This text is part of the special scientific Francophonie booklet
Is the Agence universitaire de la francophonie taking a facelift? We can believe it at the conclusion of the second edition of the World Week of Scientific Francophonie (SMFS), which was held in Cairo from 25 to 28 October.
This event, which brought together more than 1,500 participants, including experts and researchers as well as a hundred young people, among others, from new student clubs of 50 different nationalities, no longer has anything to do with the quadrennials of rectors of yesteryear.
The SMFS — which brought together the first Congress of Francophone Student Youth, the second International Conference of Scientific Francophonie and the sixth Francophone Ministerial Conference — was intended to be active and militant.
“We want to make it the major event that punctuates, each year, the evolution of the scientific Francophonie”, says Slim Khalbous, rector of the Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF). He expresses high expectations for the third edition, which will be held in Quebec in October 2023.
“In my university career, I followed the AUF a lot and, until recently, it was a lot about culture and mobility, and the research aspect was much less present. But with Slim, it has become very important and it opens up new horizons,” says Abdelmajid Benamara, secretary general of the Federation of Arab Councils for Scientific Research and professor of mechanical engineering at the National School of Engineers of Monastir, in Tunisia.
The desire to move the lines was manifested through several achievements aimed at updating the discussions. In addition to the creation of the network of French-speaking Student Leaders Clubs (CLEF) which supports the 180 brand new student clubs, the five workshops on artificial intelligence (AI) have found their concrete counterpart in the creation of the Francophone Network in IA, the REFIA .
“We want to perpetuate the reflection so that it can be used to move forward, says Slim Khalbous. We have plenty of French-speaking AI experts. Why should they publish in English? »
Similarly, the conclusions of the two other thematic workshops, on foresight in education and on the publication of research, are sure not to remain a dead letter. The brand new International Academy of Scientific Francophonie, based in Rabat, Morocco, expressly aims to implement them.
“We need anticipatory educational policies, which will allow us to push in the right direction, 10, 15 years in advance. It doesn’t make sense to limit yourself to playing firefighters. You have to know all the systems and see ahead. »
French-speaking science diplomacy
The big political coup of the week will have been the signing of the Manifesto for French-speaking scientific diplomacy signed by the Ministers of Higher Education and Research of 40 states.
“The key message is the establishment of cooperative governance of science in the French-speaking world,” says Slim Khalbous. This is a very strong plea to political leaders to involve scientists in decision-making. »
“The IPCC report on global warming is just paper. How do we update this? asks Rémi Quirion, chief scientist for the Government of Quebec and first French-speaking president of the International Network of Chief Scientists and Scientific Advisors (INGSA). “The benefit of the manifesto will be to put everyone in a network to collaborate, test ideas and learn from others. »
The signing of the manifesto coincides – this is no coincidence – with the announcement on November 3 of the creation of the Réseau francophone international en conseil scientifique (RFICS), a project resulting from the efforts of Rémi Quirion and in which Slim Khalbous participated within the steering committee. Based in Quebec, it will bring together all the scientific advisers of the signatory countries of the manifesto.
For Slim Khalbous, scientists must take advantage of the current circumstances, which are rather favorable to them. “COVID has put before the world how essential science is to decision-making in politics,” he says. And that is why the Fonds de recherche du Québec, headed by Rémi Quirion, has created a program of postdoctoral scientific residencies at the Québec offices in Seoul, Tokyo, Rabat and at UNESCO in Paris. He wants to extend it to other ministries. “We also need, he says, scientists who learn the reality of ministries and policy decisions. »
In his view, sound scientific diplomacy must also aim for diplomacy through science, following the example of major multinational scientific projects, such as the CERN particle accelerator in Switzerland, the Very Large Telescope in Chile or the space program, where we see collaborations between Russians and Ukrainians or between Palestinians and Israelis. “Scientists can facilitate dialogue between countries that no longer speak to each other. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.