Future Talks on Science Diplomacy: From Data to Policy Implementation

In May 2021, the European Commission adopted Europe’s strategy for international cooperation in a changing world, the Global Approach to R&l. To achieve its goals and foster cooperation on the SDGs, a stronger focus on science diplomacy is crucial. A sub-category of science diplomacy is “Science in Diplomacy”, which describes the use of scientific methods in diplomacy as new tools: Today’s diplomacy entails a broad scope of practices. The emergence of new communication channels and data sources for states and international stakeholders has led to a transformation of diplomatic skills and tools. Global actors are increasingly using the capacity of computing power to offer analytical and communicational tools to serve their policy agendas. Computational diplomacy is thus an emerging academic field and computational methods and open access to relevant data may be applied to diplomacy and negotiation in the short-to-mid-term future.

However, well-informed diplomatic action needs good preparation. How can new tools be discovered, recognized and made usable for diplomats? How can strategic foresight be used to foster science diplomacy? Which role does capacity-building play?

This event will gather scientists, diplomats, policy-makers and stakeholders for a discussion on how to empower science diplomacy actors. Which tools are needed to strengthen the science diplomacy interface in the future? How should they be adapted to policy needs?