Science and Technology Diplomacy, Volume II

A Focus on the Americas with Lessons for the World

Hassan A. Vafai, Kevin E. Lansey

• Publisher: Momentum Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781947083639
• Topic: Sciences biologiques
• Subtopic: Réchauffement climatique et changement climatique

Science diplomacy and policy can support collaborative national and international science for advancing knowledge with societal impact in fields such as climate, space, medicine, and the environment.,

Scientific advances made possible by the basic and applied research carried out by government agencies, universities, and nongovernmental organizations create opportunities and challenges with growing impact on policy decisions. Developing structures that produce the best science information to policy makers is becoming more critical in an ever-changing world.

This three-volume set presented by prominent figures from the disciplines of science, engineering, technology, and diplomacy includes their perspectives on potential solutions to opportunities 21st-century scientists, engineers, and diplomats face in the future: To shed light and interface science, technology, and engineering with the realm of policy; To provide a vision for the future by identifying obstacles and opportunities while focusing on several key issues.

PART 1

Connecting Scientists with Policy Around the World

Introduction to Connecting Scientists with Policy around the World

John Hildebrand

Foreign Secretary, United States National Academies

It is my pleasure to introduce Marga Gual Soler. Marga has a remarkable CV. She was born in Spain and educated in four countries. She was educated in Australia, Spain, the United States, and Brazil, and, if you count that up, that’s four continents. This is a truly international person from early in her career. She received her PhD in biochemistry from the Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain. She is now a project director at the Center for Science Diplomacy at American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). And, a partial answer to that earlier question, AAAS is a vehicle for lots of activity of young people, and I urge you to engage with them if you haven’t already. In her interests, she focuses on global science diplomacy and capacity building, and she is also an associate editor of the journal you heard about last evening, the journal called Science & Diplomacy.

Connecting Scientists with Policy and Diplomacy in the Americas

Marga Gual Soler

Project Director, Center for Science Diplomacy, American Association for the Advancement of Science

ABSTRACT

In the world of foreign policy, there has been growing recognition of the need of building bridges between science and policy. The unmatched reputation of the United States in academic research and collaboration has afforded scientists to gain access to nations around the globe where diplomatic relations and agreements with the United States are either nonexistent or strained. Trained in science on four different continents, Marga Gual Soler, PhD, is the epitome of a science diplomat and, as Project Director of the Center for Science Diplomacy at AAAS, shared her diverse experiences in science diplomacy at the “Global Challenges: Science Diplomacy and Policy with Focus on the Americas” conference on February 23, 2017. Gual Soler discussed how diplomatic relations are a key element to addressing common issues, such as transboundary conflicts and emerging threats, and promoting opportunities for emerging leaders at the intersection of science and policy. The Center for Science Diplomacy at the AAAS has focused its efforts on community building with stakeholders in the realms of science and international affairs, relationship building among nations through science, and capacity building with respect to the new generation of scientists and diplomats.

Keywords: career opportunities, professional development, Science Diplomacy, STEM education, students

AAAS AND THE CENTER FOR SCIENCE DIPLOMACY

The Center for Science Diplomacy, founded in 2008 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), plays a critical role in building bridges between countries to achieve scientific goals and real-world outcomes. The Center stands on the foundation of three main pillars: first, community building, which brings together stakeholders interested in science diplomacy through annual conferences and gatherings in Washington, DC, and around the world; second, relationship building, which fosters the development of international agreements and memorandums of understanding among countries; and third, capacity building, which aims to bring emerging scientists and diplomats together and equip them with the knowledge, networking, and communication skills necessary to manage emerging global crises by infusing negotiations with scientific and technical advice.

In her daily work, Gual Soler is mainly engaged in the pillar of relationship building. For example, Soler reflected on the landmark agreement signed in 2014 between AAAS and the Cuban Academy of Sciences, led by Dr. Sergio Pastrana. After Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the United States and Cuba, a New York Times headline read, “A hurricane that hits Cuba doesn’t ask for a visa before entering the United States,” challenging the United States to find ways to tackle threats and challenges together with Cuba, independently of the political situation between the countries.

Although the United States and Cuba shared no formal diplomatic relations, the AAAS had been organizing scientific delegations to Cuba for almost 20 years. By leveraging research collaborations between American scientists and their Cuban counterparts, individual scientists and scientific organizations were able to lay the groundwork for today’s cooperation between the nations.

At a binational symposium with U.S. and Cuban scientists, three key areas of interest, known as the Areas of Mutual Interest (AMI), were identified: neuroscience, cancer, and infectious diseases.

It is important for scientists and engineers to find common goals, such as the AMI, because countries and regions share the management of common spaces and transboundary resources such as the oceans, minerals, and outer space. The equitable and efficient management of finite resources and space requires new models of governance, integrating scientists skilled in cross-boundary communication in the decision-making process to diffuse political tension. A clear example of this is Dr. Frances Colón, Deputy Science and Technology Advisor to former Secretary of State John Kerry, who pioneered new channels of communication with Cuba, launching efforts toward the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations in 2014. By engaging leaders in science in both countries, Colón was the highest ranking U.S. government official to meet with the Ministry of Science of Cuba in over 50 years.

SCIENCE DIPLOMACY OPPORTUNITIES

Gual Soler presented a recent study she led featuring over 200 mechanisms connecting scientists with policy processes around the world. These opportunities include numerous grants, fellowships, conferences, and other programs that are growing as the field of science diplomacy takes center stage in solving the pressing global issues of today.¹

For instance, in response to the increasing popularity of the Fletcher University Science Diplomacy Club, Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is developing the first graduate concentration on science diplomacy.²

One of the most prestigious professional opportunities designed to launch a career in science diplomacy is the Science and Technology Policy Fellowship offered by AAAS, in which participants can spend 1 or 2 years serving in different branches of the U.S. federal government.³ For over 40 years, this fellowship has brought early and mid-career scientists and engineers to federal agencies, the executive branch, and the U.S. Congress to engage at the forefront of science and diplomacy.

At the conclusion of the fellowship, the newly minted science policy analysts and diplomats move to positions of leadership in government, international organizations, and academia. For scientists that return to academia, the experience changes their approaches to research, outreach and societal engagement, having been exposed to the reality that it is not the sole duty of a scientist to be in the lab—they must also serve humanity through broader engagements in their communities, nations, and regions.

In spite of the numerous benefits of this program, the fellows frequently fall behind with respect to academic demands, like writing papers, applying for grants, and completing activities related to achieving tenure-track positions. Thus, the AAAS encourages governments to create new mechanisms for incorporating these scientists into academic institutions by establishing targeted incentive and reward structures for these scientists who serve the common good through policy as well as research and teaching.

Another successful program mentioned in her talk is a multilateral science policy fellowship, launched 3 years ago via the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that engages scientists of different countries in addressing shared regional challenges.

The AAAS Center for Science Diplomacy also offers annual conferences, an important resource for networking and remaining up to date on the latest topics in science diplomacy. This past May, the last conference was hosted in Washington, DC, with sessions addressing topics such as the transboundary problems of a possible wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, current science diplomacy efforts in the Arctic and small islands, shared ocean governance, global health diplomacy, and others.⁴

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

One of the pressing issues facing the international community is the need to broaden the scientific training of emerging researchers by breaking the silos between departments and faculties through interdisciplinary programs and curriculums incorporating science diplomacy. Another challenge is the need to encourage governments to create new methods of embedding scientists in the policy crafting process while also infusing science into the world of diplomatic affairs. A third primary objective is for governments to create incentives, rewards, and structures in universities to prevent science diplomats from leaving academia. Currently, there are no metrics or reward structures that allow scientists to spend time away from academic research and teaching responsibilities while maintaining steady progress to tenure positions. Another urgent need is the establishment of networks and meetings that offer opportunities to share and promote these new mechanisms.

In conclusion, Gual Soler answered an important question from her perspective about how to overcome the discrepancies of choosing between academic science or advocacy along with the limits of being considered an unbiased and credible scientist: “In my personal opinion,” Gual Soler said, “there is no such thing as an unbiased scientist. Scientists are people and it is impossible to have this pure, uncontaminated process. I think it is time to abandon this belief . . . we think the connections between people is the important piece in science-policy engagement because people are the vehicle of transmitting science.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AAAS. 2017. “Connecting Scientists to Policy around the World.” February 14, 2017. www.aaas.org/GlobalSciencePolicy

AAAS. 2017. Science Diplomacy 2017 Conference Report. Washington, DC: The American Association for the Advancement of Science. www.aaas.org/file/scidip2017-conference-reportfinalpdf, (accessed June 4, 2017)

AAAS. 2017. “Science and Technology Policy Fellowships.” www.aaas.org/page/fellowships, (accessed June 04, 2017)

Fletcher School. 2017. “Fields of Study.” http://fletcher.tufts.edu/Academic/Courses/Fields-of-Study, (accessed June 04, 2017)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question: I really look forward to reading your report. My question is—AAAS is sort of the ultimate interdisciplinary society—what advice would you have for some of the disciplinary- oriented scientific societies who want to engage in or facilitate science diplomacy to try to further its work?

Marga Gual Soler: We are working with a number of societies, like APS [American Physical Society], ACS [American Chemical Society], they’ve approached us, especially for science diplomacy with Cuba, so we have facilitated som...