An Incidental Serial for Rigorous Meeting Syntheses, published by the Science Diplomacy Center
This incidental serial will share rigorous syntheses of meetings that relate to science diplomacy. The spirit of this serial is to be holistic (international, interdisciplinary and inclusive) in a manner that will be helpful to the future of our globally-interconnected civilization.
This serial is intended to integrate stakeholder perspectives, holistic evidence and governance records in a manner that reveals options (without advocacy), which can be used or ignored, with the goal of contributing to informed decision-making in our world.
Informed decisions are at the summit, overlying options and evidence. The evidence itself is distilled from data, with observations and information integrated from questions at the earliest stage possible for stakeholder engagement, which is the reason for the meetings in the first instance.
The decisions relate to the combination of fixed, mobile, and other built assets (including communications, research, observing and information systems) that require capitalization and technology PLUS regulatory, policy, legal, official-statement and other governance mechanisms (including insurance). Behind the decisions is the science, as the study of change, including natural and social sciences as well as indigenous knowledge. Change itself reveals patterns and trends over time and space – to anticipate as well as respond to issues, impacts and resources – across generations within, over and beyond the boundaries of nations.
Science Diplomacy Action addresses an immediate and long-term need to publish rigorous syntheses and summaries of meetings associated with science and technology advice in government at all levels, especially among the foreign ministries of nations. This need is reflected by the rapidly growing number of meetings that focus on science diplomacy as a holistic process of evidence integration to balance national interests and common interests for the benefit of all on Earth. The value of these science-diplomacy meetings (or any meetings) is largely limited to those that attend. Science Diplomacy Action recognizes this unrealized opportunity to extend value beyond the meetings by soliciting and publishing rigorous meeting syntheses.