From 5 to 7 November 2009, UNESCO is organizing the World Science Forum in Budapest (Hungary), in cooperation with the Hungarian Academy of Science, International Council for Science (ICSU) and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), among other partners. The Forum will mark the tenth anniversary of the World Conference on Science for the 21st Century: A new Commitment, convened by UNESCO and ICSU in Budapest in 1999.

The theme of the Forum will be a 10-year review of follow-up to the World Conference on Science organized by UNESCO and the International Council for Science (ICSU) in Budapest in 1999. Within its Science Agenda-Framework for Action, the World Conference on Science made a series of recommendations for instigating a new ‘social contract’ for science in the twenty-first century. While ten years after their adoption the Science Agenda and the Framework for Action (WCS, Budapest 1999) remain visionary documents guiding policy makers through the world, the time has now come to take stock of what has been achieved as well as to assess the accomplishments and drawbacks of the follow-up process. Therefore, in order to assess policy changes in UNESCO Member States concerning scientific research and innovation and higher education, UNESCO has prepared a questionnaire, which will be used to identify current challenges and define orientations for future action.

The information supplied will be analysed and compiled for the comprehensive review and assessment which will be presented at the two major events organized by UNESCO in 2009: the “World Conference on Higher Education: The New Dynamics of Higher Education” to be held in Paris from 6 to 8 July 2009 and the “World Science Forum, Budapest+10” to be held in Budapest from 5 to 7 November 2009.

Every two years, the World Science Forum provides a platform for international debate among leading scientists, policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions and research bodies, leaders of culture and industry, and the general public. Keynote speakers initiate discussion on science-related themes which is then further encouraged by follow-up sessions.

The theme of the Forum in 2007 was “Investing in Knowledge: Investing in the Future”. A ‘Heads of State Panel’ addressed the issue of the Responsibility for Future Generations, while separate sessions focused on such topics as Science and Innovation as a Global Enterprise or Investment in Knowledge of our Environment. UNESCO and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World organized a session on The Role of Science, Technology and Innovation in achieving the Millennium Development Goals: from Policy to Action.

Read a brief History of the World Conference on Science and World Science Forum
Read about the Special session on the role of Parliaments (World Science Forum 2007)
Go to the website for the World Conference on Science
Read about World Science Day for Peace and Development
Go to the Hungarian website for the World Science Forum

Read about two networks born of the World Conference on Science:
The Israeli-Palestinian Science Organization
The World Association of Young Scientists

Contact d.malpede(at)unesco.org