within this new community, undertake knowledge exchange, discover collaborations for future research opportunities, and identify gaps that the community can explore. In addition, attendees also had the opportunity to help shape the future direction of the network.
Seventy people, with interdisciplinary expertise, from the UK, wider Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America attended the event, from academia, business, government and NGO sectors. The event started with an overview of the current landscape, an introduction to the University of Glasgow, it’s research centres, interdisciplinary research themes and networks, which was followed by an interwoven tapestry of invited speaker presentations and interactive engagement sessions throughout the day.
Our invited speakers included Lydia Niemi (Researcher, University of Highlands and Islands) who discussed pharmaceuticals and prescribing for the environment; Chris Hughes (Founder, Embark Chemicals Consulting) who explored environmental persistence; Stephanie Metzger (Policy Advisor, Royal Society of Chemistry) highlighting her science-policy work on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); Hannah Evans (PFAS Project Manager, FIDRA) presenting a UK river study on Trifluoroacetic acid (TFAs); Keith James (Head of Public Sector Partnerships, WRAP) who discussed waste to resource: gaps and opportunities; Brian Rae (Operations Manager, Environment and Place Service, Keep Scotland Beautiful) who spotlighted an array of microplastics and litter projects being undertaken in Scotland,and Sherika Whitelocke-Ballingsingh (Coordinator, Science Alliance) who introduced a new stakeholder science-policy network concept to support the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel for Chemicals, Waste and Pollution.
For the interactive engagement sections of the day, attendees self-selected into groups based on research themes of interest. The most popular research themes were 1) biodiversity and nature-based solutions, 2) water, wastewater and sludge, and 3) persistent organic pollutants (POPs), PFAS and TFAs. In these themed groups, attendees developed road maps for future research and collaboration, which included the creation of aspirational goals and the stepping stones/ project ideas that would help to achieve them. This was followed by exploration of the challenges that might hinder their progress, such as educational knowledge gaps ortraining needs. It is hoped that future collaborations and income generation will evolve from these preliminary road mapping activities.
The CheMNet community shared positive feedback on the event and there is a clear need for this interdisciplinary stakeholder network in the chemicals, waste and pollution arena, but what comes next? The community asked for more opportunities to network and discuss research, focused topic events, exploration of funding opportunities, and so much more. Wewill do a deep dive into the suggestions and plan for a future event for some time in the next few months, likely October/ November 2025.
First published: 17 July 2025