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| FLASH-FORUM N°12: Report on the 1st International Forum on the Social Science – Policy Nexus |
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News 1 of 12
| The 1st International Forum on the Social Science – Policy Nexus closed its doors on Friday 24 February 2006 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). |
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 With over 2000 participants coming from all continents, thirteen Ministers of Social Development and Education from Africa, Asia and Latin America, five Secretaries General of regional organizations and numerous government representatives and local authorities, students, university professors and academics, project representatives and members of civil society, this meeting was a true success. And not only because the number of participants went largely beyond the hopes of the organizers who were not expecting more than a thousand people to attend.
Indeed, for the first time, policy makers and researchers in the social sciences were able to exchange their experiences and together think about forging a new kind of relationship.
They agreed on a joint Declaration – which was read out at the closing ceremony by the Argentinean Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Daniel Filmus. In this Declaration, they emphasize the need for extending what they have chosen to call “the Buenos Aires Process”. They also stressed the need for creating permanent and innovative spaces of dialogue, strengthening existing ones, generating new networks – in particular at regional level – and establishing a free-flowing dialogue between themselves and existing policy-making bodies such as the Forums for Ministers of Social Development.
Through 99 workshops, five high-level meetings and events, and two technical consultations, organized around five main themes and in four cities (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Montevideo and Rosario), policy makers and social science researchers explored the strengths and weaknesses of their cooperation to see how they might improve their working together. The shared objective was to establish mechanisms for dialogue between two worlds that have common concerns but are unaccustomed to active collaboration.
As Peruvian Minister of Women and Social Development, Ana María Romero-Lozada noted during the closing ceremony: “The Forum is aiming for three essential results. First, to propose a diagnosis on current collaboration between researchers and policy makers in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses comparatively and transversally with regard to the five themes of the Forum. Second, the Forum has highlighted a certain number of problems that restrain or paralyse the creation of the Nexus. On the basis of this diagnosis, the Forum aspires to propose recommendations that will emphasize the strategy needed to overcome the existing gap”.
During this event, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – along with its Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme, under the aegis of which the Forum was organized – confirmed its role as international moderator.
On the UNESCO website – which carries the official website of the Forum –, a selection of interventions given during the 5 days of workshops will be posted shortly.
Already available (in English, French and Spanish) are the Final Declaration of the Forum (www.unesco.org/shs/ifsp/declaration); the summary of debates given by Ana María Romero-Lozada (in Spanish: www.unesco.org/shs/ifsp/informe_lozada); the main presentations given at the opening and closing of the Forum; as well as papers by researchers attending the high-level symposium on the social dimensions of regional integration, held in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 21 to 23 February 2006.
A press review of the Forum and a photo gallery are also accessible on www.unesco.org/shs/ifsp/.
Convened by UNESCO, in conjunction with the Governments of Argentina and Uruguay, the Forum received support from a wide range of academic, policy and NGO partners, including: the city government of Buenos Aires, the University of Buenos Aires, the Municipality of Córdoba, Córdoba National University, the city government of Montevideo, the University of the Republic of Uruguay, the Municipality of Rosario, and Rosario National University.
The Forum was coordinated by an International Steering Committee comprising representatives of the Governments of Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Peru and Mali; UNESCO; UNDESA; UNRISD; UNU-CRIS; ILO; UNDP; the World Bank; FLACSO; CLACSO; AICARDES; AASSREC; CODESRIA; the European Commission; the European Science Foundation; SAREC; SSHRC; ODI; GASPP; and the ISSC.
If you would like to continue to receive information on UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector, please click on the following link: news-shs@lists.unesco.org
Press and communication contacts for the Forum:
ARGENTINA:
Juan Schjaer & Silvina Seijas, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology: schjaer@me.gov.ar ; sseijas@me.gov.ar
URUGUAY:
Cristina Casaubou, Uruguay National Commission for UNESCO: ccasaubou@yahoo.es
Carolina Porley, University of the Republic: carolinaporley@yahoo.com
UNESCO:
Cathy Bruno-Capvert and Stéphanie Grall, Social and Human Sciences Sector:
c.bruno-capvert@unesco.org; s.grall@unesco.org
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| Author(s) |
UNESCO Sector for Social and Human Sciences |
| Publication Date |
08-03-2006 |
| Source |
UNESCO |
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