In advance of the publication of the programme and call for Session Proposals for the Science Summit at UNGA79 on 10-27 September 2024, we are very happy to share some feedback following last Science Summit at UNGA78:
“My participation to the 2023 Science Summit in New York allowed to continue the discussion on the importance of the link between science and policy through the promotion of evidence-informed decisions at all levels of government. This 2023 edition of the Summit provided for an opportunity to discuss with relevant partners visions towards the development of the post 2030 Agenda through the science and policy nexus lens.”
remi quirion, president of the international network for governmental science advice (ingsa) and chief scientists of quebec
“COST has co-organised its first onsite Science Summit event this year. Realising the “Expanding scientific frontiers via international cooperation and networking” was an exciting experience filled with inspiration and stimulating collaboration. It allowed to reinforce the cooperation with the NSF AcceINet program and opened the door for engaging with new partners interested in global research and innovation networking.”
kataling alfoldi, policy officer and global netwoking task leader, cost
“My participation in the 2023 Science Summit in New York allowed me to continue the discussion on the importance of the link between science and policy through the promotion of evidence-informed decisions at all levels of government. This 2023 edition of the Summit provided an opportunity to discuss visions towards developing the post-2030 Agenda with the relevant partners through the science and policy nexus lens.”
martina desole, director, european livings labs
“We need scientists speaking with decision-makers, industry leaders, youth, indigenous people, and other groups to co-create a sustainable, healthy and equitable future world. The Science Summit provides that space through an inclusive global platform that brings together thought leaders from diverse backgrounds to discuss urgent solutions to humanity’s most pressing issues.”
Anna Stewart Ibarra, Executive Director, Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research
You can also access the POSTERS section of the Science Summit at UNGA 78 September 2023
Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79)
ISC and its partners will organise the 9th edition of the Science Summit around the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) on 10-27 September 2024.
The role and contribution of science to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be the central theme of the Summit. The objective is to develop and launch science collaborations to demonstrate global science mechanisms and activities to support the attainment of the UN SDGs, Agenda 2030 and Local2030. The meeting will also prepare input for the United Nations Summit of the Future, which will take place during UNGA79 beginning on 12 September 2024.
The Summit will examine what enabling policy, regulatory and financial environments are needed to implement and sustain the science mechanisms required to support genuinely global scientific collaborations across continents, nations and themes. Scientific discovery through the analysis of massive data sets is at hand. This data-enabled approach to science, research and development will be necessary if the SDGs are to be achieved.
SSUNGA78 builds on the successful Science Summit at UNGA77, which brought together over 1600 speakers from all continents in more than 400 sessions.
SSUNGA79 will bring together thought leaders, scientists, technologists, innovators, policymakers, decision-makers, regulators, financiers, philanthropists, journalists and editors, and community leaders to increase health science and citizen collaborations across a broad spectrum of themes ICT, nutrition, agriculture and the environment.
United Nations explores tackling Sustainable Development Goals through innovative big science frontier technology
For the first time, the Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly will examine how equitable access to big science institutions can accelerate the progress of the UN’s sustainable goals such as tackling poverty and hunger.
Of the over fifty synchrotrons or particle accelerators around the world that generate electromagnetic waves for research in a variety of disciplines, which are capable of reducing research time from years to just weeks, only one is in Latin America (Brazil) and none in Africa.
Therefore, scientists from these regions do not have access to this highly accurate and fast frontier technology.
In an exciting new imitative, the Summit is hosting a special plenary session to explore skilling up thousands of researchers from the developing regions of Latin America and the Greater Caribbean in this specialised synchrotron technology.
Declan Kirrane, the Chairman of the Science Summit at UNGA78 meeting in New York in September says, ‘By opening the doors and laboratories of synchrotrons to developing world scientists, we will bring to bear more ‘at-the-coalface’, real-life experience to meeting the UN’s sustainability goals.’
The session will be organised by the newly formed Greater Caribbean Light Source (GCLS) partnering with the African Light Source (AfLS) to build synchrotron facilities in the two regions for greater equity of scientific access and the betterment of the world. The GCLS honorary president is Herman Winick, Professor Emeritus of Stanford University, who was one of the leaders behind the success story of the Synchrotron SESAME in the Middle East.
Objectives
▶ Present key science initiatives in a series of workshops, presentations, seminars, roundtables and plenary sessions addressing each of the 17 UN SDGs and the associated targets.
▶ Promote collaboration by enabling researchers, scientists and civil society organisations to become aware of each other and work to understand and address critical challenges.
▶ Promote inclusive science, including increasing access to scientific data by lower and middle-income countries.
▶ Focus meetings will be organised around each of the UN SDGs, bringing key stakeholders together to understand and advance global approaches.
▶ Priority will be given to developing science capacity globally to implement the SDGs.
▶ Demonstrate how research infrastructures work as a driver for international cooperation.
▶ Promote awareness of data-enabled science and related capacities and infrastructures.
▶ Understand how key UN initiatives, including the UN Global Digital Compact, LOCAL 2030, and the UN Summit of the Future in 2024, can provide a basis for increasing science cooperation globally to address global challenges.
Highlights
Two days of meetings on Wall Street at the New York Stock Exchange while highlighting the theme of science contribution to the SDGs and launching a series of meetings with corporate financiers on science funding.
Science and ICT/Digital ministers in the world will be approached for their engagement and support, to have their respective missions at the United Nations host individual meetings and to request the participation of their Prime Minister.
A powerful youth programme for children, teens and students. This includes a space-related initiative currently involving some 60 countries, and this number is; very likely to increase. To inspire the world’s youth to come together and lead regional inter-generation projects to attain the “moonshots” of the 21st century – the first in this series would be the 2030 SDGs.