Science Diplomacy in the Making: Case-based insights from the S4D4C project
Section: Research Policy & Development
The ZSI-coordinated project S4D4C (Using Science for/in Diplomacy for Addressing Societal Challenges) published "Science Diplomacy in the Making: Case-based insights from the S4D4C project", a volume of compiled results of the nine case studies, researched and developed by mixed teams of researchers from the project partners, and edited by Mitchell Young (Charles University), Tim Flink (DZHW) and Elke Dall (ZSI).
These case studies are at the empirical heart of S4D4C, informing many other parts of the project such as the work on a governance framework and training materials for science diplomats. Each case study provides an overview of the case and its background, context and governance arrangements, further providing a description of the stakeholder landscape and a discussion of governance practices. They look at the EU level as well as selected examples from the national level that vary case to case. The case studies examine the use of knowledge, the relations between governance levels and provide a discussion on how the case improves or changes our understanding of science diplomacy.
The next step in the project is a transversal analysis of the case data, for which we will identify and explicate a range of issues that matter for science diplomacy based on the work in the volume presented here.
ZSI contributors are in particular:
- Alexander Degelsegger - lead author of the case "International dimensions of the EU’s FET Flagships: Large-scale strategic research investments as a site of de-facto science diplomacy"
- Katja Mayer - lead author of the case "Open Science Diplomacy"
- Elke Dall - co-editor of the volume and contributor to the case on "Water diplomacy and its future in the national, regional and European environments" by Eliska Tomalová as lead author, as well as
- Marie Croce and Philipp Brugner - who supported the publishing process
->>>> DOWNLOAD THE PUBLICATION HERE and individual chapters below.
Cases with a foreign policy focus
1. Science diplomacy and infectious diseases: Between national and European narratives
Case authors:
Ivo Šlosarčík/ Charles University,
Nadia Meyer/ German Aerospace Center,
Jennifer Chubb/ University of Sheffield
The Zika epidemics in 2015 and 2016 provided a platform for further elaboration of science diplomacy used by the EU institutions and EU Member States. The response was characterised by an interplay between the political, diplomatic, medical and scientific communities performed within national, European, and global frameworks.
output brief: infectious diseases
case report: infectious diseases
2. Water diplomacy and its future in the national, regional and European environments
Case authors:
Eliška Tomalová/ Charles University,
Eliška Černovská/ Charles University,
Ewert Aukes/ University of Twente,
Jasper Montana/ University of Sheffield
Elke Dall/ Centre for Social Innovation
Water diplomacy represents a challenge for bringing the worlds of diplomacy and science closer together; it has the potential to shape the diplomatic environment as well as to create new interfaces, techniques, and team strategies in science and foreign policy
3. Cyber security: Mapping the role of science diplomacy in the cyber field
Case authors:
Lucie Kadlecová/ Charles University,
Nadia Meyer/ German Aerospace Centre,
Rafaël Cos/ University of Lille,
Pauline Ravinet/ University of Lille
Cyber security has entered the agenda of the international community and has quickly been transformed from a purely technical topic to an issue of diplomacy. The term ‘cyber diplomacy’ has come into global use, and countries are keenly deploying their own ‘cyber diplomats’.
Science driven cases
4. The science and diplomacy of global challenges: Food security in EU-Africa relations
Case authors:
Rafaël Cos/ University of Lille,
Pauline Ravinet/ University of Lille,
Mitchell Young/ Charles University
Over the past 20 years, a set of institutions, concerns, competencies, partnerships, and programmes have shaped the features of EU-African Union food security diplomacy. To what extent has science played a role in deploying this food security diplomacy?
output brief: food security in EU Africa relations
case report: food security in EU Africa relations
5. International dimensions of the EU’s FET Flagships: Large-scale strategic research investments as a site of de-facto science diplomacy
Case Author:
Alexander Degelsegger-Márquez/ formerly Centre for Social Innovation,
now S4D4C Advisory Board member
A study of Future and Emerging Technology (FET) Flagship initiatives as potential mechanisms of EU science diplomacy reveals that their governance models and design as research policy instruments have sectoral foreign policy dynamics.
6. Open Science Diplomacy
Case author:
Katja Mayer/ Centre for Social Innovation
Following the call for ‘open science, open innovation, and open to the world’ by the EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas in 2015, we look for applications and implications of open science in science diplomacy.
output brief: Open Science Diplomacy
case report: Open Science Diplomacy
European instrument driven cases
7. SESAME – An international research infrastructure in the Middle East
Case author:
Charlotte Rungius/ German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies
SESAME is a synchrotron light source user’s facility in the Middle East. The international research centre was initiated with the explicit intention to foster scientific cooperation among a number of countries that share a history of conflict.
8. Joint international research programming as a case of science diplomacy
Case author:
Tim Flink/ German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies
Joint international research programming is a common but underrated case of science diplomacy. It engages funding agencies as intermediary organisations that are compelled to operate at the intersection of science policy and international affairs.
output brief: joint programming
case report: joint programming
9. Science advice in the European Union: Crafting collective understanding of transnational issues
Case author:
Jasper Montana/ University of Sheffield
In thinking about science diplomacy, it is important to not only acknowledge the formal structures for science diplomacy, but also to consider the ways in which internal capacities for science diplomacy might already be buildt into diplomatic systems.
Authors: Dall, E., Degelsegger-Márquez, A., Mayer, K., Rungius, C.
Related Articles:
- Project: Using science for/in diplomacy for addressing global challenges
- News: Science Diplomacy and COVID-19 - an international debate
- News: S4D4C asks for feedback to newly published policy report
- News: Unique online training opportunity in science diplomacy now ready
- Publication: Policy Brief: Building Better Science Diplomacy for Global Challenges: insights from the COVID-19 crisis
- News: “Towards Science Diplomacy in the European Union”
- News: Im Porträt: ZSI-Forscherin Elke Dall
- News: S4D4C project results featured in Nature Index
Category: Projekt Outputs
Publication Date: 2020
Procurement: Online (download)