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| Sydney Communiqué Gender-Related Issues Promoting Science to Serve Humanity Traditional Science - Indigenous Practices, Equity and Access to Science The Image of Science, Ethics and Trust Science Education Co-Operation/ Linkages in a Globalized World Contacts
The afore-mentioned Regional Conference was held in preparation for the UNESCO/ICSU World Conference on Science in Budapest in 1999. Delegations from the following countries attended the Conference: Bangladesh, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Korea (Republic of), Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam and Australia. Individuals from Argentina, Ecuador and Slovenia also attended. The Conference agreed on the following key points and
recommends to the World Conference on Science that:
Detailed consideration of these
recommendations is to be found hereafter. Issues and Suggested Actions
Issues/problems relating to women's participation in SET include:
Thus, UNESCO should:
Nations should:
Non-governmental organizations including SET professionals, trade unions and professional association should be encouraged to pay attention to downstream processes, particularly the mass production and use of new technologies, to ensure that gender issues are not compromised. Promoting
Science to Serve Humanity UNESCO should actively promote the social sciences and SET as the basis for sustainable development to ensure the livelihood of future generations. Scientists have a social obligation to focus on matters of economic value to people in alleviating poverty, which is both a global and a gender issue. All nations need to share information, knowledge and research findings incorporating intellectual property rights. The social and natural sciences should meet these basic survival needs by building local capacity in a spirit of cooperation, sharing resources and knowledge between nations, and aim at simple solutions appropriate to local technology and facilities. Not all answers stem from science, but may be found in political, cultural or institutional areas. Processes and mechanisms need to be in place to enable scientists to work with local people to find solutions based on local knowledge. Monitoring and evaluation of science programmes should ensure that these are appropriate to the needs of local people. Scientists should:
Local women and men need to be trained to train others. Science funding structures need to provide incentives to attract and sustain scientists with the qualities identified above and support their training. There is a need to increase the use of SET to counter environmental degradation. Inadequate water supplies will limit the capacity to ensure future health and peaceful co-existence among nations. There is an urgent need for scientists to provide information that ensures future freshwater supplies and their sustainable exploitation, and protects freshwater resources from degradation, including pollution and salt-water intrusion. Appropriate technologies for waste disposal and sanitation must be developed. Input from SET is required to protect the oceans and ocean resources from pollution, prevent over-exploitation of Asia-Pacific fisheries and tackle threats to the coastal zone. Appropriate development of new methodologies for increasing sustainable food production is required. Research is required on the links between unsustainable farming practices on sensitive ecosystems and the loss of land and desertification. There is a need to continue SET that will mitigate disasters and this should include risk assessment and predictive capabilities. Research is required on the efficiency of appropriate sustainable energy, for example through the World Solar Programme. SET is required to mitigate effects of global climate change, especially the threats of sea-level rise and water shortages. Governments must be encouraged to lay emphasis within the science curriculum on the sustainable use of resources (eg. reduce, re-use, recycle initiatives). UNESCO should set up a facility to act as a clearing-house for curriculum development to assist governments that have yet to establish the above in their science curricula. A regional centre should be established to promote sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific including a co-ordination and training facility for scientists implementing activities in this area should be supported. There is a desperate need for further research and exchange of existing information between countries with regard to the handling and rehabilitation of nuclear and other toxic waste. Traditional
Science - Indigenous Practices, Equity and Access to Science The UN system as a whole should address the sustainability of, and access to, SET (modern and traditional) as a matter of great priority. UNESCO should recognise the value of traditional knowledge through greater support for its research and transmission. There should be widespread adoption of successful models showing the benefit of greater accessibility to SET by grass-root communities. There should be encouragement on greater accessibility to information and promotion of research into conservation-based entrepreneurial activities that are successful. Every effort should be made to see that appropriate equipment is provided, and is accessible, for science education and science research in schools/educational institutions and research centres. Dialogue between practitioners of modern and traditional science should be facilitated. The
Image of Science, Ethics and Trust
There should be standards of ethics which incorporate community consultation. Applications for research funding should include a statement on ethics which provides for community consultation. Individual scientists working in commercial enterprises must take responsibility when the commercialisation and promotion of their work is carried out. Local knowledge and local natural resources need to be valued and SET use of natural resources should avoid bio-piracy and unethical bio-prospecting. UNESCO should be active in providing international standards to ensure an appropriate framework for ethics and moral issues through consultation with all interested parties. There is a need to improve the image of science and scientists within society and scientists should be encouraged to be actively engaged in science management and politics. Training programmes for scientists should include management, ethics, image building and communications. UNESCO should foster the optimal use of emerging electronic technologies, such as the Internet and World Wide Web sites, for facilitating SET communication. UNESCO should encourage popularization of SET, for example through science centres, science festivals, and museums. NGOs play an effective role in the communication of science, and scientists should be encouraged to take an active part in such strategies. Institutions should develop regular review processes to ensure that science is responsive and accountable to community and gender concerns. With the support of UNESCO, Asia and Pacific Governments should:
Co-Operation/ Linkages in a Globalized World The World Conference on Science outcomes should:
UNESCO should promote the establishment of international inter-disciplinary research centres in frontier areas of SET. UNESCO's SET initiatives in the next millennium should be developed in close co-operation with other UN bodies/agencies/commissions. To complement initiatives like the World Science Report, UNESCO should co-ordinate the gathering of more comprehensive and analytical data on SET. These data should assist in understanding issues and trends in SET education, careers and employment. UNESCO should promote international co-operation between Member States oriented towards understanding and using traditional scientific knowledge and practices. Recognizing the potential of engineering and technology for industrial development, UNESCO should assist the development of partnerships between universities, research and development laboratories and industry. Through co-operation between its Education and Science Sectors, UNESCO should support initiatives to create a clearing-house for educational courseware in science and technology.
Contacts
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