Thirty-fourth session of UNESCO’s General Conference
Ministerial Round Table on “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development and the Role of UNESCO”
Room X, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, 26 and 27 October 2007 _____________________
Preliminary Draft Outline of the Programme
Introduction This Round Table is part of a series of special meetings being organized during the 34th session of UNESCO’s General Conference and may be taken as a follow-up to UNESCO’s first Ministerial Round Table on the basic sciences held during the 33rd session of the General Conference, in October 2005 and a response to Recommendation 8 of the Report of the Overall Review of Major Programmes II (Natural Sciences) and III (Social and Human Sciences), called for in Resolution 2 by the General Conference at its 33rd session (2005). It is also a response to the recommendations made by the Ministers of Science and Technology of the Group of 77 and China at their last meeting in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, 2-5 September 2006), as well as the Ministers of Science and Technology of South Eastern European countries (Ljubljana, Slovenia, 28-29 September 2006) who called on UNESCO to organize global conferences for Ministers of Science and Technology on a regular basis. The Round Table is intended to provide an opportunity for informal, flexible, but nevertheless in-depth discussion on the Organization’s future service to Member States. It will also serve to identify priority needs that will help in the formulation of policy decisions that could guide and inspire UNESCO’s action in this field. Bearing in mind that UNESCO will be introducing its Medium-Term Strategy for 2008-2013, it will be opportune for the Round Table to address the role the Organization is to play in harnessing science and technology for development. To this end, each of the speakers has been invited to cover not only the global, but also the regional aspects of their subject of discussion. The Ministerial Round Table will also provide an opportunity for the enrichment of the findings contained in the Report of the Overall Review Committee by the views and recommendations of the Ministers who are concerned with science and technology in their countries. The expected outputs of the Round Table are a Communiqué, to be adopted on the final day of the meeting, as well as Summary Records of the proceedings at the Round Table, which will be published and distributed to UNESCO Member State Ministers of Science or Ministers with Science in their portfolios, as well as to the Organization’s major science partners. The recommendations coming out of the Round Table will also be taken into consideration during the preparation of the workplans for the new programme and budget document that will be considered by the General Conference (34 C/5), as well as during subsequent planning exercises.
Friday, 26 OCTOBER 2007 9.30 a.m. – 9.45 a.m. Opening of the Round Table Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO 9.45 a.m. – 1 p.m. Session 1 Science and technology for development: emerging and inherited challenges
Presentation by 4 invited speakers/panellists (8 min each) and a general discussion It is assumed that during the general discussion participants will react spontaneously to the presentations made by the invited speakers/panellists, and that they will not necessarily deliver prepared statements. The time per intervention will be 3 min. According to the feedback received so far from Member States, the following possible topics may be addressed in this session: Lack of scientific and educational infrastructure, lack of regional training institutions, and absence of a national system to address these problems and to build national capacity; Insufficient investment in R&D by State and Enterprises; Effectiveness of R&D institutions vis-à-vis practice; Human capacity building, the lack of highly-qualified scientists, mobility of researchers; Brain drain and drain of young talents (to industry and abroad); Biotechnology, green biotechnology, solar energy and nanotechnology, in particular for developing countries; Building capacity to fight infectious diseases in Africa; Interdisciplinary and/or multidisciplinary approaches in science; Closer interaction between the humanities, socio-economics and basic science; Creation of centres of excellence and cutting-edge science in developing countries; Models of collaboration between developed and developing countries in science and technology. What works? Promoting science and technology knowledge for the management of complex environmental systems, including water, oceans and the biosphere; and How to promote ethics of science and bioethics in particular.
3.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m. Session 2 Harnessing international co-operation for innovative policies for science and technology management
Presentation by 4 invited speakers/panellists (8 min each) and a general discussion As in the case of Session 1, it is assumed that during the general discussion participants will react spontaneously to the presentations made by the invited speakers/panellists, and that they will not necessarily deliver prepared statements. The time per intervention will be 3 min. Based on recommendations received to date from Member States, possible topics for this session could be: Capacity building for formulating science, technology and innovation policies, and strategies for economic development; North-South and South-South cooperation and transnational sharing of research in specific knowledge networks; Evaluation of R&D results and their relationship to competitiveness, difficulties to measure science and education impact on development; Intellectual property rights regimes: concerns of developing countries; Creation of innovative system for scientific development through competitive funding and research system; Strategic prioritization in investment for research and development;
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Development of world-class R&D in fields most relevant to the national economy, to societal development and to the citizens' well-being, and creation of internationally competitive S&T clusters and centres of excellence; Policy advice to governments on reforms and evaluation of their national science, technology and innovation systems; Means to overcome difficulties in cooperation between science and business sectors, especially in the sharing of information; More emphasis on basic sciences; and Science policies for promoting co-operation on climate change.
Saturday, 27 OCTOBER 2007 10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. Session 3 Highlights and guidelines for UNESCO action in science and technology for 2008-2013
Presentation by 4 invited speakers/panellists (8 min each) and a general discussion As in the two previous sessions, it is assumed that during the general discussion participants will react in spontaneously to the presentations made by the invited speakers/panellists, and that they will not necessarily deliver prepared statements. The time per intervention will be 3 min. As Member States have so far recommended, possible issues to be discussed in this session may be: Reflection and monitoring of the conclusions and recommendations of the overall review of UNESCO science programmes (Major Programmes II and III); Capacity-building for formulating science, technology and innovation policies and strategies for economic development; Providing policy advice, particularly on good governance, standards and regulations, science advisory systems, and the link between knowledge, innovation and economic sustainability; Promoting international co-operation to foster science-based management of complex environmental systems, including water, oceans and the biosphere; Enhancement of intersectional and interdisciplinary approach to address global challenges such as climate change, disaster prevention, ethics of science, poverty eradication, peace and security, through coordination among natural, social and human science; Capacity-building in the basic and engineering sciences as a science lever for sustainable national development; Catalysing regional and international cooperation in key areas of science and technology; Support to networking in research at the regional and global levels, with special support to policymakers and researchers in deprived areas; Building easy to use databases of researchers and projects to identify common or complementary interests and resources (manpower, labs and equipment, research networks, etc.); Building societal awareness of opportunities science and technology offer and commitments they call for; Monitoring science indicators; UNESCO to serve as a clearing house for the promotion of international partnerships in science and technology; Fostering participation of world leading scientists in UNESCO’s programmes for promoting research and development and capacity-building; and Participation of national delegates (ambassadors) for advising governments on policy issues and capacity building.
3.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m. Session 4 Conclusions and adoption of the Ministerial Round Table’s stance on “Harnessing science and technology for development through partnerships within UNESCO programmes”
This last session will be dedicated to the meeting’s conclusions and recommendations on the role of UNESCO in harnessing science and technology for development. The session will end with the adoption of the Ministerial Round Table Communiqué, developed by the participants with the help of a Drafting Group which shall be constituted at the beginning of the Round Table.