A call to action to all Members and Member networks in Africa

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The International Science Council and Future Africa signed an agreement in 2022 to co-design the ISC’s presence in Africa to respond to the need to support African agendas and capacities and strengthen the presence of African science on the global stage. The scientific expertise and African networks of both organizations are being brought together in the frame of this agreement to strengthen the influence of African science in the world.

As part of this process a consortium of partners is being convened to collaborate on leading a pan-African scoping and development process with the following objectives: 

• Review the current state of African sciences and science systems and the associated opportunities and challenges posed. 
• Explore collaborative avenues to accelerate African science system development, and enhance its voice, visibility, and influence in the global science arena.
• Ascertain interest and commitment of African science system leadership to collaborate in pursuing next-level action to advance African science systems. 
• Explore the institutional presence, the complementary role, and support of the ISC and other international multilateral institutions in advancing African science.  

A report and proposal to the ISC Governing Board will be provided by January 2025, to coincide with the ISC’s General Assembly. The report will suggest recommendations on collaborative avenues to accelerate the development of African science and enhance its voice, visibility, and influence in the global arena. The report is also expected to provide recommendations on the ISC’s future role and institutional presence in Africa, as well as an envisioned and feasible implementation pathway. 

About Future Africa

Future Africa is the University of Pretoria’s pan-African collaborative platform for research that works across the sciences and with society to address Africa’s biggest and most urgent contemporary challenges. Future Africa’s fundamental purpose is to develop and unleash the transformative potential of African sciences to inform and inspire a future of thriving African societies. Within the context of this overarching goal, Future Africa is a key partner in globally recognized pan-African open science platforms such as the Future Earth Africa Hub Leadership Centre, the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA), and the African Open Science Platform (AOSP).

A call to action

As part of the process outlined above, Future Africa is asking all stakeholders, including ISC Category 2 Members in Africa as well as the African networks of ISC Catgeory 1 and 3 Members, to contribute to a survey to inform a workshop on 4 December, which is to be held in the margins on the Science Forum South Africa (6 – 8 December 2023, Pretoria).

The workshop intends to reflect and share outcomes from the consultative convening with Africa’s leading science ecosystem stakeholders and to explore the current state, related opportunities and challenges for African science, and collaborative avenues to accelerate African science system development and enhance its influence, visibility and voice in the global science arena.

Survey

Please contribute to the survey below by Friday 24 November. You will need at least 15 minutes for the survey, and your answers are critical for informing the scoping exercise in the ISC and Future Africa agreement. We thank you in advance for contributing.

First name *

Last name *

Email *

On behalf of which ISC Member organization are you completing this survey *

Your position within this organization *

Part A: Organizational information

1. Country where your organization is based

2. Year that your organization was established

3. Please indicate the main source(s) of institutional funding for your organization. Tick all that apply.

• National government
• Non-governmental organization at national or regional level
• Corporate
• Private foundation(s)
• International development agencies
• Other

Other source(s) of funding, please specify:

4. Please indicate which of the types of organizations listed below are key collaborators (i.e., organizations involved as partners in the design and implementation of your organization’s projects/programmes). Tick all that apply.

• National government departments
• Other academies in Africa
• Other academies internationally
• Universities nationally
• Universities in Africa
• Universities internationally
• Regional scientific networks/organizations
• International scientific networks/organizations
• Industry
• Non-governmental organizations
• Multilateral organizations
• Other

Regional scientific networks/organizations – please specify

International scientific networks/organizations – please specify

Non-governmental organizations – please specify

Multilateral organizations – please specify

Part B: ISC membership

5. Have you nominated a representative for the ISC Governing Board in recent years?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

Please indicate the nature of your organization’s engagement with the ISC since its establishment in July 2018

6. Have you nominated a representative for another ISC structure, e.g. statutory or project committee, or through an open call for nominations for experts, e.g. through UN processes such as IPBES or UNEP Foresighting? Tick all that apply.

• ISC Statutory Committee for Science Planning (CSP)
• ISC Statutory Committee for Outreach and Engagement (COE)
• ISC Statutory Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science (CFRS)
• ISC Statutory Committee for Finance (CF)
• Other

Please indicate the nature of your organization’s engagement with the ISC since its establishment in July 2018

Other structure, committee or initative – please specify

7. Have representatives of your organization recently participated in ISC membership meetings, including General Assemblies and other membership events, e.g. Global Knowledge Dialogues? Tick all that apply.

• ISC Global Knowledge Dialogue events
• Mid-term Meeting of ISC Members (May 2023, Paris)
• Quarterly Zoom meetings wth the ISC President
• Other Zoom meetings dedicated to the ISC membership
• Other

Please indicate the nature of your organization’s engagement with the ISC since its establishment in July 2018

Other ISC events – please specify

8. Has your organization recently participated in ISC projects, programmes or other initiatives?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

Please indicate the nature of your organization’s engagement with the ISC since its establishment in July 2018

Yes – please specify which activities and nature of participation, e.g. LIRA, Transformations To Sustainability etc.

9. To what extent do you think your organization currently values its membership of the ISC?

• Not at all valued
• Slightly valued
• Neutral
• Significantly valued
• Extremely highly valued

We invite you to expand on your answer.

10. Is your organization a member of any other regional or international organizations?

• Yes
• No

Yes – Please specify the names of the organizations

Part C: Role of the ISC Secretariat

11. From the perspective of your organization, how would you rate the importance of the ISC for science and science systems development – globally?

• Not at all important
• Slightly important
• Neutral
• Very important
• Extremely important

12. From the perspective of your organization, how would you rate the importance of the ISC for science and science systems development – in Africa?

• Not at all important
• Slightly important
• Neutral
• Very important
• Extremely important

13. From the perspective of your organization, do you feel that the ISC through the collective strength of its membership could do more to advance science and science systems development – in your country?

• Yes
• No

14. From the perspective of your organization, do you feel that the ISC through the collective strength of its membership could do more to advance science and science systems development – in Africa?

• Yes
• No

Please tell us what it is you think the ISC could/should do?

15. How do you think your organization could engage more with the ISC and benefit from its ISC membership?

16. What role do you think of African ISC Members should ideally play in the ISC? E.g., how can African Members promote dialogue in ISC structures?

Part D: State of science systems in Africa

17. What is the most significant challenge that your organization experiences in fulfilling its mandate?

18. Thinking about science systems more broadly, how do you rank the current state of science systems in your country in relation to the following issues?

	Poor	Fair	Good	Very good	Excellent
Science education	PoorScience education Poor	FairScience education Fair	GoodScience education Good	Very goodScience education Very good	ExcellentScience education Excellent
Research outputs	PoorResearch outputs Poor	FairResearch outputs Fair	GoodResearch outputs Good	Very goodResearch outputs Very good	ExcellentResearch outputs Excellent
Scientific capacities	PoorScientific capacities Poor	FairScientific capacities Fair	GoodScientific capacities Good	Very goodScientific capacities Very good	ExcellentScientific capacities Excellent
International collaboration	PoorInternational collaboration Poor	FairInternational collaboration Fair	GoodInternational collaboration Good	Very goodInternational collaboration Very good	ExcellentInternational collaboration Excellent
Science-policy interactions	PoorScience-policy interactions Poor	FairScience-policy interactions Fair	GoodScience-policy interactions Good	Very goodScience-policy interactions Very good	ExcellentScience-policy interactions Excellent
Science-industry collaborations	PoorScience-industry collaborations Poor	FairScience-industry collaborations Fair	GoodScience-industry collaborations Good	Very goodScience-industry collaborations Very good	ExcellentScience-industry collaborations Excellent
Innovation	PoorInnovation Poor	FairInnovation Fair	GoodInnovation Good	Very goodInnovation Very good	ExcellentInnovation Excellent
Funding of science	PoorFunding of science Poor	FairFunding of science Fair	GoodFunding of science Good	Very goodFunding of science Very good	ExcellentFunding of science Excellent
Open science	PoorOpen science Poor	FairOpen science Fair	GoodOpen science Good	Very goodOpen science Very good	ExcellentOpen science Excellent
AI	PoorAI Poor	FairAI Fair	GoodAI Good	Very goodAI Very good	ExcellentAI Excellent

Is there anything else you’d like to share about the state of national science systems in your country?

19. How do you rank the state of science on the continent in relation to the following issues?

	Poor	Fair	Good	Very good	Excellent
Science education	PoorScience education Poor	FairScience education Fair	GoodScience education Good	Very goodScience education Very good	ExcellentScience education Excellent
Research outputs	PoorResearch outputs Poor	FairResearch outputs Fair	GoodResearch outputs Good	Very goodResearch outputs Very good	ExcellentResearch outputs Excellent
Scientific capacities	PoorScientific capacities Poor	FairScientific capacities Fair	GoodScientific capacities Good	Very goodScientific capacities Very good	ExcellentScientific capacities Excellent
International collaboration	PoorInternational collaboration Poor	FairInternational collaboration Fair	GoodInternational collaboration Good	Very goodInternational collaboration Very good	ExcellentInternational collaboration Excellent
Science-policy interactions	PoorScience-policy interactions Poor	FairScience-policy interactions Fair	GoodScience-policy interactions Good	Very goodScience-policy interactions Very good	ExcellentScience-policy interactions Excellent
Science-industry collaborations	PoorScience-industry collaborations Poor	FairScience-industry collaborations Fair	GoodScience-industry collaborations Good	Very goodScience-industry collaborations Very good	ExcellentScience-industry collaborations Excellent
Innovation	PoorInnovation Poor	FairInnovation Fair	GoodInnovation Good	Very goodInnovation Very good	ExcellentInnovation Excellent
Funding of science	PoorFunding of science Poor	FairFunding of science Fair	GoodFunding of science Good	Very goodFunding of science Very good	ExcellentFunding of science Excellent
Open science	PoorOpen science Poor	FairOpen science Fair	GoodOpen science Good	Very goodOpen science Very good	ExcellentOpen science Excellent
AI	PoorAI Poor	FairAI Fair	GoodAI Good	Very goodAI Very good	ExcellentAI Excellent

20. What is your view on the general direction of science systems in your country?

• Significantly going in the right direction
• Going in the right direction
• Neutral
• Going in the wrong direction
• Significanlty going in the wrong direction
• I’d prefer to answer this question orally

Please expand on your answer if you wish.

21. What is your general view about the long-term future of science systems in Africa?

• I feel strongly positive about the future
• I feel positive about the future
• I am neutral
• I feel negative about the future
• I feel strongly negative about the future
• I’d prefer to answer this question orally

Please expand on your answer if you wish.

22. What is your personal view about the ability of your organization to influence and change science systems in your county/region?

• We have strong influence on science systems in my country/region
• We have a little influence on science systems in my country/region
• Neutral
• We have no influence on science systems in my country/region
• I’d prefer to answer this question orally

Please expand on your answer if you wish.

23. What, in your opinion, is the biggest challenge currently confronting science in Africa?

24. What, in your opinion, is the biggest opportunity currently confronting science in Africa?

25. If there are any issues or comments – related to the ISC, your organization’s membership of the ISC, or the role of the ISC in your country and in Africa more broadly – that you would like to raise for further discussion, please indicate what these are.

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