At the invitation of the UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences, GSEJ Director Joy Zhang attended the roundtable discussion on “Empowering the Global Community Through Scientific Literacy” on 24 September at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
The objective of the Roundtable is to bring together international experts in the field of science communication, science popularization, science education, and science policy to reflect on a strategy for promoting science literacy as an important lever for the achievement of the expected outcomes of the United Nations International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development 2024 – 2034.
At the meeting, Professor Zhang made the following three suggestions:
1-Enhancing science literacy is not just about progress or development. It should also serve as a critical platform for cultivating social tolerance and understanding, even when agreement or solidarity may not be possible.
2-Social justice should be an integral part of STEM education.
3-Integrating art and science in science communication has great potential, but it requires the input from the social sciences to translate the outcome into something that is constructive and not just provocative.
GSEJ is committed to diversifying creative approaches to promote sustainable and constructive dialogues with and among different communities globally.