13 July Webinar - Science diplomacy: Building common interests with global inclusion

[Infopoint]

Dear ICTP Community,

TWAS and the TWAS Young Affiliates Network (TYAN) are joining forces to 
create new opportunities for learning, networking, and collaboration, 
with the aim of supporting the next generation of scientific leaders.

The Joint Seminar Series is designed to provide a platform for 
addressing shared global challenges and fostering dialogue across 
borders and disciplines. By bringing together leading experts and 
emerging scientists, the initiative contributes to strengthen science 
diplomacy as a tool for international cooperation.

The first webinar will address science diplomacy, a vital approach 
needed for efforts to build along common interests across barriers, 
including regions and disciplines.

Titled ‘Science diplomacy: Building common interests with global 
inclusion’, the first TWAS-TYAN webinar will feature Prof. Paul Arthur 
Berkman and focus on science diplomacy, highlighting its role in 
building common interests and advancing collaborative solutions in an 
increasingly interconnected world.

The event will take place online via Zoom on 13 July at 3 PM CEST and 
will include a Q&A session. To participate in the webinar, register here 
<https://unesco-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M90-OfV_SiiB35u5Ooffsw#/registration>

Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues and contacts 
who may be interested.

*Abstract - Science diplomacy: Building common interests with global 
inclusion*
Inclusion equates with knowledge discovery (who, what, when, where, why, 
and how), providing insights about patterns, trends, and processes to 
make informed decisions that operate across a continuum of urgencies. 
Inclusion is also a fundamental difficulty for humanity to overcome at 
personal to planetary levels, considering the immediate and enduring 
challenge of our globally interconnected civilization to navigate the 
21st century.

Science diplomacy emerged at the height of the Cold War — in the 
aftermath of World War II last century — revealing a powerful path for 
dialogue even among superpower adversaries based on ‘matters of common 
interest’, which were elegantly elaborated in the 1959 Antarctic Treaty 
that became the first nuclear arms agreement.

“With the interests of science and the progress of all mankind”, the 
1959 Antarctic Treaty emerged directly from the International 
Geophysical Year (IGY) 1957–1958, forever highlighting the global roles 
and inclusive responsibilities with science as a tool of diplomacy.  
  This presentation will illustrate how science diplomacy works as a 
language of hope, applying the Global Indigenous Youth Summit on Climate 
Change (GIYSCC) as an inclusive, as well as inspiring exemplar with the 
theory, methods, and skills of informed decision-making.

GIYSCC is a “virtual dialogue by, for and among Indigenous youth with 
global inclusion” on August 9th — circling the Earth with the Sun across 
three 8-hour time zones in 24 hours (00:00-24:00 GMT) on the 
International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Considering 
inclusion and leadership in the context of this World Forum for Women in 
Science, the four GIYSCC Global Leads from 2023–2026 have all been 
amazing women leaders from Africa (Nigeria, Mauritius, Madagascar, and 
Ghana, respectively). Since its origin with GIYSCC–2023, this annual 
virtual dialogue has engaged registrants representing 355 languages from 
140 nations.

Importantly, the GIYSCC Indigenous Youth Leaders have produced legacy 
contributions, notably their 2023 Nature Commentary that ‘Indigenous 
Youth Must Be at the Forefront of Climate Diplomacy’, initiating 
development of a Global Partnership of Indigenous Youth in the spirit of 
SDG 17 among the UN SDGs.

The ongoing passion, imagination, and capacities with the GIYSCC 
Indigenous Youth Leaders are further reflected by two upcoming Springer 
volumes in the Informed Decisionmaking for Sustainability book series — 
including nearly 50 chapters crafted by indigenous youth from around the 
world. Global inclusion with GIYSCC is hopeful for humanity with 
insights for the benefit of all on Earth across generations.

*Who is Prof. Paul Arthur Berkman*
Paul Arthur Berkman wintered in Antarctica on a SCUBA research 
expedition with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1981. At age 
23, he became a visiting professor at UCLA, where he began developing 
science diplomacy, later reflected in his textbook Science into Policy: 
Global Lessons from Antarctica (2002). In 2009, marking the 50th 
anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, he convened and chaired the 
Antarctic Treaty Summit in Washington, D.C. The summit led to the 
publication of the first book on science diplomacy by the Smithsonian 
Institution, supported by more than 40 organizations worldwide, 
including the United Nations.

As a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar at the University of Cambridge in 
2010, he co-directed the first formal dialogue between NATO and Russia 
on Arctic security, resulting in the widely downloaded book 
Environmental Security in the Arctic Ocean. In 2013, he warned in The 
New York Times of the need to prevent an ‘Arctic Cold War’ through 
common-interest building.

Prof. Berkman also co-convened the first international dialogues on 
science and technology advice in foreign ministries (2016–2017). His 
research spans oceanography, ecology, engineering, international law, 
data management, and science diplomacy. He coordinated multinational 
Arctic sustainability projects (2013–2022) and serves as senior editor 
of Springer’s Informed Decisionmaking for Sustainability series.

Since 2023, he has coordinated the Global Indigenous Youth Summit on 
Climate Change, engaging nearly 3,000 participants from 140 nations. The 
same year, he received a Guinness World Record for a 1981 Antarctic dive 
beneath the McMurdo Ice Shelf. He has received international awards for 
advancing science diplomacy and is happily married with two daughters.

*About the TWAS-TYAN Joint Seminar Series*
The TWAS–TYAN Joint Seminar Series brings together distinguished experts 
and emerging scientific leaders to explore how science can address the 
challenges of a fast-changing world.

We hope you will join us for this event and take part in the discussion.

Best regards,

Giovanni Ortolani






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