UNESCO Chairs Seminar 5, Science Benefiting Society: the role of the right to science is taking place on Wednesday 14 June 2023, 14:00-15:30 (Paris time). Seminar 5 continues the theme of Human Rights, with focus on the right to science and the UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers. UNESCO Chairs, and the academic community more generally, have an invaluable contribution to make in further clarifying the content of the right to science, raising awareness and supporting the translation of scientific evidence into policies.
Please find updated concept notes attached and the registration form below:
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Thank you to those who have already registered. Please forward this invitation to your teams and networks.
Please also save the date for UNESCO Chairs Seminar 6 on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Science, on Wednesday 28 June 2023, 17:00-18:30 (Paris time).
UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks are encouraged to organize webinars to deepen ongoing discussions evoked during the UNESCO Chairs Seminars. Submit information about events here to promote them in the UNESCO community. You may also propose a future UNESCO Chairs Seminar by emailing us: [email protected]
We really hope you are able to join us for Seminars 5 & 6.
Best wishes,
UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme Team & the Inclusion, Rights and Intercultural Dialogue Section, Social and Human Sciences Sector
UNESCO Chairs Seminars
Human Rights
Seminar 5: Wednesday 14 June, 14:00 to 15:30 (Paris time)
Science Benefiting Society - the role of the right to science
Date and time: Wednesday 14 June 2023, 14:00 to 15:30 (Paris time)
Languages: English and French
Format: Zoom – register here
Seminar description
Scientists and scientific knowledge have been widely praised for helping to combat disease and its
consequences, discovering vaccines in record time, but also helping to keep our societies and the
economy functioning. Yet, science’s full potential will remain untapped unless there is a steadfast
commitment to a human rights-based approach, with the right to science at the centre.
The need for such paradigm shift is reinforced inter alia by two worrisome trends: the persisting
inequalities of access to scientific knowledge and the applications of scientific progress; and the
vicious circle of erosion of trust in science and infringements on scientific freedom and the safety of
scientists. Such considerations underpinned the call of UNESCO Member States at the 216 th session of
the Organization’s Executive Board to strengthen the implementation of the UNESCO
Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers (2017), an instrument that articulates a
values-based vision of science.
The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), celebrated throughout
2023, is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about the pivotal right to share in scientific
advancement and its benefits (article 27 para. 1, UDHR). UNESCO Chairs Seminar 5 aims to mobilize
the interdisciplinary expertise of UNESCO Chairs and university networks to discuss strategies to
strengthen the implementation of this right, which is fundamental to reducing inequalities and
ensuring sustainable development. UNESCO Chairs - and the academic community more generally -
have an invaluable contribution to make in further clarifying the content of the right, raising
awareness and supporting the translation of scientific evidence into policies.
** Register
here **
Provisional Agenda
Seminar 5: Science Benefiting Society – the role of the right to science
Wednesday 14 June 2023, 14:00-15:30 (Paris time)
14:00-14:10 Opening remarks
Keith Holmes, Research Coordinator, UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme Team,
UNESCO
Ângela Melo, Director, Division for Research, Ethics and Inclusion, Social and Human
Sciences Sector, UNESCO
14:10-14:50 Panel discussion
Monika Plozza, Research Associate and PhD Candidate at the University of Lucerne,
Advisor on the Human Right to Science for the Geneva Science Diplomacy Anticipator
(GESDA), Switzerland
Helle Porsdam, Professor of History and Cultural Rights, UNESCO Chair in Cultural
Rights, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, Researcher, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas
y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina
14:50-15:20 Comments from participants
Moderator
15:20-15:30 Final remarks and closing
