Synthesis of the discussions held at the International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production: Ten years working together for a sustainable future

The 2017 International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 24–26, 2017, promoted an assisted discussion workshop directed by Donald Huisingh. The workshop focused on the role of the Advances in Cleaner Production Network to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Discussions with the workshop participants were oriented around five basic subjects: 1. The main objective of the Advances in Cleaner Production Network; 2. The international collaboration in research planning, implementation and in dissemination of research findings; 3. The inclusion of researchers from under-represented regions of the world; 4. The future collaboration among members and 5. The new activities to help society to “Accelerate the Transition to Equitable, Sustainable, Livable, Post-Fossil Carbon Societies.” Furthermore, the participants were asked on which specific set of Sustainable Development Goals they mostly contribute through their research, in order to draw a picture of the main scientific contributions of the Network to the SDGs enterprise. Challenges that emerged from the workshop involved the need for value-added communication and collaboration among members, and further progress in both theoretical and practical cleaner production approaches. Concerning the generation and sharing of new viewpoints, the main issue that emerged was the variety of positive connections that should be strengthened among potential collaborators. Improving and expanding the helpfulness of online sharing platforms and social media, mostly for managing discussion opportunities, was underlined for expanding the partnerships and in improving the networking. This paper reports and shares the results of the assisted discussions to reach our dynamically growing scientific community and to encourage, engage and empower researchers throughout the world to work in partnerships under the umbrella of the SDGs.