The Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved without everyone sharing the advancement and benefits of science, as reflected in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is even more relevant in times of crisis, when science needs to be protected, and access to science needs to be openly available to all societal actors.
Crises, including disasters and health emergencies on a large scale, exact a heavy toll on the safety and well-being of persons, communities, and countries. Over recent years, evidence indicates that the impact of crises on persons and assets, including those related to science, in all countries has increased faster than vulnerability has decreased.
Open Science is a strategic movement initiated to democratize processes and outcomes of scientific research for sustainable development, equality and inclusiveness. Its open, inclusive and collaborative methods contribute to new governance models around scientific data, taking fullest advantage of the proliferation of data, instantaneity of communications, and digitalization of knowledge storage systems.
Recognizing the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science as a robust international framework for open science, the UNESCO- CODATA Working Group investigated recent pandemics/epidemics, natural hazards, and geopolitical conflicts and pointed to the need for increased data comprehensiveness, integrity, and transparency, alongside more robust ethics and scientific frameworks supporting data policies, methods, and tools for addressing crisis situations.
At the same time, with many conflicts spread over vast geographical zones, increasing extreme weather events due to climate change, and natural hazards such as earthquakes in unprepared regions, the new study of the ISC’s think tank, The Centre for Science Futures, addresses the urgent need for a new approach to safeguard science and its practitioners during global crises.
In this context, this event will discuss new approaches to safeguard science and its practitioners during global crises, and it will also reflect on new developments in mobilizing science and sharing data in times of crisis within the open science framework.
The in-person side events will be open to all registered STI Forum participants and holders of UN ground passes on a first-come-first-served basis, up to the capacity of the conference rooms.
Photo by Daryan Shamkhali on Unsplash
