World Science Day Celebration UNESCO, Nov 10

WHAT IS THE WORLD SCIENCE DAY FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT ?

Established by UNESCO in 2001, the WSDPD is celebrated on 10 November each year. The Day is an occasion to remind the UNESCO’s mandate and commitment on science.

The Global Multisciplinary e-Conference 2013 takes place from 10 until 12 November 2013. This event is dedicated to the UNESCO’s World Science Day.

World Science Day for Peace and Development

Established by UNESCO in 2001, World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated worldwide on 10 November each year. It offers an opportunity to demonstrate to the wider public why science is relevant to their daily lives and to engage them in debate on related issues.

By throwing bridges between science and society, the aim is to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science, while underscoring the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable. Recent themes have included ‘towards green societies’ (2011), science for the rapprochement of peoples and cultures (2010) and astronomy (2009).

Every year, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific research institutions, professional associations, universities, municipalities, the media, science teachers, schools and others are encouraged to organize their own celebration of World Science Day.

Since its inception, World Science Day has also generated concrete projects, programmes and funding for science around the world. Several ministries have announced an increase in spending on science, for instance, or the creation of a university or research body. The Day has also helped to foster cooperation between scientists living in regions marred by conflict, one example being the creation of the Israeli-Palestinian Science Organization (IPSO), with UNESCO support.

World Science Day was instigated as follow-up to the World Conference on Science, organized jointly by UNESCO and the International Council for Science in Budapest (Hungary) in 1999. The Day offers an opportunity to reaffirm each year our commitment to attaining the goals proclaimed in one of the twin documents adopted by the World Conference on Science: the Declaration on Science and the Use of Scientific Knowledge and to follow up the recommendations contained in the Conference’s Science Agenda: Framework for Action. The biennial World Science Forum is always held as close as possible to World Science Day.

© Mayank Malhotra, DAV college for girls, YamunaNagar, India, Celebration of World Science Day 2010 in India

Resources for organizing your own celebration of World Science Day

UNESCO produces a poster each year which may be freely downloaded. The poster exists in several versions and a blank version may also be downloaded for the addition of text in other languages.

UNESCO also produces an open access, quarterly magazine, A World of Science, which popularizes science and discusses a wide range of contemporary issues, including freshwater management and biodiversity protection, greening chemistry, sustainable agriculture and climate change. All the stories published in the journal are freely available to interested parties, who may use them as a resource.

The WSDPD’s objectives are:

• To strengthen public awareness on the role of science for peaceful and sustainable societies
• To promote national and international solidarity for a shared science between countries
• To renew national and international commitment for the use of science for the benefit of societies
• To draw attention to the challenges faced by science and raise support for the scientific endeavor

 WHAT CAN YOU DO

The success of the WSDPD will depend on the active involvement of many partners such as intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific and research institutions, professional associations, the media, science teachers and schools.

Different activities will be undertaken to mobilize support for the objectives of the WSDPD. We invite you and your organization to celebrate this Day with some special events or action.

Next, you can find a list of potential actions that can be undertaken by you and your organization:

• DIFF– USE the WSDPD in your institution or in your town, city or local community, through municipal and state government channels.
• ORGANIZE an ‘Open Day‘ in your institution to highlight the importance of science for peace and development.
• INCORPORATE the messages of WSDPD into official speeches, publications and other activities taking place on 10 November.
• ORGANIZE classroom discussions to emphasize the many different ways science and technology touch our daily lives.
• CONTACT national and local media (TV, radio, print, electronic) to highlight the importance of celebrating WSDPD at national and local level.
• WRITE articles and letters about the importance of science for sustainable societies to the media, including industry trade journals, organization newsletters, and school newspapers.
• DISTRIBUTE the WSDPD’s poster to schools (based on material downloaded from websites); scientific institutions, local communities.
• VISIT local schools to speak about careers in science, deliver scientific presentations or demonstrations to young students.
• BUILD classroom-to-classroom connections between schools via the Internet to talk about science projects that will interest young people.
• ORGANIZE conferences and forums.
• FIND a sister institution and carry out a joint activity highlighting the importance of science.
• INVITE university faculty to join with community organizations and schools to celebrate the Day.
• ARRANGE a science museum visit

Please feel free to contact us if you would like more suggestions and information on how you and your organization can celebrate this day. We would be grateful if you could keep us informed on the activities you will organize in order to include your events in a special section of our website.

If you have a website and wish to link it to ours, please send your request to Ms. Diana Malpede. We will add yours to our list of related websites and you will help us reach, inform and involve as many people as possible.

REGISTER YOUR EVENT – UNESCO HERE

UNESCO Prizes

• Education
• Natural Sciences
• Social and Human Sciences
• Culture
• Communication and Information
• Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize

 

A Voice from 2012 – Video message from Ms Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, on the occasion of the World Science Day for Peace and Development