Global resilience through knowledge- based cooperation: A New Protocol for Science Diplomacy

The policy brief is intended to foster stronger science diplomacy practices able to efficiently tackles today’s global challenges. Traditional means of addressing global challenges have served their time and we now need new modes of international collaboration with scientific knowledge and expertise figuring more prominently if we want to ensure a post-COVID-19 recovery. The new Protocol for Science Diplomacy presented in this policy brief inspires the alignment of shared, cosmopolitan interests and their application to cross-border societal challenges. It comprises a set of twelve procedural and infrastructural principles with which actors can create a space for constructive and productive science diplomacy interactions. These principles are: Sensitivity; Inclusiveness; Transparency; Deliberation; Reciprocity; Complementarity & Manoeuvrability; Legitimacy; Alignment; Evaluation; Capacities; Capabilities; Trust.

The Protocol for Science Diplomacy sets new ground rules for international scientific and policy collaboration that enable us, inter alia, to make meaningful steps towards tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by their 2030 deadline. As such, it offers a roadmap for science diplomacy in the next decade and beyond.