“Science Diplomacy Dynamics – Opening Science! Opening Diplomacy”
This second science diplomacy workshop organised by the S4D4C Project took place at the Diplomatische Akademie Wien – Vienna School of International Studies (DA) in Vienna from 25-27 November 2019.
The workshop specifically aimed at strengthening the role of science diplomacy in diplomacy, science and policy making – bringing together diplomats, policymakers and scientists and giving them room for community, trust-building and networking. As the title already suggests, the guiding theme of the workshop was the approach to open science and open diplomacy, thus inviting participants to reflect on the necessity of building trust and openness on both sides. The programme of the Vienna workshop was developed with a more diplomatic audience in mind.
Call and Selection Process
A joint call for applications was prepared by TWAS and the DA in April 2019, and published simultaneously on the S4D4C, TWAS and DA websites. The announcement was also widely distributed via the TWAS and DA networks, as well as by other S4D4C partners.
The DA took care of the collection of applications through their online application management system. Potential participants had the option to apply for just one or both of the workshops. Initially, the call was planned to end in June 2019, but the deadline was postponed to July 2019 in order to allow for more applications from the targeted countries. The call has been very broadly disseminated and answered: The DA received over 200 applications.
Participants were selected by a commission composed by the three S4D4C project partners TWAS, DA and DLR. The selection process took into account the professional backgrounds of applicants, and aimed to achieve a good balance between participants from major European countries, from EU Countries that are often less represented, and ENP countries. Attention was also paid to ensuring gender balance.
Read HERE our in-depth review article of the event.
The full programme of the three-day workshop in Vienna can be found HERE.