We are delighted to co-organise, with the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, a thematic stream discussion for the International Conference on Science, Technology and Society 2026 (iCON-STS 2026), taking place 22-24 July 2026 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
In 2025, an international group of academics and civil society partners jointly called for a new Odyssey—O.D.E.SS.I. (Openness, Deliberation, Enabling, Sensibility & Sensitivity, and Innovation)—for public engagement in science and science diplomacy. This call is rooted in a shared recognition of the urgent need for renewed social dialogue on, for, and through science—dialogue capable of mending ideological, socio-economic, and epistemic divides within and across nations, and of addressing our shared planetary futures.
The core vision and strategies of this envisioned Odyssey are set out in the ODESSI concept paper, with further elaboration available in the report from the most recent London conference.
This iCON-STS 2026 stream—Global Public Deliberation in Science and Technology: Knowledge Pluralism and the Policy Interface—builds directly on the ODESSI framework.
In alignment with the conference’s broader aims, we particularly envision this stream as a space to bring together academics, policymakers, and thought leaders to critique, extend, deepen, and expand the ODESSI initiative and practices of global public deliberation more broadly, with particular relevance to Asia and the Global South.
We warmly invite abstract submissions (maximum 250 words) by 1 February 2026, via the conference submission portal:
https://umevent.um.edu.my/iCONSTS2026=20125fd9b2d43e340a35fb0278da235d
If you have any questions, please contact Prof Joy Y. Zhang: yz203@kent.ac.uk