Leadership redefined: a statement by STeP fellows
The IAI’s Science, Tecnology and Policy (STeP) Fellowship Program is an innovative landmark program of the IAI to enhance human and institutional capacities in its member countries and to support the provision of expert scientific advice to policymakers for the development of public policy relevant to global change. To date, STeP has a growing community of 65 fellows in 14 countries.
In November 2022, fellows met in person for the first time in Uruguay and drafted the STeP Leadership Statement. The statement was presented during the Conference of the Parties (COP31) of the IAI in Panama City, Panama, earlier this year. It was inspired by the fundamental principles of the transdisciplinary approach, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and decolonization at the nexus of science and policy.
As science diplomacy leaders, STeP fellows stated their concern about “current and future generations and the planet, which are affected by structural challenges, loss of connections among humans and with nature, social inequities, exploitative ways of life, and their impacts on mental health.” In consequence, in the statement, they vow to “foster recognition of knowledge diversity and its synergies, minimizing knowledge monopolies and boundaries, and moving towards actionable inclusivity”.
The statement was included in the final message at the Sustainability Research and Innovation Conference SRI2023 in Panama City, Panama. See the video of the statement (with subtitles in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish) here: https://youtu.be/xKqiPBvzsOY.
See the written statement here: https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/IAI-CoP-31-13-b-ii-en.pdf.
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For inquiries about the STeP Program, please write to kim@dir.iai.int or consult the STeP brochure here: https://www.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/STeP_e-brochure_Eng.pdf
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