CSaP Annual Conference 2025: Resilience in a changing world

CSaP Annual Conference 2025: Resilience in a changing world

24 June 2025, The Royal Society

This year our annual conference explored the theme 'Resilience in a changing world'. Distinguished speakers from government, academia and civil society addressed some of the key policy challenges facing the UK government, including: disinformation, security and democracy; mental health and neurodiversity in in young people; critical minerals and net zero; pandemic emergencies; life sciences and healthcare; and more.

Thank you to our sponsors Overton, the Centre for Pandemic Risk Management and Cambridge Zero.

To listen to the talks and read the reports, click on the links below. Alternatively, you can find all the talks in our annual conference playlist on YouTube.

For a full list of speakers and topics, please download a copy of the agenda.

Opening plenary: Life sciences, healthcare and economic growth

In a time of mounting economic and social pressure, the 2025 CSaP Annual Conference opened with a pragmatic discussion of the UK health system’s challenges and the role of research and innovation in tackling them.

Listen to the discussion and read our report >

Parallel seminars

1) Pandemic emergencies

Organised in collaboration with the Centre for Pandemic Risk Management, this session brought together leading experts from academia and government to explore the future of pandemic risk management.

Read our report >

2) Critical minerals and net zero

Organised in collaboration with Cambridge Zero, this session unpacked the geopolitical, economic and environmental dimensions of securing the minerals essential for a net-zero future.

Listen to the discussion and read our report >

3) Disinformation, security and democracy

This session explored how disinformation shapes and is shaped by political and social developments. Our panellists brought their research, expertise and experience to bear on this pressing issue and its potential effects on security and democracy.

Listen to the discussion and read our report >

4) Supporting mental health and neurodiversity in young people

Our expert panel explored the multifaceted challenges in supporting children and young people with neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodiversity and mental health conditions, and shared insights on how policy and practice could evolve to improve outcomes.

Listen to the discussion and read our report >

5) What can academic evidence and expertise contribute to the UK’s housebuilding targets?

Labour’s 2025 manifesto included the ambitious target to build 1.5 million new houses within five years. So far, measures to achieve this have focussed on planning reforms, but other obstacles remain in the way of reaching the target. How might a better use of research and evidence work to unlock practical new solutions to one of this government’s most pressing challenges?

Listen to the discussion and read our report >

6) Networks & inclusive innovation – experiences from Cambridge and Manchester

Using the Manchester-Cambridge partnership as a case study, panellists explored how combining human and informational networks can foster inclusive innovation through engineered serendipity – the intentional design of environments that enable unexpected yet valuable connections.

Listen to the discussion and read our report >

Closing plenary: Highlights and key takeaways from the day’s discussions

Building resilience in a changing world requires thinking through how government can innovate, persuade and govern effectively within a challenging and rapidly evolving information ecosystem. To address these challenges, the 2025 CSaP Annual Conference brought together three speakers from panels throughout the day to reflect on the key takeaways from their respective panels.

Listen to the discussion and read our report >