Welcome to INGSA’s year-end newsletter. It seems an appropriate time to reflect on the network’s start-up phase and look forward to 2016’s series of events and collaborations, including a series of capacity building workshops and our 2nd International Conference on Science Advice to Government.

Contents   Reflecting on 2015 

• Building our Foundations in 2015
• INGSA at World Science Forum 2015
• APEC Science Advisors and Equivalents Meeting 2015

The Year Ahead

• Table of Events
• Capacity Building Workshops
• Save the Date: 2nd International Conference on Science Advice to Government

What We’re Watching

• The European Commission’s Science Advice Mechanism
• UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

New Science Advice Resources

• New Resources on the INGSA website
• INGSA Welcomes Guest Blogs
• Palgrave Collection on Scientific Advice to Government

Reflecting on 2015

Building our Foundations in 2015

As an emerging global network, INGSA is still growing and taking shape. In 2015 we worked with the support of our Network Development Group to develop an initial suite of activities and to grow our network and its reach. We would like to take this opportunity to thank to our Network Development Group for their support during 2015.

 In 2015 INGSA participated in the following events:

INGSA at the World Science Forum 2015

On November 4th 2015 in the margins of the 7th World Science Forum (WSF) held in Budapest Hungary, INGSA convened a seminar of practitioners and thought leaders in science advice to governments to discuss an identified challenge in science advice practice: the provision of science advice at the international level. A summary of presentations and discussion can be found on our blog.

The impact of the seminar and of OECD, ICSU and INGSA efforts more broadly, was visible in the World Science Forum Declaration.   Clause 4 of the WSF 2015 Declaration specifically calls for science advice to inform policy making.

APEC Chief Science Advisors and Equivalents Meeting 2015

A number of INGSA affiliates and development group members are also represented within the APEC region’s Chief Science Advisors and Equivalents (CSA&E) grouping.

The third meeting of the APEC CSA&E was held in Kuala Lumpur on October 14-16 2015.  Convening under the theme, “Building Foundations for Scientific Advice Towards Inclusive Economies and a Better World,”

Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak underscored the importance of integrating science and technology into policymaking among economies in the APEC region. He called upon their scientific and policy communities to deepen engagement to strengthen environmental protection and security for all sectors of society, and specifically requested science advice to address the haze caused by rampant fires that has again engulfed large areas of Southeast Asia. CSA&Es accepted this challenge and subsequently provided relevant contact points in their respective science communities to address the trans-boundary haze issue.

This was an apt demonstration of how the CSAE network could work in assisting with trans-boundary issues that are priorities within the APEC region.

Just as with the WSF declaration, the 2015 APEC Economic Leaders Declaration also explicitly recognised the science advice community.  In this declaration, world leaders within APEC task officials to further explore the issue of providing science advice surrounding and during emergencies.

The Year Ahead

INGSA are still finalising our calendar of events for 2016 however the below table reflects confirmed activities and those under development. Keep an eye on the INGSA website and follow INGSA on Twitter (@INGSciAdvice) for details of these events as they are confirmed.

Upcoming 2016 events involving INGSA:

Capacity Building Workshops

In response to a request from network members of developing countries, beginning in 2016 INGSA is planning a series of capacity building workshops for both scientists and policy practitioners on the provision of robust science advice to decision-makers.

The first workshop on science advice in the African region will be held on February 26th to 27th 2016 in Hermanus, South Africa preceding the Inter-Academies Panel Annual General Meeting   and in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences of South Africa.  Applications for this workshop have now closed. There is considerable enthusiasm and support for this workshop with an excess of 400 applicants for 50 delegate spots.

With INGSA collaborators, there are plans for other capacity building workshops through late 2016 and 2017, including in Small Island States, Latin America, Europe and Francophone Africa. Please check the website, sign up for news or follow us on Twitter.

Save the Date: the 2nd International Conference on Science Advice to Government

We are pleased to announce that the European Commission and INGSA will host the 2nd International Conference on Science Advice to Government in Brussels, Belgium on September 29th – 30th 2016.

In 2014, the Auckland international conference on science advice to governments  was a landmark event for science and public policy. This summit marked a turning point in the global awareness that robust and credible science has an important place in public policy making. Significantly, there was a strong call from delegates to strengthen international collaboration which led to an agreement to formalise the INGSA network.

Through partnership with the European Commission, the 2nd International Conference on Science Advice to Government will bring together key people at the centre of providing advice to governments on critical, global issues to explore best practices in a variety of current and challenging policy contexts. It will also present the new Scientific Advice Mechanism of the European Commission to the international community.

Watch out for more information on the conference in early 2016, but in the meantime please book the conference into your calendars for September 29th and 30th 2016.

What We’re Watching

The European Commission’s Science Advice Mechanism

In November the European Commission announced members of its new Science Advice Mechanism (SAM). SAM is designed to provide independent and interdisciplinary scientific advice within the European Commission. INGSA development group co-chair and influential commentator on the science policy interface, Professor James Wilsdon, provides a good summary and initial observations on the SAM at the Guardian’s science policy blog

UNISDR Science and Technology Conference on the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

Mark your calendars for the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)  “Science and Technology Conference on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030”, to be held in Geneva on 27-29 January 2016.

The conference aims to bring together the full diversity of the science and technology community, policy makers, practitioners and researchers from all geographical regions, at local, national, regional and international levels to discuss how the science and technology community will best support the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

The conference will launch the UNISDR Science and Technology Partnership for the implementation of the Sendai Framework and discuss and endorse the UNISDR Science and Technology road map. Click here for more information

New Science Advice Resources

Our website is home to a growing list of resources and organisations at the forefront of science advice to government. This is intended as an information portal to share both seminal texts and emerging ideas. We encourage you to visit the site regularly and send us your links to add to this page.   Two recent additions include:

• Ottomar Edenhofer and Martin Kowarsch: Cartography of pathways: A new model for environmental policy assessments. Environmental Science & Policy 51: 56-64 (2015)
• Comment in Nature Climate Change: Policy assessments to enhance EU scientific advice – Dr Martin Kowarsch, 9 November 2015

Palgrave Collection on Scientific Advice to Government

The first wave of a new thematic collection of open access peer-reviewed articles on Scientific Advice to Government is due to be released in April 2016. Edited by Sir Peter Gluckman and James Wilsdon, the Palgrave Communications will feature more than twenty papers on the theory, practice and politics of scientific advice, drawn from scholars and practitioners. While the submissions period is now formally closed, network members with further article ideas should contact Gino D’Oca.

INGSA Secretariat

Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee

PO Box 108-117, Symonds Street

Auckland, 1150

New Zealand

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