In this edition

To all INGSA Members and supporters,

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The first quarter of 2023 is already over, and I am happy to see that a lot has already happened.

With our collaborators, Mr. Aidan Gilligan and Ms. Virginie Auger, we had the opportunity to see some of you in Washington, D.C., including Governing Board member, Prof. Tateo Arimoto, during our participation to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual Conference in Washington.

I participated in a panel and presented the concrete impacts of politics and policy decisions of cities and municipalities on citizens. The panelists advocated for the importance of scientific advice at city level and I made a link with the aim of the upcoming INGSA North American Chapter.

In the margin of the Conference, we also organised a breakfast discussion with American and Canadian stakeholders to gather their thoughts on the pathway for a successful development of a North American INGSA Chapter. A note from this meeting will soon be available on the INGSA website.

Additionally, during this Conference, with the support of the Government of Québec, we hosted a second edition of the Francophone and Francophile networking reception. Another successful opportunity to recognise the size and diversity of the Francophone scientific community and to give it a voice during international events.

Finally, as Chief Scientist of Québec as well as President of INGSA, I will participate as a panelist in the biennial World Conference of Science Journalists that will be held in Colombia, highlighting the importance of inclusivity and equity in science advice. While in Colombia, we are also looking forward in further discussions with our Colombian colleagues from the INGSA Latin America and Caribbean Chapter.

This is an edition of INGSA bursting with exciting announcements, on our next Global Conference, on our next steps for INGSA-Africa, and much more!

Sending you all my warmest regards,

Rémi Quirion

President of INGSA

ANNOUNCING:

GLOBAL: INGSA is delighted to announce that our 5th Global Conference will take place in Kigali, Rwanda from 6-9 May 2024 - So put it in your calendars!

This conference will mark a number of milestones:

• The first time an INGSA conference will be held in Africa
• The first time an INGSA conference is held in the Global South
• And marking 10 years of INGSA, which was founded at the 2014 Auckland conference on science advice.

We hope to see many of you in Kigali in May 2024 - for more information see the announcement.

INGSA Developing INGSA-Africa Hub Rwanda

RWANDA: INGSA is developing a regional capacity building and training Hub in Rwanda. The INGSA-Africa Hub Rwanda is a collaboration between the INGSA-Africa Regional Chapter, the University of Rwanda, and Fonds de recherche du Québec.

Rwanda is developing their national capacity in evidence-to-policy mechanisms, and the INGSA-Africa Rwanda Hub will be an important element in helping Rwanda to build a cohesive, interconnected ecosystem.

As well as helping to build national capacity, the hub is expected to grow into a regional centre for training at the science-policy nexus, starting in East Africa.

Representatives from the INGSA Secretariat and INGSA-Africa recently visited Rwanda to meet the local team that will be developing the Hub: Prof Alfred Bizoza (1-L), Dr Alphonse Nkurunziza (2-L), Dr Alice Urusaro Uwagaga Karekezi (3-L), Ms Lydie Uwumutabazi (2-R), and Dr Jeannine Ahishakiye, pictured above with the University of Rwanda DVC of Strategic Planning and Administration, Dr Raymond Ndikumana (centre).

More information soon...

GLOBAL: Sir Patrick Vallance is the UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and National Technology Adviser. Dr Mona Nemer is Canada's Chief Science Advisor.

Both were in the middle of their tenures when COVID erupted and they found themselves at the very centre of the national and international response. What was it like to be a country's highest ranking science adviser when unprecedented interest, scrutiny, and animosity was directed at scientists and science advisors trying to do their jobs? 

This is a candid and engaging discussion from two of the world's most experienced science advice practitioners.

Watch it now on Youtube

For more, follow @INGSciAdvice on Twitter or check out #INGSAHorizon​​​

OPPORTUNITIES:

ASIA: Building upon last year’s overwhelming response, INGSA-Asia is now calling upon scientists, researchers, academics and practitioners all across Asia to submit their proposals and applications for the 2023 Grassroots Science Advice Promotion Awards.

Award recipients will receive a seed grant worth CAD1000 to organise workshops which highlight the role of science advice in pertinent issues in their home countries. The deadline for submission is 30 April 2023.

For more information, please download the application guideline here or email us at ingsa.asia@gmail.com.

Geneva, SWITZERLAND: INGSA has once again been invited to partner with the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) on their upcoming Science Diplomacy Week 8-12^th May.

INGSA will be leading a workshop based around a new, gamified case study, to explore and interrogate the challenges and trade-offs on emerging revolutionary technology.

For more on the GESDA Science Diplomacy Week see: https://gesda.global/science-diplomacy-week/

NEPAL: The National Young Academy of Nepal (NaYAN) is organising a workshop on ‘Climate Change Science and Policy Making in Nepal’, on the 16th of April (Time: 13:00-17:00).

The workshop, to be held in Kathmandu, aims to provide firsthand insight of the climate change policy making process in Nepal and their implementation.

Target participants: Early career researchers (university faculty and research students and government officials in the related field).

Please submit this online form if you are interested to participate. Only short-listed 30 applicants will be invited to attend. Deadline: 31 March 2023 

News From Across The Network:

ASIA: INGSA-Asia presents the second interview of the Spotlight Interview Series, this time with Dr. Anders Karlsson, Vice-President of the Global Strategic Networks at Elsevier, Japan and the Chair of the Japan Chapter of the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM).

He chats with Prof. Dr. Abhi Veerakumarasivam, Chair of INGSA-Asia and Provost of Sunway University, about his personal journey moving from academia, to government, and now industry. He also shares his perception on institutionalisation of science advice in policymaking, through the lens of his different roles.

Watch the interview with Dr. Anders Karlsson here: https://youtu.be/SNRo9PHUlr8

INGSA-Asia Grassroots Workshops 2022

AFRICA: Over the course of 3 months in 2022, INGSA-Africa coordinated a mentorship program for 10 African researchers, matching them with mentors from across the continent and the world.

The Science Advice Skills Development Program (SASDP) was a success and the report is now out on the first cohort through the program, and the projects they undertook.

INGSA-Africa will be accepting a new cohort of mentors and mentees in 2023. In particular we are looking for experienced science advice practitioners to act as mentors - if you would be interested in being a mentor please contact INGSA-Africa.

GLOBAL: Congratulations to SAPEA for launching its 100th episode of the Science for Policy podcast, featuring a mystery guest and a fascinating discussion on the latest research and insights from the science-for-policy sphere.

To celebrate this milestone, they created a new Science for Policy podcast community on Slack where you can informally share your thoughts about new podcast episodes and network with podcast guests and other listeners. Click here to join!

EUROPE: The INGSA INCLUSIVE project explores how language, culture and context affect the provision and use of scientific evidence in Europe.

In its first phase, it is focusing on a small number of case studies defined by geography or topic and selected to provide a range of potential experience and contexts. The geographical case studies are of Belgium, Norway, Poland and Switzerland; and the topic-based case studies are on genetic engineering and energy transitions through the lens of nuclear power. 

The work builds on existing extensive research about science advisory mechanisms and, to ensure the project remains oriented toward science advice in practice, we are conducting expert interviews to collate first-hand accounts to inform the case studies.

The project is holding its first expert workshop in London in May. If you are aware of any major pieces of research or reports that focus on cultural contexts, especially in relation to the case studies, please send them to Rokia Ballo [rokia.ballo.19@ucl.ac.uk].

SOUTHEAST ASIA: In 2022, INGSA-Asia engaged with the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on a project entitled “Countering Zoonotic Spillover of High Consequence Pathogens”. A group of experts and key representatives who are involved in the live animal supply chain in the Southeast Asia region were invited to a series of workshops to explore what is known on this topic and the major challenges remaining to be addressed.

The project is now in its second phase, which involves refining and finalising the guidebook to assist partner organisations in preventing and mitigating zoonotic spillover in the region and more broadly. The goal is to complete this guidebook by April 2023.

All the experts will be invited to discuss the final guidebook at the Kuala Lumpur meeting hosted by Sunway University, Malaysia on June 1-3, 2023.

If you or your organisation work in research, regulation, or policy development in the live animal supply chain in Southeast Asia or China, please contact the Project Coordinator, Hazel Yean, at hazely@sunway.edu.my

New Reports and Resources:

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre is pleased to announce that its Smart4Policy self-reflection tool is online.

Its purpose is to help policymakers and researchers working in science-for-policy reflect on their level of competence in various fields.

Smart4Policy provides suggestions on next steps and resources helping you improve. Smart4Policy is open to all and free of charge 👉 https://smart-for-policy.ec.europa.eu/

New Paper: Whose Evidence Counts? Exploring evidence pathways during the Covid-19 crisis in Panama’s Housing Ministry

Pablo García de Paredes, who is a 2021 INGSA Knowledge Associate and member of the INGSA LAC Steering Committee, has just published a new paper exploring the pathways of evidence during the COVID-19 crisis, using Panama's housing ministry as a case study.

The results of the study show that evidence pathways depend on social phenomena, including internal and external political power negotiations, social class identities, and representations of the role of government. Read it here.

Blog: Practical tools to support evidence use in policy-making - Emily Hayter

Emily Hayter from On Think Tanks, has produced an excellent article collating a broad range of practical tools for evidence-to-policy practitioners. One to bookmark!

Read the full article...

Blog: For what purposes is research evidence used in legislatures? What are the enablers and hindrances to using evidence in these settings? - Mathieu Ouimet

Based on the Evidence & Policy article, ‘Use of research evidence in legislatures: a systematic review’, this blog post reports the findings of a Quebec-based research team’s systematic review of how and for what purpose legislators use research evidence.

Written by the director of INGSA’s new francophone division, Mathieu Ouimet, it also examines legislators’ perspectives on enablers and barriers to using research evidence.

Read the article here

New Reports

The International Network for Governmental Science Advice is a New Zealand-based

International Organisation hosted at the University of Auckland.

INGSA operates under the auspices of the International Science Council (ISC). 

Copyright © 2022 INGSA, All rights reserved.

You are receiving this email because you signed up for updates at the INGSA website and/or because you registered for an INGSA event.