The Global Innovation Index 2012

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THE GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX 2012 8: A UNESCO Idea in Action
be disseminated to consumers far
and wide. In this spirit, UNESCO
is elaborating a strategy to promote
grassroots innovation. This strategy
will focus on empowering people
to use science and technology to
find affordable solutions that meet
the needs of the disadvantaged. The
strategy provides also for the popularization
of science (science communication),
‘technopreneurship’
development, engineering, local and
indigenous knowledge, and biodiversity
conservation.
Building capacities in basic sciences and
engineering
Science and engineering education
is important for all countries to raise
public literacy in science, engineering,
and technology. This education
is especially vital for developing
countries so they can build a critical
mass of scientists, researchers,
and engineers that will allow them
to participate fully in the global
economy.
UNESCO has extensive experience
in this area through the work
of its International Basic Science
Programme (IBSP) and the activities
of its engineering programme.
We work with national governments
and partners in the United Nations
system as well as intergovernmental
and nongovernmental organizations
to promote training and research and
scientific networking, and to create
and strengthen centres of excellence.
Public-private partnerships can be
essential ingredients for effective
STI. To this end, UNESCO is elaborating
several agreements with private
companies—such as Intel and
F.Hoffman-La Roche Ltd, among
others—to jointly promote science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics
education.
Science education is essential. To
attract and retain young people, we
need leadership training and early
career support mechanisms to be put
in place at the university level. The
challenge is to nurture and maintain
a critical mass of highly qualified
and innovative scientists and technologists
and to provide them with
the means to pursue their research
objectives. Supporting science education
is an essential component of
UNESCO’s action.
A special focus falls here on
assisting girls and young women to
pursue careers in science. These are
the goals of our longstanding partnership
with the L’Oreal Foundation
and our annual L’Oreal-UNESCO
Awards for Women in Science. It is
vital to support young women scientists
through such fellowships and
also to increase the visibility of successful
women scientists.
We work also to facilitate the
integration of gender perspectives,
vision, knowledge, and skills into
the design, implementation, and
evaluation of STI policy. Women
must be change agents of STI and
not merely beneficiaries. We must
ensure gender-balanced representation
in science policy dialogue platforms
and international networks,
and we must support women in
the transmission, preservation, and
elaboration of local and indigenous
knowledge related to sustainable
development, natural disaster
preparedness and response, biodiversity
conservation, and climate
change. Within this framework,
a variety of activities have been
conducted that include empowering
women as agents of change of
STI—for instance, by supporting
young women scientists and facilitating
cooperation and exchange of
scientific knowledge among women
scientists. To further these ends, in
close cooperation with ISTIC we
recently organized an International
Forum on Women in Science and
Technology in Muslim Countries
that was held in Kuala Lumpur.
The network of UNESCO
university chairs is also specifically
focused on women in S&T. Such
chairs—through an integrated system
of research, training, and information
and documentation activities—serve
as a means of facilitating collaboration
on gender mainstreaming and
good practices among high-level, internationally
recognized researchers
and teaching staff of university and
other institutions in foreign countries.
Networks have been established
in several countries, including
Argentina, Burkina Faso, Egypt,
Ghana, Pakistan, Sudan, and Togo.
It is vital to bolster science and
engineering education through capacity
building and the development
of new methodologies for teaching
STI. Interdisciplinary approaches are
required to support innovative research
and its applications for sustainable
development. These approaches
must address the need to strengthen
indigenous research systems and capacity;
they must also involve the
private sector, and especially industry,
in promoting innovation and
entrepreneurship among students and
young professionals. South-South
and North-South-South cooperation
is another important lever here.
Improving STI monitoring and foresight
systems
UNESCO also has extensive experience
in supporting the dissemination
of knowledge in STI policy information.
This is essential for monitoring
and also for sharing experience and
practice.
From 1965 to 1994 a number
of studies and documents (totalling
74 volumes) were published
in UNESCO’s well-known series
entitled Science Policy Studies and
Documents. After 2003, UNESCO