The new organization was established to be the global voice for science, and to advance science as a global public good. The ISC’s founding strategy emphasizes that scientific understanding has never been more important to society, as humanity grapples with the problems of living sustainably and equitably on planet Earth.
In this context, and at a time when it has become harder for the scientific voice to be heard, the ISC defends the inherent value and values of science, advises decision-makers and encourages open public engagement with science.
For additional information on the merger process, see this Gitbook, which was updated regularly during the merger.
Key highlights
International Council for Science (ICSU)
ICSU brought together scientists from around the world working on the most important modern scientific questions. The organization encouraged international scientific cooperation and addressed research challenges through an array of Interdisciplinary Bodies, partnered with other organizations on Joint Initiatives and coordinated international programmes – among them the 2007-2008 International Polar Year, the 1964-1974 International Biological Programme and the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year.
ICSU played a vital role in providing science-based advice to policy-makers, including as principal scientific adviser to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, and to the WSSD in 2002 in Johannesburg.
ICSU organized international conferences and mobilized the scientific community through global partnerships and programmes. Major ICSU projects include the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, DIVERSITAS: An International Programme of Biodiversity Science and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change.
ICSU’s legacy also includes the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), which it founded in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization. The WCRP remains the longest-running global initiative solely dedicated to the coordination of climate research.
Timeline of the ICSU
| 9 October 1899 | Foundation of the International Association of Academies, Wiesbaden, Germany. World War I effectively ends this first attempt at grouping the world’s academies together. |
| 1919-31 | International Research Council — inaugural meeting in Brussels, preparations for foundation of ICSU to include Scientific Unions as Members. |
| 1931 | ICSU founded in Brussels. Unions now full members |
| 1947 | Formal relations established with UNESCO |
| 1957 | Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) established |
| 1957-58 | International Geophysical Year, also the 3rd International Polar Year |
| 1958 | Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) created |
| 1960 | Launch of the Scientific Committee on Frequency Allocations for Radio Astronomy and Space Science (IUCAF) |
| 1962-7 | Years of the Quiet Sun — A follow-up effort to IGY, which had been organized during a solar maximum, this programme aimed to undertake research during a solar minimum |
| 1964-74 | International Biological Programme — inspired by the IGY, this was a decadal effort to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies. |
| 1966 | Committee On Science & Technology in Developing Countries (COSTED) created (the precursor of the Regional Offices), Committee on Data (CODATA) established, Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP) established |
| 1967 | Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP) (precursor of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)) founded (with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)) |
| 1980 | WCRP succeeds GARP |
| 1985 | The ICSU “Ringberg Conference” explores the future of science and ICSU’s role in it. It calls for a broadening of the disciplines involved in ICSU’s activities, specifically naming social scientists, engineers and medical scientists. |
| 1985 | Villach meeting: The joint UNEP/WMO/ICSU conference “International Assessment of the Role of Carbon Dioxide and of other Greenhouse Gases in Climate Variations and Associated Impacts” is remembered as a turning point in creating global awareness of climate change. |
| 1987 | Launch of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). |
| 1989 | Advisory Committee on the Environment set up to guide ICSU’s multidisciplinary work on the environment |
| 1990 | ICSU accepts invitation to become principal scientific adviser to the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992) and has a visible role at the event |
| 1990 | Visegrad conference on International Science and its Partners continues the Ringberg effort to enlarge ICSU’s reach including to the private sector |
| 1991 | Launch of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) (with UNESCO IOC, WMO, UNEP) |
| 1991 | ICSU organizes Conference in Vienna on An Agenda of Science for Evironment and Development (ASCEND 21) |
| 1992 | INASP created as the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (with UNESCO, The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)) |
| 1992 | Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) launched (with WMO, UNESCO IOC, UNEP) |
| 1996 | International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) created – co-sponsored ICSU-ISSC, based on ISSC’s HDP created in 1990. ICSU becomes a co-sponsor of DIVERSITAS. |
| 1996 | Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS) created (with WMO, UNESCO, UNEP, FAO) |
| 2002-2007 | Regional Offices established in Africa, Asia & Pacific, Latin America & Caribbean |
| 2007-08 | Fourth International Polar Year |
| 2008 | Launch of Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR, with ISSC and UNISDR) and of the World Data System (WDS) |
| 2011 | Launch of Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment (with UNU & IAP) |
| 2012 | Launch of Future Earth at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 as a merger of IGBP, IHDP and DIVERSITAS |
| 2014 | Launch of the International Network on Government Science Advice (INGSA) |
| 2015 | Launch of the “Science International” partnership with ISSC, IAP and TWAS |
| 2017 | Members vote overwhelmingly in favour of a merger of ICSU and ISSC |
| 2018 | ICSU and ISSC merge to become the International Science Council (ISC). |
International Social Science Council (ISSC)
The origins of the ISSC lie in the aftermath of the Second World War, an era marked by the expectation that the social sciences would contribute directly to solving social problems.
In 1950, the World Congress of International Sociological and Political Science Associations called for “the development, as rapidly as possible, of an International Council for Social Research to serve as a clearing house, a centre of information and consultation, an instrument for facilitating co-operative and comparative studies”.
The following year, the 6th General Conference of UNESCO passed a resolution which formally led to the founding of the ISSC. The new organization was mandated to study the implications of technological change and survey social-science research institutes, aiming to understand how they could encourage scientific collaboration and find solutions to global problems.
The ISSC was guided by the principles of academic freedom, pursuit of excellence, and equitable access to scientific information and data. It advocated for open communication and transparency, accountability and the use of knowledge to benefit all of society. The ISSC also prioritized the participation of women and others who have been historically under-represented in social science research.
Timeline of the ISSC
| October 1952 | Constitutive Assembly of the International Social Science Council held in Paris, France, followed a year later by the first General Assembly and elections of the Executive Committee. The ISSC’s first Secretary-General was French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss and its first President Donald Young, a sociologist from the United States. |
| 1953 | The International Bureau for Research into the Social Implications of Technological Progress (BIRISPT) was created in 1953 as a research arm of the ISSC. It was led by Georges Balandier, a French anthropologist. |
| 1962 | The ISSC started publishing Social Science Information (SSI)/ Information sur les sciences sociales, a bilingual, pluri-disciplinary journal reporting on critical intellectual and institutional social science developments worldwide. |
| 1963 | The ISSC established the Coordination Centre for Social Science Research and Documentation – better known as the ‘Vienna Centre’ – to support cooperation and collaborations between Eastern and Western European social scientists on problems of shared relevance and interest. |
| 1965 | Standing Committees were established for programmes of research in three new areas: comparative studies, data archives and environmental disruption. |
| 1972 | The ISSC statutes were revised, making the ISSC a federation of international disciplinary associations, following the model of ICSU, and of the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (CIPSH). The structural change increased membership, with the accession of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA), the International Law Association (ILA), the International Geographical Union (IGU), the International Society for Criminology (ISC), the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) and World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). |
| 1973 | The ISSC established the Conference of National Social Science Councils and Analogous Bodies (CNSSC, now the International Federation of Social Science Organizations, IFSSO) to facilitate cooperation between national social science bodies. |
| 1973 | Stein Rokkan was elected as ISSC President in 1973. Together with Secretary-General Samy Friedman, he initiated four new areas of thematic and structural work: World Models, to study and review computer models for forecasting long-term trends of change; Urban Networks, to advance comparative analysis of interactions among cities and the consequences of locational patterns for inequalities; World Social Science Development, a Committee of ‘Third World’ social scientists developing a set of joint activities, and Social Conditions, an advisory group identifying priority tasks for research and action in the social sciences. |
| 1988 | In the context of growing public concern about the environment, the Human Dimensions of Global Change Committee (HDGC) was formed to study interactions between human activities and the whole Earth System. |
| 1992 | The Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP) was established in 1992, with support from the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway. CROP’s mission is to build independent and critical knowledge on poverty, and to help shape policies for preventing and eradicating poverty. |
| 2008 | The Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme (IRDR) was launched by the ISSC, ICSU and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). IRDR is an integrated research programme focused on dealing with the challenges brought by natural disasters, mitigating their impacts, and improving related policy mechanisms. |
| 2009 | The first World Social Science Forum took place in Bergen, Norway, on the topic ‘One Planet: Worlds Apart?’ |
| 2010 | The World Social Science Report on ‘Knowledge Divides’ was published. The Report reviews how social science knowledge is produced, disseminated and used in different parts of the world. |
| 2012 | The World Social Science Fellows programme was launched with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The aim of the programme was to foster a new generation of globally networked research leaders who would collaborate in addressing global problems with particular relevance for low- and middle-income countries. Between 2012 and 2015 over 200 early-career scientists were selected to participate in a series of seminars, conferences and networking events on urgent global challenges. |
| 2012 | Launch of Future Earth at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 as a merger of IGBP, IHDP and DIVERSITAS. |
| 2013 | The 2013 World Social Science Forum took place in Montreal, Canada, on the topic of ‘Social Transformations and the Digital Age’. |
| 2013 | The 2013 World Social Science Report was co-published with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The topic was ‘Changing Global Environments’. The Report issued an urgent call to the international social science community to deliver solutions-oriented knowledge on pressing environmental problems. |
| 2014 | The Transformations to Sustainability programme was launched with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The programme aims to support inter- and trans-disciplinary research led by social scientists to contribute knowledge on social transformations towards sustainability. |
| 2015 | The 2015 World Social Science Forum gathered around 1000 participants in Durban, South Africa. The topic was ‘Transforming Global Relations for a Just World’. |
| 2016 | The 2016 World Social Science Report was produced by the ISSC in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). The topic was ‘Challenging Inequalities: Pathways to a Just World’. |
| 2017 | ISSC Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a merger with ICSU during a joint meeting in Taipei. |
| 2018 | A new phase of the Transformations to Sustainability programme developed by the ISSC, the Belmont Forum of research funders and the NORFACE network of social science funders was launched. It will fund twelve international projects for three years. |
| 2018 | ISSC merged with ICSU to become the International Science Council (ISC). |