Representatives of different governments in the region, participants of the UNESCO Science and Technology Public Policy Laboratory, address the following questions: What are the challenges of S&T policy at the subnational level? What are the main work areas of your management? What was the program that you worked on in the Lab like and how did that program change since then and what did the analysis done influence?

Francisco Medina Gomez, General Director, State Council of Science and Technology – COECYTJAL (Jalisco, Mexico), Federico Morabito, Director of Innovation & Economic Development, Government of Mendoza, Argentina, and Marina Baima, Secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation, Province of Santa Fe (Argentina), will address this, moderated by Guillermo Anllo (UNESCO).

Access the presentation by Francisco Medina Gómez here

What is the importance of promoting the incorporation of citizen science as an essential element of open science policies and practices? What are the biggest challenges for the installation of platforms for the exchange and joint creation of knowledge between the scientific community and society? How to overcome the gaps between scientific knowledge, empirical knowledge and ancestral knowledge? How to articulate the different logics? What experiences can be identified in this sense?

Sarita Albagli (Brazilian Institute for Research in Science and Technology IBICT), Julio Gaitan (ISUR Internet and Society Center, Universidad del Rosario) and Guillermina D'Onofrio (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Argentina) address these issues, moderated by Guillermo Anllo (UNESCO).

Ana María Cetto (UNAM/UNESCO Global Open Science Steering Committee), and Andrea Mora Campos (Open Science policy consultant, director of La Reference), with the moderation of Guillermo Anllo (UNESCO), talk about the challenges and opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of Open Science policies.

Cristian Celedon Gamboa (LIQCAU / HEUMA UA-UCN Consortium), Paula Coto (Girls in Technology), Diletta Assorbi (UNESCO Montevideo), with the moderation of Guillermo Anllo (UNESCO Montevideo), talk about the challenges and opportunities that the region presents in the field of STEM education and gender equity.

Claudia Ortiz (HINICIO, Hydrogen Economy Consultant), Martin Obaya (CENIT, Director, National University of San Martín), Laura Trama (RICYT/OEI, co-author of the State of Science Report 2022) and Rodolfo Barrere (RICYT/OEI, co-author of the State of Science Report 2022), will address this topic, with the moderation of Guillermo Anlló (UNESCO). The panel will make special reference to the Report “The state of Science” 2022 edition, prepared by OEI and UNESCO, with particular attention to the Dossier: Energy transition.

What are the contributions and need of Science and Technology to achieve SDG9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure? What challenges exist today so that public policy can be designed and implemented that contributes to these objectives?

Sylvia Dohnert de Lascurain (Inter-American Development Bank), Clovis Freire Junior (UNCTAD) and Marco Llinás (ECLAC), will address these issues, moderated by Guillermo Anlló (UNESCO). As reference material, the Colloquium is supported by the series of Policy Briefs carried out by UNESCO, especially the free access document Science for the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 9: Industry, innovation & infrastructure.

In the different national and regional realities of Latin America and the Caribbean, much has been discussed about the conditions under which scientific and technological development takes place. Although enormous and diverse efforts have been made, the panorama in the region presents heterogeneous realities from which challenges and demands for policy arise. What is the role that the Congresses and Parliaments of the region have to play? How to nurture the legislative decisions that must be made on issues of such high relevance, in which the future of a nation and a community is at stake - critically? What has changed in parliamentary settings, with respect to the consideration of science, after the pandemic experience? What future lies ahead in the relations between science and society, seen through legislative bodies? What is the role of politics for science?

In this colloquium of the CILAC Forum these concerns will be addressed, summoning representatives who today occupy relevant seats in their national and regional Congresses, to discuss these challenges. They will participate in the meeting Miguel Enrique Charbonet (Parlatino Deputy – Cuba), Lilia Puig (Parlasur Legislator – Argentina), together with Ernesto Fernández Polcuch (Director, UNESCO Regional Science Office for Latin America and the Caribbean), moderated by Alma Cristal Hernández-Mondragón.

As a result of the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (IATT), stands as the operational body to ensure the implementation of the STI mandate. Following the successful completion of several training workshops, the IATT decided to prepare a short manual to be used as reference material among Member States, based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to inform the planned goals.

UNESCO, a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to the advancement of science, has had a prominent participation in the preparation of this manual. At the next meeting of the CILAC Forum, the manual “Science, technology and innovation for the SDGs” will be presented. Guidelines for formulating public policies”, through a dialogue with experts involved in its preparation, and specialists who will comment on the strategic importance of this tool for the design of public policies: Fernando Santiago (UNIDO), Victor Gomez-Valenzuela (INTEC, Dominican Republic) and Monica Salazar (Technopolis Group), moderated by Claudia De Fuentes (Saint Mary's University, Canada).

Science communication has become a visible and specialized activity, required by the media and expected by the public. But, at the same time, as the density of the science and technology system increases, as well as the complexity of the issues addressed, the greater the clarity of the messages, the adjustment to the various audiences, the greater the consideration of ethical limits. , the safeguards of resonances on social networks, among other challenges.

UNESCO has a special responsibility for promoting this type of reflection to encourage a critical and rigorous vision of scientific production, and also of science communication. At the next meeting of the CILAC Forum, Cintia Refojo Seronero (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology – FECYT), Yurij Castelfranchi (USP, InCITE) and Ana María Sánchez Mora (UNAM, Postgraduate in Philosophy of Science) will address this topic.

How to incorporate science as law in these reports? What dimensions should be integrated into the analysis and monitoring of States? What role do academic and scientific institutions play in this development? What information should be provided and what methodologies should be used to collect it? How to generate consensus protocols to validate and monitor information?

Mikel Mancisidor (Basque Country, Spain – Jurist and doctor in International Relations and Diplomacy, member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), together with Veronica Gomez (Argentina – Judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, President of the Global Campus of Human Rights) and  Judith Sutz Vaisman (Uruguay – Co-coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Space Nucleus of the University of the Republic, “Science, technology and innovation for a new development”), with the moderation of Eleonora Lamm (UNESCO), address these issues.

Based on the study recently published by the CILAC Forum on Open science in Latin America, produced by Paola Andrea Ramirez and Daniel Samoilovich of the Columbus Association, and in light of the policies and strategies contained in the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, we will hold a meeting with the authors of the study, which will include the participation of Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz (Senior Vice President, Research Networks, Elsevier), Patricia Munoz (Deputy Director of Networks, Strategy and Knowledge, ANID – National Research and Development Agency, Chile) and Federico Torres Carballo (Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Costa Rica), and with the moderation of Guillermo Anllo, regional specialist of UNESCO's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Programme.

During the meeting, the topic of open science is addressed around the central question: What can Latin American governments do to strengthen the region's participation in international research, taking advantage of the open science movement?

In 2020, an in-depth study was carried out on the state of the art of the participation of women and girls in STEM fields in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its main findings have been published in a Policy Paper presented at the Latin American and Caribbean Open Science Forum (CILAC) 2021: An unbalanced equation: increasing participation of women in STEM in LAC.

At this meeting, the findings and recommendations of this Policy Paper are presented, through the testimonies of its authors Alessandro Bello and María Elina Estébanez, with the presence of representatives of the British Council and UNESCO.

This meeting aims to highlight the importance of recognizing community protocols as crisis management frameworks based on indigenous knowledge.

Liberty Pinto (Member of the Regional Observatory of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of FILAC), Vivian Camacho (General Director of Traditional Medicine. Ministry of Health and Sports of Bolivia), Yidid Jhohana Ramos Montero (Traditional Woman, leader of the Kankuamo people Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Seynikun Northern zone of Colombia) address these issues, with the moderation of Yolanda López-Maldonado (UNESCO).

What are the impacts that AI produces in the field of cultural activities, its transformation and perspectives? Can culture help improve the use of AI in the region and combat multidimensional inequalities?

Lucia Santaella (PUC-SP), María Vanina Martínez (Sadosky Foundation), Carolina Aguerre (UNESCO Expert Group on AI Ethics), moderated by Alcira Sandoval (UNESCO), will address these issues.

What is the importance of the dialogue between scientific knowledge and political decision? How do their logics and approaches differ and complement each other?

Federico Burone (IDRC Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean), Guido Girardi (Senator of Chile) and Lidia Brito (Regional Director of the UNESCO Science Office for Latin America and the Caribbean) address these issues.

This virtual event proposes a space to follow up on the regional Consultation held in September 2020 on the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, carried out by UNESCO Montevideo with the support of the CILAC Forum. The importance of open science will be addressed as a framework and mechanism to conceive the right to science, and work for sustainable development and inclusion, to leave no one behind.

Ignasi Labastida (UB), Claudia Medeiros (UNICAMP) and Noela Invernizzi (UFPR) will address these issues, moderated by Daniel Samoilovich, Columbus.  

Artificial intelligence is present in our daily lives, down to its smallest details. Can artificial intelligence systems be regulated to protect user privacy? Will algorithms be allowed to make decisions without knowing the mechanisms involved and without human intervention? Will existing inequalities increase? How is the way we do science, develop technology and innovate based on AI changing? Is Artificial Intelligence an opportunity for the sustainable development of the region?

Sebastián Acevedo (Tekal), María Isabel Mejía (CAF) and Enzo María Le Fevre (European Commission) will address these topics and share their experiences and recommendations, moderated by Eleonora Lamm (UNESCO).

How to strengthen science communication in the region? Yurij Castelfranchi (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil) will moderate the next CILAC virtual meeting, in which Ildeu Moreira (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Tania Arboleda ("Place to science"), Margoth Mena Young (University of Costa Rica) and Maria Eugenia Fazio (National University of Quilmes) will address this topic. During the event, the policy paper by María Eugenia Fazio and Yurij Castelfranchi.

Almost all the daily activities of our lives are affected, in one way or another, by science and technology. How to democratize their participation and guarantee that its benefits reach everyone? How is it applied in this context? What does it mean for science to be viewed as a human right and how can it be developed? How to reduce the scientific gap between countries?

Rafael Radi (President of the National Academy of Sciences of Uruguay), together with Rodrigo Uprimny (member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), Lidia Brito (Director UNESCO Montevideo), with the moderation of Andres Morales (UNESCO), addressed these topics in the first webinar of the cycle.

The impact of the pandemic on startups and young companies is notable, but in some, greater resilience is perceived, key to designing public relief policies and boosting reconstruction after the crisis.

Amalia Quirici (Entrepreneurship Manager of the National Development Agency of Uruguay), Sergio Zuniga (Director of Ecosystem Development at Latimpacto) and Susana García Robles (Executive Advisor of LAVCA), with the moderation of Gabriel Casaburi (Leading private sector specialist, from the Competitiveness, Technology and Innovation division, IDB) addressed these issues.

Latin America and the Caribbean has significant potential for the deployment and strengthening of the Open Science ecosystem, which allows us to increase our capacity to beneficially join existing scientific collaborations, as well as to promote others.

This meeting, based on initiatives with a long and recognized history, proposes to present the current state of each of them, describe the challenges they are facing, debate strategies to build an open science ecosystem in the region, as well as propose strategies to achieve higher levels of cooperation between specialized entities, together with leaders in the region such as Arianna Becerril García (Redalyc.org), Lautaro Matas (LA Reference), and Solange Santos (SciELO – Scientific Electronic Library Online) that will address these topics, moderated by Guillermo Anllo (UNESCO Montevideo).

The contributions of science, technology, and innovation are essential for society to advance in the desired directions. However, the scenario of the region shows that in the educational system, education not only does not provide these learning, but also that the way in which scientific knowledge is presented tends to cause young people to lose interest in learning science, and do not wake up scientific vocations.

How to change this? How to transform scientific education and encourage it? Melina Furman, Darío Greni, Eduardo Sáenz de Cabezón and José Escamilla address these topics.

UNESCO Montevideo prepared the report “Scientific Diplomacy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Strategies, Mechanisms and Perspectives”, as an approach to the panorama of science, technology and innovation diplomacy in the region.

In this virtual event, said report is presented by Dr. Marga Gual Soler (author of the same and moderator of the colloquium), and also participates Antonio Copete (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Colombia), Thais Collado (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Panama), Pedro Ivo da Silva (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil), Marcella Ohira (Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, Uruguay), María Estelí Jarquin (Costa Rica university).

We convened experts and institutions with long and qualified experience in bioeconomy, with the aim of providing a current overview of initiatives in this field in the region.

Hugo Chavarria, Manager of the Bioeconomy and Productive Development Program of IICA, moderates this Colloquium, with the participation of Marilia Faria (Sebrae), Miguel Almada (Probiomass), Claudia Betancur (Biointropic) and Daniel Dominguez-Gomez from Allbiotech.

Academic freedom is part of the fundamental rights to maintain strong democracies. High-quality independent research can serve as a solid foundation for public decision-making, social and economic development, and democracy.

The United Nations University – MERIT and UNESCO in Montevideo convened a debate, moderated by the Prof. Dr. Carlo Pietrobelli (Roma Tre University and UNU-MERIT) and the participation of the Dr. Francisco Sagasti (Institute of Peruvian Studies, and University of the Pacific), Prof. Gabriela Dutrenit (Metropolitan Autonomous University) and Guillermo Anllo (UNESCO), which addresses the state of academic freedom and what the UN system, national government and the academic community can do to protect it.

Voices from the region share what science meant in their lives during 2020: learnings, findings and experiences.