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.
