To all INGSA Members and supporters,

It is with horror that I have watched the events unfolding in Ukraine, and my heartfelt thoughts go out to the Ukrainian people.

Russia's actions have thrown an already unstable world further into flux. Science, at its best, helps to bridge divides and enable collaboration, even of the most unlikely partners - yet it is also enmeshed in a political context that it cannot ignore.

I, and INGSA, have just released a statement in support of Ukraine and of science as a global public good, in the hope of helping to navigate some of the tensions science and diplomacy is faced with. We hope that you'll take a moment to read it and, if possible, to share it with others.

The world is rapidly changing and there is a great deal of activity across the network of people and projects working to learn the lessons of today, to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.

May you all stay safe in 2022,

Rémi Quirion

President of INGSA

INGSA: Science Opens Borders ... War Closes Them

GLOBAL: INGSA's Statement in Support of Ukraine and Science as a Global Good

"The International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) applauds and fully endorses efforts made by Ukrainian and Russian scientists to condemn the invasion and stress the universality of science as a global public good. Keeping international networks and key research projects going, despite the necessity to pause and take stock in some cases, should remain our overriding objective..."

Read the full statement, and share, in English, French, Ukrainian, and Russian.

ANNOUNCING:

SOUTHEAST ASIA: The INGSA-Asia Regional Chapter will be collaborating with the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) on an extensive project to counter zoonotic spillover of High Consequence Pathogens in Southeast Asia.

A series of workshops will bring together experts and stakeholders from all along the live animal supply chain, to identify and develop recommendations and interventions that can be contextually adapted across the region.

See the project website for more information.

If you or your organisation work in research, regulation or policy development in agriculture export or food health in Southeast Asia or China, then please contact Xiu Heng KOH at the INGSA-Asia office

OPPORTUNITIES:

GLOBAL: INGSA is one of the partners in the International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), and for almost two years has been helping to synthesise rapid, rigorous, and policy-ready advice on all aspects of the pandemic.

The project has been a great success and on the 24th March 2022, IPPO will host a day-long event to take stock of the many policy responses and research initiatives that have been launched over the intervening two years. INGSA will kick off this event with a 1-hour global overview panel, featuring:

• Prof Rafael Radi, General Coordinator of the Honorary Scientific Advisory Group, Uruguay
• Dr Inaya Rakhmani, Director, Asia Research Centre, Universitas Indonesia
• Prof Sir Peter Gluckman, President of the International Science Council
• and more...

Registration for the online event is free at this link.

ASIA: Building upon last year’s overwhelming response, INGSA-Asia is now calling upon scientists, researchers, academics and practitioners all across Asia to submit their proposals and applications for the 2022 Grassroots Science Advice Promotion Awards.

Award recipients will receive a seed grant worth €1000 to organise workshops which highlight the role of science advice in pertinent issues in their home countries.

The deadline for submission is 30 April 2022.

For more information, please download the application guideline here or email us at ingsa.asia@gmail.com.

GLOBAL: Dr Heide Hackmann has decided to step down as the Chief Executive Officer of the International Science Council to take up a role at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa, as Interim Director of the Future Africa Institute.

Heide has been an incredible ambassador for science and pivotal in the development of the ISC - overseeing the merger of its two constituent organisation into a singular entity now highly recognisable and respected around the world.

INGSA would like to thank Heide for her tireless work and wish her the best on her future endeavours. She leave the ISC in a strong position to continue the growth of the organisation and its impact in every corner of the globe - find out more at the ISC.

A global process is now underway to find her replacement. Applications close on the 29th April.

GLOBAL: The Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) has launching a Special Issue call for papers and competition on Open Science Policies as an Accelerator for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Submission deadline of July 10, 2022. 

WEBINAR SERIES: To provide prospective authors with opportunities to practice policy writing for the Special Issue, and to empower them with expert perspectives, the JSPG is organising:

• A Writing Workshop (26 & 27 March)
• A Webinar Series (April-June)

For more info on the Call for Papers and the Webinar Sessions, visit the website

GLOBAL: From 16-20 May 2022, the Geneva Coalition on Anticipatory Science and Diplomacy will organise the inaugural Science Diplomacy Week in Geneva to promote anticipatory Science and Diplomacy as an effective tool for a renewed multilateralism.

INGSA is a partner in the Coalition and will be assisting with the Science Diplomacy Immersion Program. An Open Forum will also allow for exchange, capacity development and mutual learning between the diplomatic and scientific communities.

The week will be underpinned by the recent GESDA Science Breakthrough Radar, which identifies the key science revolutions that will shape the future 5, 10 and 25 years.

For more information see the event website.

GLOBAL: In collaboration with the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ), INGSA is supporting the establishment of a Francophone network in science advice. Announced as a new division of INGSA during the conference in Montreal, the network will be based in Quebec but will extend its action through European and African branches.

Last February, 30 members of the Quebec research and practice communities met during an online forum to exchange ideas on the call for proposals to select the network’s secretariat. This call, which will also have been devised with the advice of the network’s steering committee, will be launched this in the next couple of months.

The selected team will then be announced in the northern hemisphere Fall 2022.

News From Across The Network:

GLOBAL: As the INGSA 2021 conference took place in a Francophone territory, the organisation took the opportunity to explore the practices of science advice in the French-speaking world.

Presented in collaboration with the city of Montreal and the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), the day dedicated to the Francophonie demonstrated the importance of considering science advice in its cultural, linguistic and institutional contexts.

To learn more about the relationship between science and policy in the Francophone community, read the report (French only): https://bit.ly/3vqxo9n

COSTA RICA: The University of Costa Rica, together with key stakeholders including UNESCO and INGSA-Latin America and the Caribbean, is organising its first course on Science Diplomacy in Spanish, from and for Central America.

This course will be held on the university campus in San José from April 26 to 29, 2022. The objective is to bring together the scientific and the diplomatic community to transfer skills in Science Diplomacy, around the key development challenges of the region.

The course will draw on the expertise of María Estelí Jarquín, Marga Gual Soler, Jan Marco Mueller, Melania Guerra, Alma Hernández, Sandra López, and others.

INGSA would like to congratulate the University of Costa Rica for the launch of the course!

GLOBAL: The Foreign Ministries S&T Advice Network (FMSTAN) is a grouping of high level science advisors in Foreign Ministries. On the 10-11 March, FMSTAN convened a joint meeting with the network of Science Diplomacy Coordinators in EU Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

The meeting was generously hosted at ITER in France, the construction site of the world's largest fusion reactor and a standout example of Science Diplomacy at work. The invasion of the Ukraine by one of the members of the ITER project ensured that the meeting was going to be interesting, and the agenda ranged over many of the future challenges for science diplomacy - from quantum to the space race.

It was the first face-to-face meting of FMSTAN since 2019 and bodes well for future in-person events.

GLOBAL: "It is good economic strategy to protect your ecosystems. And it is good environmental strategy to develop your society..."

The INGSA Horizon Series of interviews is back in 2022! The first for the new year will be an interview with renowned lawyer, activist, and teacher, Dean Prof Antonio La Viña from the Manila Observatory.

In an energising interview with INGSA-Asia Chair, Prof Abhi Veerakumaravisam, Prof Viña discusses harmonising the perceived dichotomy between sustainability and development.

This is a critical discussion as 2022 will be a pivotal year for climate and biodiversity with events such as the 27th UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh and the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming.

Follow INGSA-Asia on Facebook or on Twitter to find out when the video is released.

New Reports:

Science and Diplomacy Special Issue on Emerging Tech and Science Diplomacy

In February, the journal Science and Diplomacy, released a Special Issue on the many and varied intersections between novel technologies and diplomacy.

From Biotech, to quantum, to vaccine diplomacy the edition makes for very enlightening reading.

Read it here.

Unleashing Science - Mission-led research for the SDGs

If the SDGs are to be met then global science needs to align its activity. Led by the ISC's Unleashing Science Report, the ISC has announced a Commission to administer a $100 million fund to help coordinate mission-led science initiatives.

If a small proportion of the global science budget is strategically redeployed we might still make the goals of Agenda2030

Read Unleashing Science here

The International Network for Government Science Advice is a New Zealand-based

International Organisation hosted at the University of Auckland.

INGSA operates under the auspices of the International Science Council (ISC). 

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