This text is part of the special Scientific Francophonie notebook
Climate change, evolution of digital technologies, geopolitical context… The role of scientific diplomacy in the search for solutions to the challenges of the future will be at the heart of the Conference of the Scientific Francophonie, which will hold its fourth edition from October 14 to 18 in Toulouse.
The annual event will examine the growing roles of science, research and innovation in international relations and policy decision-making.
Far from being restricted to international scientific cooperation, scientific diplomacy brings together all the risks facing humanity. And this, including a diplomatic and foreign policy dimension, explains Pierre-Bruno Ruffini, professor of economics at the University of Le Havre Normandy. He cites as examples pandemics, climate change, the reduction of biodiversity and ocean acidification as challenges where this concept is embodied.
“To find a way to limit these threats, States must agree to establish governance schemes that are as effective as possible for all these global issues,” says the man who also published an article on the nature and functions of scientific diplomacy in the journal Philosophia Scientiae. Thus, international conventions such as the Conference of the Parties or the Convention on Biological Diversity are examples of structures that allow the establishment of such governance.
Science diplomacy is not new, explains Rémi Quirion, Quebec’s chief scientist. “Science knows no borders. One of the roles of science diplomacy is to reduce tensions between countries,” says the man who also chairs the International Network for Government Scientific Advice (INGSA) since September 2021. For example, during the health crisis, researchers from all over the world have been brought to cooperate. “Chinese colleagues have made the virus sequence public. Several groups collaborated and this made it possible to develop vaccines very quickly,” he emphasizes.
Concept from the Anglo-Saxons
But even if the relationship between science and international relations has existed for a long time, the vocabulary of scientific diplomacy has only been established around fifteen years ago. The concept comes from the Anglo-Saxon world given that the majority of knowledge is created in the language of Shakespeare, recalls Mr. Quirion.
During the pandemic, there were a lot of discussions between experts from different countries almost every week about new information regarding the virus or the development of a vaccine, Mr. Quirion illustrates. “But we didn’t see that much on the French-speaking side. We have less of this tradition of scientific diplomacy,” he explains.
But French-speaking scientific infrastructures now wish to build their own know-how in this area. “We are trying to find how we can fill this gap through research funds from Quebec and INGSA. We have created an international French-speaking scientific advisory network, and this also involves scientific diplomacy,” underlines Mr. Quirion.
On October 3, the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ), Laval University and Sorbonne University also co-signed a declaration of intent with a view to creating a research chair in scientific diplomacy. It aims in particular to place science at the service of diplomacy and to support multilingual scientific initiatives throughout the world.
For Mr. Ruffini, there are several ways of conceiving French-speaking scientific diplomacy. But the most interesting way, according to him, is to examine this concept as a political movement to promote the Francophonie to counterbalance Anglo-Saxon influence. And this, among other things, through institutions such as the International Organization of the Francophonie or the Agence universitaire de la francophonie. This way of conceiving French-speaking scientific diplomacy involves in particular the publication of research articles in French rather than in English.
Multiple challenges
But several challenges await science diplomacy, regardless of the language in which it is embodied, believe the two experts.
The national interests of a state sometimes come before common interests, observes Mr. Ruffini. Thus, certain countries use their scientific power to dominate others, in particular by hiring foreign specialists to work in their laboratories. “If the United States attracts very good researchers from the South, they do not stay in their own country,” he illustrates.
The geopolitical context can also favor or restrict science diplomacy, explains Mr. Quirion. “Sometimes, when wars occur, we tend to put back borders,” he notes. And that doesn’t help research or science. »
The fact that final decisions instead belong to political leaders also limits the scope of science diplomacy. “Our challenge is to make ourselves heard by our elected officials so that they understand the advantage they can have by listening to scientific diplomacy,” he says. He cites global warming as an example, although it is widely documented by science, notably by the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “It remains that we should move towards significant societal changes in order to reduce the impact of climate change, but we are not there yet. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Dutyrelating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.