The International Year of Science Engagement signs a historic Strategic Alliance Agreement with the UN International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development 2022 to promote scientific collaboration and trust in science
Berlin, 19 July 2022. The International Year of Science Engagement (IYSE), an initiative of the charitable Falling Walls Foundation to pronounce 2027 as the official United Nations International Year of Science Engagement, signed a historic “Strategic Alliance Agreement Between International Years of Science” with the UN International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD) 2022.The signing ceremony took place at the IYSE Assembly Paris in June 2022.
By forming the Strategic Alliance, both initiatives commit to developing activities that support scientists on local, national, and international levels to strengthen the sense of public trust in the fields of Science Engagement, Basic Sciences and Sustainable Development. Some of the Strategic Alliance Agreement’s objectives include increasing awareness among scientists regarding the UN Sustainable Development Goals, promoting collaboration between academia, business, civil society and governments, as well as initiating a specialized International Day of Sciences that would take place after the International Year of Science Engagement 2027.
As Dr. Michel Spiro, President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and Chair of the Steering Committee of the IYBSSD says: “Science Engagement is a timely initiative. We are living in a world when Science and the necessity of Falling Walls are more and more needed to face global challenges. This is very much in line with the goals of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development in 2022 which aims to become a decade of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development. IYBSSD and IYSE have concluded a strategic alliance to share and reinforce their synergetic objectives.”
By aligning forces, the International Year of Science Engagement and the UN International Year of Basic Sciences and Sustainable Development aim to build on their mutual impact and create a sustainable action plan, as well as a lasting dialog between academia, business, and civil society to further promote sustainability, peace, and security through international scientific collaboration. “What we would like to see in an International Year of Science Engagement is for Science Engagement to be considered in (post-)war contexts, to be acknowledged for its potential as a tool for reconciliation, and to address issues surrounding the risks scholars are taking.” states Dr. Heike Wendt, head of the initiative RESI (Rethink Education and Science in Iraq) and speaker at the IYSE Assembly Paris.
The second International Year of Science Engagement Assembly is being planned to take place in Berlin in November 2022.
For press inquiries contact Olena Taran, press officer of the Falling Walls Foundation at press@falling-walls.com.
For inquiries regarding how to become a partner of the IYSE 2027 or for general information concerning the IYSE, please contact Whitney Buchanan, the Head of the IYSE at internationalyear@falling-walls.com.
About the IYSE 2027:
With the International Year of Science Engagement, the Falling Walls Foundation aims for the United Nations to endorse a year of action in 2027 that promotes greater engagement with science, the public, business, and governments to create environments dedicated to solving our world’s challenges. We call on academia, business, civil society, and governments around the world to support the International Year of Science Engagement by joining our network and helping us institutionalise Science Engagement as a pillar of sustainability, peace, and security. By launching and scaling this global initiative of change, the Falling Walls Foundation will build on its years of expertise in Science Engagement established by Falling Walls Engage. While on the path to official UN designation, we are looking for partners to support our initiative through mutual endorsement, political backing, and financial commitment. More: iyse2027.org/
About Falling Walls Foundation:
The Falling Walls Foundation gGmbH is a non-profit organization based in Berlin, Germany, with the goal to communicate outstanding science and research to society. Through numerous projects, the organization brings together an international network of science, society, and policy to promote breakthrough thinking and find solutions to the greatest challenges of our time. Every year the Falling Walls Foundation hosts international scientific events Berlin Science Week and the Falling Walls Science Summit, which take place around the day of the peaceful fall of the Berlin Wall in November. Other projects include Falling Walls Lab for emerging science talents, Falling Walls Engage for innovative science communication, Falling Walls Venture for science start-ups, Young Entrepreneurs in Science for PhD students and postdocs, and Female Science Talents, which promotes inclusive excellence and leadership in science and business. Since 2020, the Foundation has organized the Creative Bureaucracy Festival, an international event for innovative public administration and public service. The Foundation is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Berlin Senate, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Berlin Museum of Natural History (Museum für Naturkunde) and PD – public sector advisory, as well as numerous recognized academic institutions, foundations, companies and NGOs. More: falling-walls.com/foundation
PRESS CONTACT
Lena Taran
Tel: +49 30 60 988 39-750
press@falling-walls.com