The mission of the International Council for Science (ICSU) is to strengthen international science for the benefit of society. Its long-term vision is for a world where excellence in science is effectively translated into policymaking and socioeconomic development. In such a world, universal and equitable access to scientific data and information would be a reality and all countries would have the scientific capacity to use these and to contribute to the new generation of knowledge.
Background
ICSU was founded in 1931 with 41 National Members and 8 International Scientific Unions, and took over from the International Association of Academies and the International Research Council. The membership in 2013 consisted of 120 National Members and 31 International Scientific Unions, including IUPAC. The fundamental decision-making body is the General Assembly of members, held every three years. The Executive Board, comprising six officers and eight elected members, is responsible for the oversight of ICSU between assemblies and is responsible to the General Assembly. Chemistry Nobel Laureate Professor Yuan T. Lee is President. The Secretariat (approximately 20 staff) is based in Paris and managed by Executive Director Dr Steven Wilson. There are also three Regional Offices, one for Africa (in Pretoria), one for the Asia-Pacific (in Kuala Lumpur), and one for Latin America (in Mexico City). The Regional Offices help implement the ICSU science policies and strategies in these regions, which are greatly affected by problems of sustainability, and also return vital feedback to assist in future planning.
According to the statutes, the principal objectives of ICSU are: a) to encourage and promote international scientific and technological activity for the benefit and well-being of humanity; b) to facilitate coordination of the international scientific activities of its Scientific Union Members and of its National Scientific Members; c) to stimulate, design, coordinate or participate in the implementation of international interdisciplinary scientific programs; d) to act as a consultative body on scientific issues that have an international dimension; e) to encourage the strengthening of human and physical scientific resources worldwide with particular emphasis on the developing world; f) to promote the public understanding of science; g) to engage in any related activities.
ICSU has a strongly multi-faceted mission to benefit society. It seeks to identify and address key issues for science and society; to foster collaboration amongst scientists across all disciplines and from all countries; to promote the participation of all scientists, regardless of race, citizenship, language, political stance, or gender, in the international scientific endeavour; and to give independent, authoritative advice to link the scientific community with governments, civil society, and industry.
ICSU has three organizational themes, namely International Research Collaboration, Science for Policy, and the Universality of Science. The boundaries between these three themes are porous, given the important links between them.
International Research Collaboration
ICSU has sponsored key research initiatives for many years. Decisions made by members at General Assemblies have led to the launch of large-scale global programs. The most recent is Future Earth, which was launched in 2012 by a consortium of partners and will become fully operational by the end of 2014. The aim of this ten-year program is to provide knowledge required for societies to face risks posed by global environmental change and seize opportunities in the transition to global sustainability. The program will bring together an international and multi-disciplinary team of experts to carry out research that seeks to observe, monitor, explain, and model the changing state of the planet. Research will focus on links between global environmental change and human development, and lead to a consideration of fundamental long-term transformations essential for a sustainable future.
International research collaboration is also an essential ingredient in the programs of Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), launched in 2009, Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS), launched in 2011, and Urban Health and Wellbeing, launched in 2013.
The collection and development of proposals for major scientific initiatives are coordinated by the Committee on Scientific Planning and Review (CSPR), which also reviews these scientific activities and advises the Executive Board on their future course. CSPR has a broad and expert membership of 15 that meets twice a year. This committee also oversees the ICSU Grants Program, which provides approximately ten grants per year, each to the extent of Euro 30000. The aim of the program is to bring together various parts of the ICSU family and promote interdisciplinary collaboration, especially between the scientific unions. Although successful, steps are being taken to enhance further inter-union collaboration. This is an area of opportunity for IUPAC to become more engaged in collaborative programs with other science disciplines.
Science for Policy
ICSU has sponsored and cosponsored global environmental change programs, and was involved in the establishment of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It continues to play an essential role in providing the science that underlies major international assessments and conventions, and recently led the major group for science and technology that provided inputs into the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20).
ICSU is continually seeking to address the need to improve links between science and policymaking. In this regard the availability of relevant, sound scientific data is not sufficient, as it is essential that the connections between scientists and policymakers are strong and fearless. In the provision of sound advice, the scientists need to be made aware of the political connotations, and the policymakers need to understand the certainty of the available science and the extent to which that knowledge can be accepted. The bare scientific facts are never going to be adequate, because it is the manner in which those facts will be applied to a specific problem or situation that is crucial.
To this end, ICSU will convene a high-level meeting, hosted and chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, the Chief Science Advisor to New Zealand’s Prime Minister, that will bring together senior scientists involved in giving policy advice to governments. This meeting will be held in conjunction with the next ICSU General Assembly scheduled for late August 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand. The aim of this informal meeting will be to share knowledge, strategies, and opportunities, and to build relationships. The meeting will focus on science and policy rather than political and funding issues. It will be a neutral forum capable of identifying the various national science policy processes and structures employed around the world, and suggesting guidelines for the enhancement of science-policy links at national and international levels. This meeting will determine whether there would be value in establishing an ongoing network of national science advisors, which could meet regularly under the neutral banner of the International Council for Science.
The Universality of Science
The Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in the conduct of Science (CFRS) is dedicated to the promotion of freedom and responsibility of scientists, as well as promoting access to data and information as a critical contribution to the conduct of science around the globe.
The Principle of Universality (freedom and responsibility) of Science maintains that the free and responsible practice of science is fundamental to scientific advancement and human and environmental well-being. It is based on principles of freedom, access, responsibility and anti-discrimination. There must be freedom of movement, association, expression and communication. There should also be equitable access to data, information, and other resources for research. Scientists should also take responsibility at all levels to carry out and communicate scientific work with integrity, respect, fairness, trustworthiness, and transparency. In all scientific endeavors there should be no discrimination arising from such factors as ethnic origin, religion, citizenship, language, political or other opinion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or age.
CFRS consists of 15 members and meets twice a year. CFRS works to safeguard scientific freedoms in the form of freedom of movement and association. In this aspect it focuses on cases of individual scientists, raises awareness, assists with visa issues, and makes recommendations for conference organizers. CFRS also works for scientific freedom in the form of freedom of expression and communication, by compiling information on areas of concern, helping to ensure the independence of academies, publicizing the “muzzling” of scientists, protecting whistleblowers, and monitoring the constitutional protection of academic freedom.
CFRS raises awareness of issues through topical workshops and reports back to ICSU and its members through a series of advisory notes and discussion papers, which are available on the ICSU website.
ICSU plays a major role in the management of scientific data, in pursuit of its principle of equitable and universal access to data. The ICSU-World Data System is charged with the provision of long-term stewardship and quality-assessed data and data services to the international science community. Links between ICSU-WDS and the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) are being progressively strengthened, and this should encourage a more coordinated effort linking ICSU’s data policy and data management work (see also SciDataCon2014 announcement on page 32).
Where does IUPAC fit in?
In all the work of ICSU there is not much visibility of the word “chemistry.” This is because the very large programs deliberately target the major issues of global sustainability, the effects of which go well beyond chemistry. However, in all these programs, whether environmental sustainability and ecosystem change, urban health or disaster risk, an underpinning key is chemistry. Therefore it is imperative that chemists become fully involved in these programs. IUPAC has very strong activity and expertise in environmental and “green” chemistry, and chemistry related to human health.
Over the years, IUPAC has been very cooperative with ICSU in an organizational manner, and has provided a steady sprinkling of chemists onto the various committees. I urge IUPAC to use the opportunities provided by ICSU to expand its horizons, and demonstrate that “chemistry is everything and everywhere.”
Visibility and Communication
My final comment relates to the relative invisibility of the International Council for Science. Stronger efforts are being made to overcome the fact that many scientists are unaware of it, as are most of the general public. ICSU, like IUPAC, is a very effective catalyst for important activities, but its identity sometimes fails to follow through to the message that reaches the community. For ICSU to have serious influence in the community and thereby transfer this influence into government policy decisions, a concerted effort needs to be made through all available channels. Executive Board members try to make brief presentations at Union general assemblies, and we hope that the ICSU message is then grasped and spread by Union members. I strongly recommend the website, which contains much interesting and useful material, and individuals can also register for a quarterly newsletter. Let us all cooperate to “strengthen international science for the benefit of society.”
David StC Black <d.black@unsw.edu.au> is ICSU Secretary General since 2013. He is a professor of organic chemistry at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He was President of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute in 1998, and the Chair of the National Committee for Chemistry from 1999-2003. He has been a member of IUPAC for more than 20 years, and was Secretary General from 2004 to 2012.
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