Content
- AmeriGEO Week 2023 highlights integration of data sources and risk assessment to address emerging climate change hazards in the Americas
- Scientific Diplomacy as a New Perspective on Global Challenges
- IAI launches free MOOC on climate, environment and health
- Leadership redefined: a statement by science-policy fellows from the Americas
- Read the special edition of JSPG focused on development policy and global change science in the Americas
- Sessions of the Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress are now available for free
IAI Newsletter 3/23
AmeriGEO Week 2023 highlights integration of data sources and risk assessment to address emerging climate change hazards in the Americas
The growing number of highly sophisticated satellites circling the planet is generating critical information about climate change, deforestation, and human movement. These big data can be used to help governments to critical decisions to reduce disasters, improve human health, and adapt and mitigate to climate change.
AmeriGEO Week 2023, which focuses on satellite observations of the planet, was held in San José, Costa Rica, on August 7-12 with the participation of high-level representatives and scientists from the 16 AmeriGEO member countries*. Participants share their experiences on their use of Earth observations (EO, data records of the land surface, the oceans and the atmosphere) to support national policies and strengthen the application of related technologies in different areas.
This event, open and free to all interested in participating, provided a unique platform to share regional examples and best practices in the use of Earth Observations (EO) and explore sustainable solutions to environmental challenges in the region.
Una de las sesiones más relevantes de la Semana AmeriGEO 2023 destacó la importancia de la los OT para un enfoque de Una Salud. La sesión de Una Salud se enfocó en la integración de fuentes de datos y la evaluación de riesgos para abordar los peligros emergentes del cambio climático y preparar al sector de la salud pública. En esta sesión, la Directora Ejecutiva del Instituto Interamericano para la Investigación del Cambio Global (IAI), Anna Stewart Ibarra, participó como co-organizadora y ponente, y presentó los resultados de la iniciativa en investigación transdisciplinaria en clima, ambiente y salud del IAI.
Another important session focused on climate change adaptation planning and capacity sharing. IAI’s Science Director Edwin Castellanos highlighted the critical adaptation challenges identified in the IPCC 6th Assessment Report. This session also addressed the main results of the regional climate assessments for the Latin America and Caribbean region and the applications of geosciences to address climate challenges.
*The 16 AmeriGEO countries are Argentina, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States and Uruguay.
IAI Newsletter 3/23
Science Diplomacy as a New Perspective on Global Challenges
Interview with Ambassador Carmen Isabel Claramunt, Director of the Manuel María de Peralta Diplomatic Academy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Republic of Costa Rica, and member of the Advisory Board of the IAI’s Science Diplomacy Center.
How did your interest in science diplomacy begin?
It all began with a question I asked myself: What does the Costa Rican government need in order to promote and develop the country based on current capacities? And I realized that this was precisely the realm of science. I found that there was a great effort to connect Costa Rican scientists abroad.
While working at the Directorate for Cooperation, I began to realize the growing importance of projects that could benefit from international cooperation, in terms of knowledge generation needs and knowledge networks in the field of science.
When I was at COP21 in 2015, I noticed the fundamental role that scientists played in carrying forward the Paris Agreement that had taken so many years to adopt. All these elements came together, and I realized there is something that we have been doing but that we have not consolidated as an integral task within diplomacy. I thought that maybe we have always done science diplomacy, but in a very specific way, not with that vision of transversality.
“Challenges are of such magnitude on a global level that they can no longer be addressed from local spaces, but rather on a planetary scale, as everyone has a shared responsibility.”
When we adopted the 2030 agenda and the Climate Change Convention, we realized that the challenges are of such magnitude that they can no longer be addressed from the local space, but from a planetary perspective, and that in these spaces governments no longer have the capacity to advance alone. Everyone has a shared responsibility. Also, we need to work permanently with science to strengthen the action and political incidence of the State, but also to identify the risks we are facing, and their urgency or priority, and what the possible solutions might be.
How can science diplomacy innovate decision-making in our region?
The first thing that science diplomacy in the region must do, and I believe that the IAI is promoting it very strongly, is to bring the scientific communities of the region closer together, but bring them closer together with politicians, decision-makers, the private sector, and other sectors, which appear totally disconnected. In Western thought, we are very binary. Sometimes we believe that science is one thing and diplomacy is another. We learned to specialize in the 20th century, and we lost the perspective of integrated knowledge, and so now the great challenge is how to return to bringing together all these areas of knowledge to find out how we can jointly respond to all those challenges of global change that we are facing.
“Science diplomacy must bring scientific communities closer to decision-makers, with the private sector, with other sectors that are totally disconnected”
Science diplomacy must be very clear that it has two minimum components: one is diplomacy, involving political support, spokespeople and knowing how to negotiate; and the other is science, like the compass that the states can have to use to guide their efforts. The field is also concerned with how to become closer in the language, because many times the scientists are on one side and the diplomats on the other. This has made us lose the ability to influence; if we bring our efforts together, it is very likely that we can maximize our results.
What advice would you give scientists to also improve their own science diplomacy skills?
The pandemic was a clear example that showed how important it is to share knowledge in the face of a scourge like this one. And also how important it is to make knowledge available in international repositories so that we can join forces. Because these are issues that go beyond the borders and that have to be addressed by everyone.
What is important for a scientist to learn? Let’s say to make the language accessible so that it is understandable for decision-makers. This will also help actors know each other, discover what others do, so that we identify in which fields we can help local science to develop and expand, and also to see how science may help us support us to move the international community.
“In the 20th century, we learned about specialization, and we lost the perspective of integrated knowledge. Now the great challenge is how we bring together again the knowledge to respond to the challenges of global change”
Scientists may now have the possibility to venture into other areas of knowledge. For example, our Academy, which was previously open to lawyers, economists and international relations specialists, changed its curriculum so that scientists who may be interested can obtain a master’s degree in diplomacy. The support of science is not there simply to be able to be in a negotiating delegation. It is there to be able to advise long before in a delegation, where we should walk, what things are being dangerous or threatening.
What can you tell us about the IAI’s Science Diplomacy Center?
The recently launched Science Diplomacy Center is a hub in charge of launching spaces for the exchange of knowledge, the creation of research networks, the mobility of professionals, and discussions from public policy to science and from science to public policy. It also concerns itself with sharing advances in science and technology so that their benefits reach humanity and not only reach some groups. So I believe that there all these types of perspectives among multiple actors, with multiple challenges, at different levels, can come into play under an ordering framework that drives them and stimulates them.
What recommendations do you have for scientists and other professionals with an interest in science diplomacy?
Some universities offer courses in science diplomacy, however, courses do not necessarily require a structured framework. The conceptual base needs to be strengthened, but one of the fundamental roles that the IAI’s Science Diplomacy Center can have is to continue fostering the growth of the conceptual base.
For a young scientist, for a young diplomat, I would recommend that they study, that they read. There is a wealth of information now circulating freely. If they can pursue the carrier of science diplomacy, it would be wonderful, because I think they are going to give it a new air and they are going to enrich our exchanges.
“Hopefully, the young people of today will return to that Renaissance mentality that overflowed with new perspectives and a new way of seeing the world.”
Science diplomacy does not necessarily mean that scientists become diplomats, but that they learn how to speak with diplomats and approach them to show what they are doing, what they know, how they know it and in what way they can support governments. Science diplomacy has many areas and many perspectives where both sectors can work and put common efforts at the service of humanity.
Hopefully, the younger generations will return to the Renaissance mentality of the 12th and 13th centuries, which tried to recover all the knowledge available, which overflowed with new sensibilities, new perspectives, a new way of seeing the world, and of understanding our existence on Earth. I believe that this Renaissance spirit begins by understanding that we do not live in isolation, but that we have to communicate with each other, that we live in society and that we are capable of carrying out tasks together.
IAI Newsletter 3/23
IAI launches free MOOC on climate, environment and health
The IAI has recently launched the self-managed, open, and free course with certificate “Climate, Environment and Health for the Americas”. The course is aimed at both researchers and actors (including decision- and policy-makers, implementers, communities affected by policies, and practitioners), especially those interested in conducting transdisciplinary research on the nexus of climate, environment and health (CEH).
The course is grounded in real-world examples of climate, environment and health challenges from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, and provides critical tools and skills in transdisciplinary science and science communication. Participants may access individual course materials and recordings or complete the course to gain a certificate of completion of 40 hours of coursework.
Learning materials include narrated slides, reflection activities, review questions and recommended readings. The course consists of the following five modules, each of which includes a science communication session:
- Introducing Transdisciplinary Research Approaches
- Doing Transdisciplinary Research
- Designing & Implementing Transdisciplinary Research Approaches
- Managing Transdisciplinary Teamwork
- Transdisciplinary Grant Writing, Assessment & Evaluation
The science communication sessions focus on: a) Challenges of and solutions for science communication; b) Quick guide to writing for a broad audience; c) Telling stories through data; d) How to explain science to a broad audience; and e) How is a public policy designed and how can I become a better advocate?
In each module, a case study from the LAC region highlighting the most critical CEH challenges and research innovations is presented and discussed. Examples of case studies include:
- Co-creation of an early warning system for the health sector in the Caribbean
- Climate resilience in a Latin American city
- Building a climate and health community
- Climate change impacts, exposure and vulnerability
- The Belmont Forum funding mechanism and requirements
To learn more about the course, you may access the syllabus here
To register for the course, please visit: https://moodle.iai.int/.
IAI Newsletter 3/23
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://iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/IAI-CoP-31-13-b-ii-en.pdf.
IAI Newsletter 3/23
Special issue on development policy and global change science in the Americas
The special issue of the Journal of Science Policy and Governance (JSPG), titled “Development Policy and Global Change Science to Achieve the Vision of a Sustainable Americas,” was recently published. The edition includes articles from early-stage researchers from the region and was sponsored by the IAI. It focuses on current debates on science, technology, and innovation policy and governance.
A number of articles focus on IAI STeP fellows’ science diplomacy projects that were also shared at the SRI2023 Sustainability Research and Innovation Conference on topics including pesticide regulations in Belgium (EU) and Washington State (USA), strategies to reduce plastic pollution in Brasil, and youth participation in climate change negotiations.
The JSPG is an open-access journal, so all articles are freely available at: https://www.sciencepolicyjournal.org/jspgvol22iss02.html
We share below the list of article titles with their authors:
Ona Ambrozaite, Kirsten B. Butner, Dezmond Cole, Eline D’Haene, Jasmine De Rop, Willem Desmedt, Nathaniel Laughner, Ruben Savels, Esther Van Parys, Hao Nick Zhang
Bhuvanesh Awasthi*, Anne-Teresa Birthwright*, Maria Ines Carabajal*, Larisse Faroni-Perez*
3. Op-Ed – Overlooked No More: Empowering Youth Voices in Global Climate-Change Negotiations
Julian Campisi*, Miriam Hird-Younger*, Evvan Morton*, Hamangai Pataxó, Fany Ramos Quispe*, Sergio Richard Romero Nina, Laila Thomaz Sandroni*
Larisse Faroni-Perez*
Alice Grossman*, Matías Mastrangelo*, Camilo De Los Ríos*, Mónica Jiménez-Córdova*
Ada Inman, Bryce Bray, Maria Inés Carabajal*, Marshall Curry, Kristofer Patron-Soberano, Andrea Chavez Michaelsen
Laila Sandroni*, Fany Ramos Quispe*, Lily House-Peters, Gabriela Alonso-Yanez, Maria Ines Carabajal*, Marshalee Valentine, Sarah Schweizer, Mzime Murisa, Natasha Roy, Anne de Vernal, Nicole Arbour, Anna Stewart-Ibarra
IAI Newsletter 3/23
Sessions of the Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress are now available for free
The Sustainability Research & Innovation (SRI) Congress is the world’s largest transdisciplinary gathering for the global sustainability community. The third edition of the SRI Congress, SRI2023, was hosted in June by the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Republic of Panama (SENACYT) and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI).
SRI unites more than 2000 global sustainability research leaders, government and civil society experts, funders and innovators to inspire action and promote a sustainability transformation. This global, annual event elevates diverse knowledge on sustainability, provides an inspiring platform to share innovative ideas, and creates an inclusive space for collaboration and action. SRI is a joint initiative of Future Earth and the Belmont Forum, with sponsorship from the IAI.
The organizers are pleased to announce that recordings of SRI2023 sessions are now available for viewing without cost. If you missed any of the great contributions to the Congress or simply want to rewatch the sessions you attended, you can do so through the platform: Bizzabo.
To access the recordings, you can log in with your credentials or sign up. Once inside, you will be able to browse the event agenda and select the sessions you wish to view.
The recordings will be freely available and accessible until November 2023. Take advantage of this invaluable resource to stay up-to-date with the latest research and advances presented during SRI2023.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact the team at SRI@futureearth.org.
The IAI hopes that these recordings will be very useful for you to stay informed about the most relevant topics in sustainability, research, and innovation.
The Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities, and Afro-descendants (PICLAs) who participated in the SRI Congress self-organized to discuss their vision of the event and jointly generate a set of proposals aimed at ensuring more effective participation in future editions:
