An evaluation of scientific success based on interactions with societies.
There is just one paragraph left from the introduction of Chapter 3 of the report The Future is Now.
It is really worth reading as it summarizes one of the axis of IYBSSD 2022: the development of the discussions between scientists, citizens individually and through organizations, ad also policy makers. The latter directly decide science funding, but also can decide policies based (or not) on evidences provided by science. Scientists must provide hope, with new knowledge that can be transformed into new ways of action. They must also carefully listen to communities: the “curiosity” of “curiosity driven science” can be of course internal to science; it can also be devoted to a better understanding of how people live, and hope to live in the future.
As the guardian of evidence-based knowledge, science also has unique responsibilities. Scientists and scientific institutions and actors in relevant fields should therefore no longer measure success mainly on the basis of research outputs in the form of raw data, models, or scientific articles. They should also consider how their work can be communicated so that citizens everywhere grasp the need for change and feasible ways forward. UNESCO’s recommendations for scientific researchers represents an important tool for ethical guidance and defining rights and responsibilities in research. In particular, more direct collaboration between scientists, policymakers, civil society and business need to address ecological and social crises.
The UNESCO’s recommendation for scientific researchers mentioned in this paragraph is a fundamental text that every scientists should (have) read. A good presentation has been made in a brochure that can be donwloaded from UNESCO’s website. We will certainly develop about it in future posts, before 2022.
Beginning next week, we will publish and comment excerpts from the first part of Chapter 3: The 2030 Agenda: a shared compass to harness advances in science
and technology.
