As part of UNU, the mandate of UNU-FLORES is to support the United Nations and its member states through research, postgraduate education and capacity building.
Prior to his directorship, Ardakanian was the Director of the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development since 2007, and was Vice-Rector of UNU in Europe, ad interim (2009–2011).
One of the notable events arising from the collaboration between UNU-FLORES and PRISMA – Centre for Sustainability Assessment and Policy on behalf of TU Dresden, is the Nexus Seminar Series.
[10] The joint seminar series, which launched in 2015, features lectures by senior scholars that highlight all dimensions of research on the Nexus Approach, ranging from hands-on implementation strategies to theoretical debates.
The Nexus Seminars serve not only as a platform for scientific exchange and cooperation between UNU-FLORES and TU Dresden but also a medium for the partner institutions to discuss their research with a broader audience.
Jointly organised with TU Dresden and the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), the first biennial conference was held from 25–27 March 2015.
[11] Each day was centred around the Nexus Approach vis-à-vis one aspect of global change: climate, urbanisation and population growth, to achieve the potential targets of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.