A year in review – 2022

As 2022 draws to a close, we’re looking back at this year’s key publications, notable events, new members, and more. Here’s our year at a glance from the ISC Secretariat. We wish you happy holidays and a peaceful and prosperous 2023.

A year in review – 2022

Blogs and news

In 2022 we’ve published around 180 blogs, news and press releases – that’s roughly one every other day! 

Among them – this continuously updated round-up of resources, grants and other offers of support for Ukrainian scholars 🇺🇦

Read now

Revisit some of our most important blogs and news items throughout the year:


Publications

Twelve different publications were launched in 2022, with diverse themes that reflect the complex risks facing societies today.  

Unprecedented and Unfinished: COVID-19 and Implications for National and Global Policy informed policy-makers about the wide-ranging, long-term impacts of COVID-19, with the aim of shifting the evolution of the pandemic towards more positive and equitable outcomes.  

Systemic risk briefing note cover

A Briefing Note on Systemic Risk set out opportunities for research, policy and practice from the perspective of climate, environmental and disaster risk science and management, and four further briefs considered different aspects of risk management

The Ukraine Crisis: A conference report

The report from a conference on the Ukraine crisis included recommendations on how the international community can better support science systems affected by conflict

Find all our publications from 2022 here


Membership

The big news for the ISC in 2022 is that 15 young academies and associations have applied for Affiliated Membership as part of the ISC’s programme of diversifying the membership.

Along with the new young members who have been invited to join, the ISC welcomed a total of six new Full and Affiliated Members this year.

Connected ropes

Invite your young academy or association to join the ISC as an Affiliated Member.

Invite now


Events

Over 200 events were featured on our website this year, grappling with issues related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, women in science, science communication, social change, the global sustainability agenda, and much more.

The Talk Back Better webinar series explored the capacities that research institutions need to practice progressive, effective science communication in the current global context and delivered six compelling messages on science communication. 

The COVID-19 and the Social Sciences webinar series considered the impact of the social sciences on the pandemic and the impact of the pandemic on the social sciences, covering Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology, and Statistics, joining social scientists from different countries in every field and helping identify the right mix of responses to the pandemic. 

The Scientific and Technological Community Major Group held a side event at the 2022 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) asking what the major achievements, challenges, and barriers are to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, highlighting emerging lessons, focusing on the prospects of achieving the 2030 Agenda and on the actions and priorities for accelerated progress through science, engineering, technology and innovation. 

The first of the series of Global Knowledge Dialogues was held in Cape Town, South Africa, on the margins of the World Science Forum in December 2022, and it was an important reminder of face to face meetings after the pandemic years. The “ignite talks“, provided a unique view from ISC Members in telling their science stories to the assembled group.


ISC Fellowship

The ISC Fellowship, launched in June 2022, recognizes individuals for their outstanding contributions to the promotion of science as a global public good. The Fellowship is the highest honour that can be conferred on an individual by the International Science Council.

66 Foundation Fellows were appointed at the launch of the Fellowship, together with three Honorary Fellows for the inaugural and outgoing ISC Patrons.

The second cohort of 60 Fellows was appointed in December 2022, on the margins of the World Science Forum in Cape Town, South Africa.

From 2022, an annual process of requesting nominations from ISC Members and other partners will be put in place, with the aim of increasing the ISC Fellowship to around 600 active Fellows.

More about the ISC Fellowship


Multilingual content

Did you know that our content is automatically translated to 104 languages, including Yoruba, Khmer, Cebuano and even Esperanto?

This year, translated content accounted for about a third of all website visits, with content in Spanish, French, Japanese and Romanian being in especially high demand.

Check out our latest stories in your native language by clicking in the top right under Language and let us know what you think.


Regional presence

Our expanding focus of work will ensure that regional needs and priorities are adequately represented in the ISC’s global agenda, that regional voices are actively engaged in the governance and management of the ISC’s work, and that regions benefit from the results of that work.


Science through storytelling – the ISC in the multimedia space

As part of the ISC’s programme to increase the visibility of the Council and the public value of science through storytelling, the Unlocking Science series with BBC Storyworks saw five new videos and two multimedia stories added in 2022, including from ISC Affiliate Member, the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Following the success of Unlocking Science, seven films on social transformations to sustainability were launched by the Transformations to Sustainability (T2S) programme.

The films produced for Unlocking Science and T2S were shown at film festivals on the big screen as part of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) and the World Science Forum in South Africa.


Image: Tarantula Nebula, NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

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