November 2022
An update for Council from the International Secretary and International Committee:
Recent Activities
S7 – 2022 Process (Science Academies of the G7)
The presidency of the G7 in 2022 is Germany and the RSC International Secretary represented the RSC at the S7 Dialogue Forum and policy session in Berlin on 31 May, 2022. The 2022 S7-Science statements coordinated by the German National Academy Leopoldina can be found on the RSC website.
S20 – 2022 Process (Science Academies of the G20)
The presidency of the G20 in 2022 was Indonesia and the RSC Vice-President Designate, Professor Julia Wright, represented the RSC at the S20 summit in Jakarta on 21 September 2022 via zoom link. The 2022 S20-Science statements coordinated by the Indonesian National Academy of Science can be found on the RSC website.
United Nations (UN) International Year (2022) of Basic Science for sustainable Development
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming the year in December 2021. The RSC is one of many organizations globally supporting the initiative including the International Science Council and UNESCO. Details of its goals can be found at IYBSSD2022. The year aims to highlight the role of basic science in sustainable development and their contribution to the 17 UN sustainable development goals.
The Inter Academy Partnership (IAP) General Assembly and Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies (November 2022)
The theme of the conference was 'Inclusive Excellence: Harnessing knowledge for sustainable societies' and was hosted by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and co-organized by IAP, the Global Young Academy (GYA), NAS, RSC, the RSC College, and the NAS New Voices Program. The meeting took place at Biosphere 2, Arizona, USA, on 1-3 November 2022. The RSC President, Professor Jeremy McNeil and the RSC College President, Professor Karly Kehoe have been on the organizing committee and the meeting was a hybrid format of in person and online attendance. Representatives from 149 national academies were in attendance. Dr. Kehoe and College President-Elect Dr. Frank Deere attended in person, representing the RSC. Further information on this meeting can be found at the RSC website.
One Health Summit Pre-RSC COEE event, Lake Louise, Alberta (November 21-23)
Each year the RSC have a symposium at our annual meeting in November that focuses on one or more of the G7 Statements. This year we have chosen “One Health”. This is very timely following the publication (October, 2022) of a joint report by the United Nations, World Health Organization and World Organization for Animal Health on a One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022-2026). This will certainly form part of the detailed discussions at this RSC organized summit. The summit is being held at the Fairmont Lake Louise just prior to the RSC annual COEE meeting. We have invited experts from the G7 National Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Academies, the Science (S) Academies, and the Young Academies (YA), with guests from government including chief advisors and indigenous leaders. Our focus here is to bring Young Academies and Social Sciences and Humanities experts into the discussion much more and directly. The focus of this meeting will be collective global action and the University of Calgary is then following this with a symposium at the COEE Annual meeting with a focus on Canadian One Health research initiatives and challenges. The aim is that climate and ecology health, together with animal and human health experts will discuss key questions that lead to recommendations that G7 governments could engage collectively to address and would subsequently create engagement at national and local levels. We wish to highlight One Health approaches at all levels. Further information on this RSC One Health Summit can be found at the RSC website.
Joint Academy Day on “Indigenous Engagement – Sharing Knowledge and Experience”
The RSC and the Royal Society of New Zealand are discussing how best to proceed with a joint academy day on indigenous knowledge to be held in 2023. The incoming President of the College Professor Frank Deer, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Education, has agreed to help develop this Joint Academy Day programme. Leaders of the New Zealand and Australia National Academies have been invited and attending the COEE. We will be using this opportunity to see how best to proceed.
S7 and S20 National Academy Statements for 2023
The G7 will be hosted by Japan and the G20 by India in 2023. We are expecting initial drafts of proposed statements from the National Academies in December and January. The RSC will be carrying out expert peer review of proposed statements as in previous years.
Acknowledgment and Thanks
The International Secretary would like to thank and acknowledge the numerous experts and members of the RSC who have been consulted, provided advice, reviewed documents or accepted invitations to participate in events. He also thanks the current International Committee and academy presidents for their contributions.