The first UN Conference on the Human-Environment was held in Stockholm 1972 (often referred to as the Stockholm Conference) and alerted the world to the multiple ways human activities were damaging the environment on which society relies. The Stockholm Conference was a clarion call to national leaders and scientific communities to work together to find sustainable solutions to the growing threats to our environment. This panel discussion among ecological leaders will explore the future advances in ecological research needed to meet Earth system and societal challenges that continue to threaten the sustainable future of our planet. The outcome of the Stockholm Conference was to set an ambitious agenda to guide nations in their dealings with a range of interrelated challenges including climate change, altered biogeochemical cycles, land fragmentation, eutrophication, and biodiversity losses that are limiting the capacity of Earth’s environmental systems to provide key ecosystem services essential to society. As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, these challenges have grown and have become threats to clean air, clean water, food security, health security, nature-based mitigation of climate change, and so much more. In this Special Session, a panel discussion will highlight the role of ecologists in framing and implementing the interdisciplinary approaches that are emerging to meet the challenges affecting the societal well-being and the Earth system. This session will be followed by a companion session, SYMP 2: “Looking Beyond Stockholm +50: Moving toward Solutions: System Approaches to Sustaining Human-environment systems”.