International Science Council’s Post

🌍 🔬 Sir Peter Gluckman’s insights at the 2024 World Science Forum offer valuable lessons on how building trust in the health and medical sciences demands scientific modesty and respect of other knowledge systems. Here are five key takeaways: 1️⃣ Rebuilding trust through modesty: Public trust in science is in decline, compounded by the politicization of scientific advice during crises like COVID-19. Fostering trust means acknowledging uncertainties, avoiding overconfidence, and ensuring transparency in policy-driven research. 2️⃣ A holistic, interdisciplinary approach: COVID-19 exposed the pitfalls of a narrow disciplinary focus. Economic, social, and behavioral sciences must be integrated with biomedical research to address complex challenges. Policymakers must prioritize interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle issues like mental health, health equity, and pandemic preparedness. 3️⃣ Training scientists for societal engagement: Scientific training sometimes has gaps in areas including ethics, the philosophy of science, and engagement with diverse knowledge systems. Incorporating these elements into medical and health science curricula can better prepare researchers to navigate societal and policy complexities. 4️⃣ Balancing short- and long-term thinking: Humanity’s default to short-termism hinders progress on pressing global challenges like climate change and health inequities. Policymakers and scientists must champion long-term, sustainable health policies, even when short-term economic considerations dominate political agendas. 5️⃣ Actionable knowledge for impact: Producing actionable knowledge that drives real-world change requires solutions-oriented research that bridges the gap between academia, government, and the private sector to create policies that improve lives. #SciencePolicy #HealthInnovation #HealthPolicy #MedicalPolicy #ResearchPolicy #InterdisciplinaryResearch #TrustInScience #KnowledgeSystems #ScienceDiplomacy #PandemicPreparedness #WorldScienceForum #WSF2024 International Science Council

I listened to this interview with interest, and to Sir Peter Gluckman when he spoke on several other panels. He was far from the only one expressing these views – the need for humility, for scientists to better appreciate their position in society, and to learn to communicate more effectively and comprehensibly with those who need to understand their work (be they policy makers or civil society, or indeed others). Science faces many challenges, but we cannot proceed without it, or its practitioners. The stronger the relationship between science and the society within which it operates, the more completely each understands and interacts with the other, and the more frictionless the interface between them, the better the world will be.

Crisis-ready science: a framework for proactive and resilient sector. In an era marked by escalating geopolitical conflicts, the sanctity and resilience of the global scientific community have never been more crucial. This report, "Protecting Science in Times of Crisis: How do we stop being reactive and become more proactive?" emerges at a critical juncture, addressing the urgent need to protect scientists, academics, and educational institutions increasingly targeted in various global crises.

“In today’s episode, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks argues that the incoming administration's embrace of science denial poses a significant threat to society. It explores specific instances of denial, such as the rejection of climate change, gender diversity, and the evolutionary importance of neurodiversity, arguing that these beliefs will lead to harmful policies and a decrease in scientific literacy. Dr. Hoerricks contends that this denial stems from a worldview that prioritizes dogma over evidence-based knowledge and ultimately erodes public trust in science, hindering progress and threatening humanity's future.” Here’s the link to the source article: https://lnkd.in/gr-a7gBV Let me know what you think.

Trust in science has never been as important as it is today. A society-wide approach is crucial to this endeavor. This declaration on the science–policy interface is an important contribution at the right time: https://lnkd.in/dw9HeSPK

I just signed the Science Declaration promoted by Curious 2024, the call to all nations to devote more resources to the advancement of science to realize the dream of a better tomorrow. The objective is to reach 1M signatures!! Sign the call here >

The number of researchers and academic publications is growing, but their societal impact is decreasing. These are worrisome trends if we expect science to propel our societies towards a properous and sustainable future. What is wrong with the science and academia asks Sabine Hossenfelder? She reviews the evidence and discusses possible reasons for these worrying trends. Is it the bureaucracy of funding institutions? Publish-or-perish incentives? Or something else? One thing she does not mention is the mismatch between the reductionist scientific method and the complex adaptive systems that our world consists of, such as human being, natural ecosystems, economy or society. Understanding such systems in a systemic and holistic way requires cognitive diversity and collective learning processes - transdisciplinary research and the integration of different types of knowledge (scientific and experiential). Today, we lack the institutional framework for supporting such knowledge creation processes. Way to go in the future? Tuomas Parkkari

World Science Day for Peace and Development World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the important role of science in society and fostering global peace and sustainable development. It underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives, with the aim to ensure everyone is aware of continuous scientific developments. #ScienceDay

This article provides an overview of how funders of science have changed their practices in order to be able to support research that works with society to contribute more directly to understanding and solving our most pressing global problems. https://buff.ly/4gUeL3c

A chief science adviser for France is a good idea.