At an online conference organised on Thursday 12 June by the League of European Research Universities (LERU), several European experts felt that universities had a role to play in scientific diplomacy, particularly in the current geopolitical context.
Nataša Kos, who heads up the Department for Cultural and Scientific Diplomacy at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, believes that the most important dimension of scientific diplomacy is the creation of a strategic bridge. “It’s connecting knowledge, innovation, foreign policy in this complex as we said, already fractured world, and it's not just about promoting science abroad”, she said. “I think that it's about using science to build trust between nations, to address shared global challenges we all know which they are to secure our place in the future oriented alliances”.
The University of Geneva, for example, has created a dedicated interface for this purpose. “Researchers, scientists, quite naturally, often lack knowledge of diplomatic processes, diplomatic actors and the sort of relationship building elements that revolve around that”, explained Nicolas Seidler, Executive Director of the Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI). He also added that: “they have often little time, little recognition or funding for policy engagement, even though there are again, a lot of positive developments across academia to promote that societal engagement part”. In his opinion, only around 20% of the success of a scientific diplomacy or science policy project depends on high-quality scientific knowledge, and around 80% on the relationships and relational competencies involved in crafting these projects.
According to Jan Marco Mueller, Team Leader ‘Global Approach, Multilateral Dialogue and Science Diplomacy’ at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), universities have a role to play in advancing the frontiers of science diplomacy, both in terms of research and in educating future professionals in scientific diplomacy. “Universities are scientific diplomacy actors in their own right”, he said. He cited the example of Belgian universities, which have decided to cut ties with Israeli entities. He also spoke of the soft power of research. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)