8.4 Science Diplomacy: Skills and Stakeholders

Fähnrich (2017) | Science diplomacy: Investigating the perspective of scholars on politics–science collaboration in international affairs (reading)

• • https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0963662515616552
  • Relevance: Module 3

Whereas science diplomacy is a widely practiced area of international affairs, academic research on the subject remains rather sparse. The role of academia within the field of politics–science interaction has hardly been considered. This article therefore scrutinizes this scholarly perspective, using a case study of a science diplomacy programme in Germany to explore objectives, benefits, and constraints of science diplomacy for participating scholars. While political approaches suggest an ideal world where both sides profit from the collaboration, the findings point to another conclusion, suggesting that the interaction of scholars and officials in science diplomacy is far more complex.

Rüffin (2018) | Science and Innovation Diplomacy Agencies at the Nexus of Research, Economics, and Politics (reading)

• • https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/0bc3be_f01101aa794e4a64a5158258a5bed939.pdf
  • Relevance: Module 3

The last decade has seen the emergence of several organisations dedicated to pursuing national science diplomacy agendas. Among others, countries like the UK, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark established science and innovation diplomacy agencies. The study at hand compares three of them, and looks for similarities and differences in terms of an organisational setup, locations, governance and funding, topics and objectives, as well as tasks. It reveals that agencies have to deal with challenges arising from the different mind-sets of diplomats and scientists.

Gluckman (2016) | Science Advice to Governments: An Emerging Dimension of Science Diplomacy (reading)

• • https://www.sciencediplomacy.org/article/2016/science-advice-governments
  • Relevance: Module 2 and Module 3

As the interaction between science and public policy becomes more important to societal development and environmental stewardship at both the national and international levels, there is a growing need to examine the principles underpinning these interactions, as well as the various functions that science must serve in informing policy. The rapid growth of interest in science advice and its role in science diplomacy has not been without its challenges. The article concentrates on how scientists can advise policy makers. It introduces different categories of science advice (technical, regulatory, deliberative, informal, and emergency) and provides a detailed example: the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA).

Rüffin (2017) | Science and Technology Agreements in the toolbox of Science Diplomacy: Effective instruments or insignificant add-ons? (reading)

• • https://www.ies.be/files/EL-CSID_WorkingPaper_2017-06_Science%20and%20technology_agreements.pdf
  • Relevance: Module 3 and Module 6

Both practitioners and scholars tend to regard Science and Technology Agreements (STAs) to be important, prominent, and highly effective tools for science diplomacy. But since we know little about the development of STAs over time, it is very difficult to get data and a valid picture of the impact that these agreements might have. The article tries to capture practitioners’ views on the role of STAs in the realms of international science policy – and science diplomacy in particular – in six countries between 1961 and 2016. It finds that, overall, STAs may carry different meanings to different stakeholders engaged in the negotiations; this is why they always serve as boundary objects.

Holford and Nichols (2018) | The challenge of building science diplomacy capabilities for early career academic investigators (reading)

• • http://sciencediplomacy.org/perspective/2018/EACIs
  • Relevance: Module 6

Early-career scientists can learn about the opportunities at the intersection of science and diplomacy to positively influence policies and the global commons. However, “science diplomacy” as such is not yet taught with the same rigour and energy as other concentrations or degree programmes housed in traditional schools of diplomacy and foreign affairs. How can early-career scientists, technologists, and engineers gain the education and training they need to shape policies that govern not only S&T endeavours but also socioeconomic agendas around the world?