The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) has joined national science academies from G20 countries in endorsing a new report calling for stronger international collaboration and more effective use of technology to build resilience to natural hazards and disasters.
When legislation has the potential to reshape environmental protections, scientific expertise has an important role to play in the public conversation.
In response to concerns about Bill C-39, 56 Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada came together to sign an open letter raising questions about the Bill’s potential implications for environmental safeguards, biodiversity, and the long-term health of ecosystems.
The Royal Society of Canada, Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina (Germany), Académie des sciences (France), Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy), Science Council of Japan, Royal Society (UK), and National Academy of Sciences (US) make up the S7.
Designer babies, once found only in science fiction, are now a reality and, in the not-too-distant future, one can imagine a world in which prospective parents can shop for designer babies at genetic supermarkets or request designer babies made-to-order. This talk will explore how available technologies, including CRISPR genome-editing technology for reproduction, will dramatically change our world.
G7 countries have committed to a significant increase of defence spending not seen since the end of WWII. In Canada, the discourse of “resiliency” and taking a “realist approach” (attributed at times to Thucydides made anew in Carney’s Davos speech) has meant a transformational commitment: defence security for economic benefit (“dual-use”), increased recruitment into the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and the reorienting of our established priorities through the lens of defence needs.
As part of the 20th Francophonie Summit, the Royal Society of Canada, in collaboration with Acfas, the University of Ottawa, and Global Affairs Canada, is hosting a meeting on relations between governments and research communities in the international Francophone world.
The summit mobilises scientific academies and their partners from across the Francophone world, bringing together their diverse expertise in diplomacy within the international Francophone world, positioning the scientific academies’ distinct roles within the research scientific ecosystem.
“Science is one of the few converging forces in a fragmenting world. Our collaborations build trust across borders and political divides, often over decades rather than electoral cycles. At a time when multilateral cooperation is under pressure, science can help keep channels of dialogue open, build bridges, and bring countries together around shared interests”.
On Monday, September 28, a Russian drone struck the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in central Kyiv as part of a wave of attacks. Knowledge is the root of wellbeing and is a public good. When the cultural and intellectual heart of a society is struck, its ability to produce and disseminate knowledge for the benefit of present and future generations is undermined. More generally, such an attack is also an attack on the scientific and cultural heritage of all nations of the world.