IPSA’s Presence at the ISC’s Mid-Term Meeting Amplifies the Voice of the Political Science Community
Publication date: Tue, 16 May 2023
IPSA President-Elect Pablo Oñate and Executive Director Kim Fontaine-Skronski attended the 2023 Mid-term Meeting of the International Science Council (ISC) in Paris from 10-12 May 2023.
Held under the theme Capitalizing on Synergies in Science, ISC's in-person networking event since 2019 brought together more than 300 delegates representing the global scientific community worldwide. Participants discussed issues facing humanity and the role of science in finding solutions to global challenges.
UNESCO-ISC Conference on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility
The Conference on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was organized by UNESCO and ISC to raise awareness on the threats to scientific freedom and to promote efforts to strengthen scientific responsibility. This pre-event conference, held at UNESCO headquarters on 9 May, began with the opening remarks by Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO and Sir Peter Gluckman, President of ISC. Speakers addressed the challenges posed by the rapid development of science and technology, such as the disintegration of trust in science and the implications for the protection of scientists.
Photo: Sir Peter Gluckman, ISC President, at the UNESCO-ISC Conference on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility.
Mid-term Meeting of ISC
The main event began on 10 May with an opening ceremony at the Novotel Paris Centre Tour Eiffel chaired by ISC President Peter Gluckman. Prof. Oñate and Dr. Fontaine-Skronski participated in various sessions and meetings during the three-day event. Their main objectives were to represent the political science community in the ISC discussions, to meet with ISC’s leadership, and to network with international scholarly associations, national science academies and research councils as well as international institutes and youth organizations.
Meeting with ISC President Peter Gluckman
Prof. Oñate, and Dr. Fontaine- Fontaine-Skronski met with ISC President Peter Gluckman at the 2023 Mid-term Meeting. The meeting provided a platform to discuss strengthening the collaboration between IPSA and the ISC and to reiterate the importance of social sciences in general, and political science in particular, in the ISC. Both parties expressed their commitment to fostering closer ties and exploring opportunities for future collaborations.
Photo (from left to right): Pablo Oñate, Kim Fontaine-Skronski and Sir Peter Gluckman.
ISC Patron and former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova
During the Mid-term Meeting in Paris, Dr. Kim Fontaine-Skronski also met with Irina Bokova, ISC Patron and former UNESCO Director-General. This was an opportunity to present IPSA’s missions and to discuss the importance of inter-disciplinarity within the ISC.
Photo (from left to right): Kim Fontaine-Skronski and Irina Bokova.
Meeting with ISC Chief Executive Officer Salvatore Aricò
The IPSA delegation also met with Salvatore Aricò, Chief Executive Officer of the ISC. The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation between IPSA and ISC and promoting the advancement of social science research worldwide. There was also a discussion of the active participation of IPSA in the ISC Standing Committee for Gender Equality in Science and in the working group on Trust in Science.
Photo (from left to right): Kim Fontaine-Skronski, Pablo Oñate and Salvatore Aricò.
Visit of the International Political Science Abstracts Office
Dr. Fontaine-Skronski visited the office of the International Political Science Abstracts, based at Sciences Po Paris, to meet the journal’s co-editor Paul Godt and editorial assistant, Fabienne Serrand. Prof. Oñate and Dr. Fontaine-Skronski also met with Abstracts co-editor Stephen Sawyer to discuss the trends in political science research and the challenges faced by scholarly publishing.
Photo (left to right): Kim Fontaine-Skronski, Paul Godt and Fabienne Serrand.
Meeting with the Association française de science politique and visit of Sciences Po Paris
While in Paris, Prof. Oñate and Dr. Fontaine-Skronski also took the opportunity to meet with Christophe Jaffrelot, President of the Association française de science politique (AFSP). Discussions revolved around the upcoming World Congress of Political Science in Buenos Aires and areas of potential future collaborations between the two associations. Prof. Jaffrelot then offered to tour the new campus of Sciences Po Paris.
Photo (from left to right): Christophe Jaffrelot, Kim Fontaine-Skronski and Pablo Oñate.
Closing Keynote by Irina Bokova
Irina Bokova, ISC Patron and former UNESCO Director-General, as keynote speaker for the closing ceremony of the ISC Mid-Term Meeting.
The IPSA Digital Project presented as a best practice of how international scholarly associations are bonifying their services to members with new technologies.
Session 4 on ISC's regional presence and impact, chaired by Karina Batthyány, Executive Secretary of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO).
