World Science Day for Peace and Development 2025; November 10th.

FORUM: "Trust, Transformation, and Tomorrow: The Science We Need for 2050." World Science Day for Peace and Development 2025. Join us live from the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference as we celebrate the day with a forward-looking conversation on the future of science. This event invites participants to reflect on what kind of science—and what kind of relationship between science and society—will be needed to meet the demands of the coming decades. Together, experts and policymakers will envision the scientific and societal landscape of 2050 and discuss how science can shape a more just, sustainable, and peaceful future. The General Conference is UNESCO’s highest decision-making body, gathering delegates from all 194 Member States every two years to set the Organization’s global priorities and guide its actions for peace, inclusion, and sustainable development. Through this dialogue, UNESCO reaffirms its leadership as the foundation of global scientific cooperation and the driving force behind the Science Decade for Action. To join the global conversation on the science we need for 2050; Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #Science4Policy, #sciencematters, #ScienceDay, #10November, #sustainableDevelopment, #WorldScienceDayforPeaceandDevelopment.

EVENT: On November 10th; 2025 from 1:15 pm - 2:50 pm, at the Room IX - Delegates Meeting Room #3 in Uzbekistan will celebrate the World Science Day for Peace and Development 2025 during the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Organized under the umbrella of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024–2033), this event celebrates World Science Day for Peace and Development by fostering forward-looking dialogue on the evolution of science and its role in shaping a just, sustainable, and peaceful future.The Participants will be invited to envision the scientific and societal landscape of 2050 and reflect on, and make informed forecasts about, the evolving role of science in shaping a more just, sustainable, and peaceful future. Participants will consider how feasible this may be and what changes are required to achieve it. It will explore the foundations of a renewed social contract with science, one anchored in public trust, diversified funding sources, a transformed scientific paradigm, open science practices, ethical responsibility, and inclusive engagement.

Key discussion themes

• Disruptive technologies and the future of research: How artificial intelligence and emerging innovations are redefining the scientific paradigm.
• A renewed social contract with science: Building trust through transparency, ethics, open science, and inclusive participation.
• Envisioning science in 2050: Science as a driver of sustainability and peace.

Register to participate!

Agenda Programme

13:15 – 13:20 Opening remarks
Ms Lidia Brito, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences of UNESCO

13:20 – 13:35 Keynote speech
A renewed social contract with science
Ms Dilfuza Egamberdieva, Head of the Department of Biological Research and Food Safety at the Institute of Fundamental and Applied Research, National Research University, Uzbekistan
13:35 – 13:50 International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development
H.E. Ms Monique van Daalen, Co-Chair of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development and Ambassador of the Netherlands to UNESCO

13:50 – 14:40 Panel discussion

• The evolving role of science in shaping the future and a renewed social contract with science
• International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024-2033)
• Engagement and trust in science
• Scientific paradigm transformation with applications of AI and other disruptive technologies
• The gender gap in science
• The role of the private sector in science

Q & A 
14:40 – 14:50  Closing remarks
H.E. Mr Samir Addahre, Chair of the Science Commission and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to UNESCO 

Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development, 10 November 2025.

Science offers concrete solutions to the greatest challenges of our time: climate disruption, pandemics, resource scarcity and growing inequalities. It is a common good, a universal language, capable of bringing us together beyond borders and differences, linking knowledge to the pursuit of the collective good. Yet, in a world faced with widespread misinformation and distrust, we must come together to ensure that science is not reduced to a mere commodity or a political instrument. Science must instead be guided by ethics and solidarity, serving the common good. It is in this spirit that we celebrate World Science Day for Peace and Development under the theme “Trust, Transformation and Tomorrow: The Science We Need for 2050”. Trust cannot be demanded or decreed – it must be built. It grows through open and sustained dialogue between researchers, policymakers, private actors and citizens alike. Rebuilding trust in science lies at the heart of UNESCO’s 2021 Recommendation on Open Science, which calls for a global commitment to transparency, participation and accessibility. Through this recommendation, we can renew trust in science and ensure that it benefits all. But to produce the science of tomorrow, we must unlearn certain habits: we must move beyond silos – refusing to privilege certain forms of knowledge over others, or to confuse innovation with accumulation. Instead, we must relearn how to diversify, share, collaborate and listen. This means listening to researchers, but also to local and Indigenous peoples, whose insights and traditions enrich the collective understanding of our world. Only through active public participation can science truly serve everyone. To mark this year’s World Science Day, UNESCO is proud to publish a landmark anthology tracing 80 years of science at UNESCO, bringing together 46 essays by Nobel laureates, written for UNESCO between 1948 and today. It retraces the evolution of international scientific cooperation and diplomacy, the creation of leading institutions such as CERN and SESAME, the establishment of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, and the development of global ethical frameworks on bioethics, artificial intelligence and neurotechnology. As part of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024-2033), UNESCO is deepening this commitment by breaking down barriers in research, stimulating international cooperation and strengthening academic networks, and ensuring that science informs public policy at every level. On this World Science Day for Peace and Development, UNESCO reaffirms its conviction that open, inclusive, and ethical science – designed for the collective good – is the cornerstone of lasting peace.

UNESCO Director-General.

World Science Day for Peace and Development 2024; November 10th.

FORUM: "Why Science Matters - Engaging Minds and Empowering Future." World Science Day for Peace and Development 2024. The theme will highlight the important role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. We will also underline the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives. By linking science more closely with society, This year’s observance aims to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science. It also underscores the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable. The launch of the Decade of Sciences marks an important step in global efforts to harness scientific knowledge for a sustainable future. Led by UNESCO, this Decade aims to mobilize a wide range of scientific disciplines, including basic and applied sciences, social and human sciences, as well as interdisciplinary and emerging fields, to contribute to transformative change in societies, economies, and the environment. By promoting scientific literacy and encouraging collaboration among governments, UN agencies, the private sector and civil society, the Decade seeks to enhance science’s role in pursuing sustainable development goals and working towards a safer, more prosperous future for all. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #Science4Policy, #sciencematters, #ScienceDay, #10November, #sustainableDevelopment, #WorldScienceDayforPeaceandDevelopment.

EVENTS: On November 10th and during the International week of Science 2024, several activities, workshops and experiments will be held; Explore the International Council of Science (ICS) upcoming meetings and the AAAS upcoming events.

On November 12th, from 14:00 - 15:30 CEST, you are invited participate to the webinar entitled "Why Science Matters - Engaging Minds and Empowering Future.” to mark the World Science Day for Peace and Development 2024 at UNESCO Conference Room XI. In August 2023, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the period 2024-2033 as the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development. This year’s event will be held under the aegis of the Decade. It will present an opportunity to engage a wide-range audience, with a focus on young people (including through the UNESCO Youth Forum and Science Youth Network) and non-scientific participants in discovering and exploring the role of science in our rapidly-changing digitalized world. Young people will have the opportunity to ask questions to distinguished scientists about the ways in which science affects our daily lives and contributes to finding solutions to the most pressing challenges that the world is facing from local to global levels. In this context, the 2024 UNESCO World Science Day event event will close with the ceremony of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science. Get the Agenda Programme and Register to participate!

PUBLICATIONS: Read the The UNESCO standard-setting instruments: the Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers (2017) and the Recommendation on Open Science (2021). These instruments articulate a vision where science ecosystems are driven by universal values and aim at making science and its benefits accessible to all.

STATEMENTS: Read the Statement from the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the World Science Day for Peace and Development, 10 November 2024.


Science is essential to peace-building because it offers practical, sustainable solutions to contemporary global challenges. By seeking responses to climate crises, epidemics and resource shortages, science helps to mitigate the root causes of many conflicts. Beyond providing technical solutions, science forges a common language in which concord prevails over division. It creates unique opportunities for international cooperation, as illustrated by the International Centre for Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) in Jordan, which brings together scientists from throughout the Middle East, under the auspices of UNESCO.World Science Day for Peace and Development celebrates this impetus, which is reinforced by the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024-2033) proclaimed last year by the United Nations and placed under UNESCO’s leadership. This Decade encourages collaboration in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by increasing synergies between basic, applied and human sciences, and by strengthening cooperation in this area between governments, United Nations agencies, the private sector and civil society.Collaboration between all stakeholders is essential, and making this dialogue accessible to as many people as possible is precisely one of the key focuses of open science. In line with this aim, the Recommendation on Open Science (2021) promotes equitable access to scientific data, funding and equipment. UNESCO also supports the work of women scientists, who currently account for only a third of the world’s researchers. For 25 years, the partnership between UNESCO and the L’Oréal Foundation has supported the careers of over 4,400 women scientists in 140 countries. In 2024, UNESCO also launched a call to action to raise awareness in the scientific community of the need to promote the inclusion of women in research. In a changing world, it is urgent to increase funding for research and ensure that everyone has access to quality scientific education. UNESCO reaffirms its conviction that open, inclusive and justly supported science is the cornerstone of lasting peace.

Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General.

World Science Day for Peace and Development 2023; November 10th.

FORUM: “Building trust in science.“ World Science Day for Peace and Development 2023. The theme of the November 10th observance is “Building trust in science.“ The role of science in shaping our collective future can only be fulfilled when there is trust in science. It is trust in science that fuels the development and application of evidence-based solutions to our world’s multifaceted challenges. Trust in science is a complex issue. It affects the way in which scientists operate and the way science is perceived by society. Also, enhancing trust in science strengthens science-based policy decisions and society’s support for their application. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #Science4Policy, #TrustInScience, #ScienceDay, #10November, #sustainableDevelopment, #WorldScienceDayforPeaceandDevelopment.

EVENTS: On November 13th, you are invited participate to the High-level roundtable on the occasion of the World Science Day for Peace and Development 2023; The Panel discussions entitled “Building Trust in Science at the Nexus of Science; Policy and Society.” starts at 6:30pm at UNESCO Conference Room II. The High-level roundtable aims to explore the parameters contributing to building and preserving trust in science. The roundtable will offer an opportunity to discuss the links between science, policy, society, and science-based policy making, and to gain a better understanding of the status of scientific research. It will also highlight the importance of freedom and safety of scientists, as a key ingredient for science ecosystems driven by universal values, and the vital role of science popularization in enhancing scientific literacy, raising public awareness and trust in science. These principles are laid down in two UNESCO standard-setting instruments: the Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers (2017) and the Recommendation on Open Science (2021). These instruments articulate a vision where science ecosystems are driven by universal values and aim at making science and its benefits accessible to all.

Agenda Programme of the World Science Day for Peace and Development 2023 celebration.

Building Trust in Science at the Nexus of Science, Policy and Society (high-level roundtable)- Registrate to participate to the ” 2023 Journée mondiale de la science + Prix UNESCO-Kalinga”.

Ceremony of the 2023 UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science - Watch the “2023 World Science Day + UNESCO-Kalinga Prize” live webcast!

The event will close with the ceremony of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science. 

WORLDWIDE EVENTS: Explore the International Council of Science (ICS) upcoming meetings and the AAAS upcoming events.

STATEMENTS: Statement from the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the World Science Day for Peace and Development, 10 November 2023.

Science holds the undeniable potential to change our world for the better. Vaccines, for instance, have played a critical role in curbing the spread of diseases such as COVID-19, measles, and polio. Innovations in energy and agriculture have led to increased crop yields while reducing the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and water. Central to these breakthroughs is scientific research, which drives all major leaps in understanding. To underline its immense potential, UNESCO celebrates World Science Day for Peace and Development every year. This year, we also celebrate the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, which will transition into the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024-2033).At the heart of UNESCO’s endeavours to support science and scientific research is our Recommendation on Open Science, adopted in 2021. This text underscores that, to unlock the potential of science, scientists need access to data, funding and equipment. They need to collaborate with their peers if they are to accelerate progress and bridge technological and knowledge gaps in and between countries.The Recommendation also underlines the importance of making science more open to marginalized groups, particularly women and indigenous people. Indeed, according to the UNESCO Science Report, only one in three researchers is female. UNESCO is therefore working to foster gender equality in science – for example, through initiatives in Africa and the Caribbean with the L’Oréal Foundation. Over the past 25 years, this partnership has bolstered the careers of over 4,100 female scientists from more than 110 countries.Importantly, the Recommendation underscores the importance of public trust in science: a wider understanding that science is a continuous quest for truth entailing a process of trial and error. This issue is also the theme of this World Science Day – and the focus of a ministerial roundtable at UNESCO Headquarters on 13 November 2023. This event aims to build trust in science by addressing questions such as scientific literacy and the alignment of science with societal needs, as well as the freedom and safety of scientists.In our rapidly changing world, supporting scientific development and fostering an understanding of science are imperatives, not mere options. UNESCO therefore advocates for increased funding for scientific research, a higher representation of women in science, wider access to quality science education for all, and public engagement in scientific processes. Science that is more open, better funded and more equitable is the science the world urgently needs.

Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.

World Science Day for Peace and Development 2022, November 10th.

FORUM: "Basic Science for Sustainable Development." World Science Day for Peace and Development 2022.

 The forum organized in celebration of World Science Day for Peace and Development, aims to highlight the significant role played by basic sciences in advancing knowledge for the wellbeing of society and its sustainable development. 

            

The objectives of World Science Day for Peace and Development are to:

1. Strengthen public awareness of the role of science for peaceful and sustainable societies.
2. Promote national and international solidarity for shared knowledge and scientific cooperation.
3. Renew national and international commitment for the use of science for the benefit of societies.
4. Draw attention to the challenges faced by science and raising support for scientific endeavours.

EVENT: Global Observance of the 2022 World Science Day for Peace and Development.
When: 10 November 2022.

Where: UNESCO HQ.  
From: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm.
Rooms : Room VIII.
Type : Cat VIII - Symposia.
Arrangement type : Virtual.
Language(s) : French and English.

The webinar will offer an opportunity to showcase some of the ways in which learning from nature and deepening our understanding of complex natural and societal phenomena can lay the foundations for innovative solutions for the common good.

Outline of the webinar:

Keynote speech: The potential of basic science to deepen our understanding of nature.
Panel discussion 1: Modelling for the understanding of complex phenomena, relevant to sustainable development.
Panel discussion 2: Fostering sustainable development at the molecular level.

To Participate. Please register to participate in the live event on Zoom. Registration is free.
Register

CAMPAIGN MATERIALS:

The WSDPD 2022 poster is available in six languages (English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and Russian). Please feel free to share it with your networks.

Learn more about 

• The International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development.
The UNESCO Science Report: the race against time for smarter development.

World Science Day for Peace and Development 2021, November 10th.

 Forum: "Building Climate-ready Communities." World Science Day for Peace and Development 2021.

To celebrate the 2021 World Science Day for Peace and Development, UNESCO will organize a webinar including panel discussions on “solutions for building climate-ready communities” and “global health in a changing environment”.

This event will also be an opportunity to present the winner of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize the Popularization of Science.

An international distinction awarding outstanding contributions of individuals in communicating science to society and promoting the popularization of science.

By bridging the gap between science and society, the benefits of scientific knowledge can be used to improve daily lives, empower people and find solutions to global, regional and local challenges. In order to strengthen communication between science and society it is important that efforts made in bridging the gap do not go unnoticed. Popularizing science needs to be championed, including all activities that communicate scientific knowledge and scientific methods to the public outside the formal classroom setting and promote public understanding of the history of science.

The UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an international award to reward exceptional contributions made by individuals in communicating science to society and promoting the popularization of science. It is awarded to persons who have had a distinguished career as writer, editor, lecturer, radio, television, or web programme director, or film producer in helping interpret science, research and technology to the public. UNESCO Kalinga Prize winners know the potential power of science, technology, and research in improving public welfare, enriching the cultural heritage of nations and providing solutions to societal problems on the local, regional and global level.

Many past Prize winners have been scientists in their own right, while others have been trained in journalism or have been educators or writers. Some have also been Nobel Prize winners. Previous laureates include Sir Julian Huxley, Margaret Mead and Sir David Attenborough.

The UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is UNESCO’s oldest prize, created in 1951 following a donation from Mr Bijoyanand Patnaik, Founder and President of the Kalinga Foundation(link is external) Trust in India. Today, the Prize is funded by the Kalinga Foundation Trust(link is external), the Government of the State of Orissa, India(link is external), and the Government of India (Department of Science and Technology(link is external)).
Who can apply?

- The Prize rewards writers, editors, lecturers, radio/television/web programme directors or film producers who have devoted their career to interpreting science, research and technology for the general public. Applicants do not need to have a science degree or to conduct research.
- Writers, editors, lecturers, radio/television programme directors or film producers who have devoted their career to interpreting science, research and technology for the general public.
- The applicant does not need to have a science degree.
- This prize does not reward research.
- This prize does not reward formal teaching (in a school/university), nor curriculum development for the formal learning sector.

Candidates are submitted by the government through the country’s National Commission for UNESCO.
Each National Commission for UNESCO shall propose a candidate on the basis of recommendations from: national associations for the advancement of science or other science associations, and/or national associations of science writers or scientific journalists.

Each Member State may propose a single candidature consisting of one individual only.
Candidatures sent directly to UNESCO by individuals will not be accepted.

EVENTS

World Science Day for Peace and Development 2012

Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development 10 November 2012

World Science Day for Peace and Development is an opportunity for us to confirm the potential of the sciences to build a better world. It is through human intelligence, scientific research and innovation that we will be able find tomorrow the answers to the challenges that today seem insurmountable. Science is our best asset for supporting inclusive and equitable development, and for building global sustainability at a time of uncertainty, and faced with the biophysical limits of the planet.

In order to succeed, we must train today the researchers of tomorrow in greater numbers. We must also place science at the service of all, while observing the fundamental rights of the individual. Above all, we must open a new chapter in scientific integration. Innovation and social transformation depend on our capacity to combine disciplines and create synergies among all sciences, natural, human and social, including local and indigenous knowledge.

The complexity of issues today goes beyond the framework of any single discipline. The economic, environmental and social challenges of sustainable development are interconnected. This was the message of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held earlier this year, in Rio de Janeiro. It was also the message of the report of the High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability:  Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing. Although modern science has been able to prosper on the principle of specialization, it is now time to build more cooperative, better integrated approaches that can combine the progress made by each science in its own field. Sustainability will  come through multidisciplinarity. It DG/ME/ID/2012/026 – page 2also requires an improved interface between the sciences, policy and society, so that each may enrich and reinforce each other. 

That is the theme of the World Day this year, “Science for Global Sustainability Interconnectedness, Collaboration, Transformation”. 

UNESCO has made transdisciplinarity the cornerstone of its work for sustainability, in its international science programmes and in its work on education for sustainable development. Ten years after the first World  Science Day, UNESCO remains determined to support international reflection on a science of global sustainability, notably through the Scientific Advisory Board of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral. It is in this spirit that I call today on governments, civil society, public and private actors, well beyond scientific circles, to mobilize so as to release the full potential of all sciences for development and peace, which are inseparable and essential for the future that we want.Irina Bokova