Under the patronage of UNESCO, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) conducted a training course on science diplomacy, which was attended by the coordinators of the Scholar Support Office Yevheniia Polishchuk and Ihor Lyman.
This AAAS-TWAS course was created in 2014 to familiarize scientists, policy makers, diplomats and other stakeholders with the concepts of science diplomacy, the main current international policy issues related to science, technology, environment and health. It also provided an opportunity to develop skills for career development at the intersection of science and diplomacy.
Delegations from 12 countries, from Argentina to Thailand, were selected to participate in the course. Despite the fact that Ukraine was not part of the main target group of this course, the coordinators of the Scholar Support Office were invited to attend it after they organized the event "Ukrainian Science Diaspora: connecting scholars for the future", which was the final day of the conference "One year of war in Ukraine, exploring the impact on the science sector and supporting initiatives", organized by the International Science Council (ISC) and All European Academies (ALLEA). The conference was co-organized by the Council of Young Scientists at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Dr. Peter McGrath (TWAS) was invited as a keynote speaker with the report "Science Diplomacy: What it is, and how it can be used to develop diaspora strategies".
Currently, the coordinators of the Scholar Support Office, who are also co-organizers of the Ukrainian Science Diaspora initiative, are actively working on plans to organize AAAS-TWAS science diplomacy courses for Ukrainian scientists who continue their work abroad in order to strengthen advocacy of Ukrainian interests at the international level.
Photo: courtesy of TWAS.