Wissenschaft vernetzen.

Die Junge Akademie Schweiz vernetzt Nachwuchsforschende aus verschiedensten Wissenschaftsbereichen und bildet ein inspirierendes Umfeld für inter- und transdisziplinäre Begegnungen und innovative Ideen. Die Mitglieder sind Ansprechpartner:innen für die Schweizer Wissenschaft und gelten als die junge Stimme der Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz.

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SYNESPOD 2023 Activities

The Swiss Young Network for Science Policy and Diplomacy (SYNESPOD) project has fulfilled its goal to establish a platform for science policy and diplomacy through partnerships with (inter)national institutions, increasing the impact and visibility of the Swiss Young Academy (SYA) and early-career professionals in Switzerland in addressing challenges toward sustainable development globally. This has been achieved through the teamwork and leadership of nine project members (D. Farman, S. Grüninger, S. Meier, F. Egli, B. Pearce, L. Müller, and L. Clack), including two speakers (J. V. Milić and C. Zemp).

Specifically, during the first year of the project, we realized the initial objectives by organizing workshops and meetings with representative (inter)national organizations, identifying shared interests, and exchanging experiences to initiate a strategic network for science policy and diplomacy at the SYA. This has involved the following key outcomes.

Workshops on the Swiss political system for scientists

We co-organized two workshops on the Swiss political system for scientists (in French and German) with Reatch, training the attendees and strengthening our capacity in science for policy in Switzerland, as detailed in the online report on the workshop.

International meeting with partners

We also had a series of meetings with (inter)national partners, including online brainstorming meetings and a hybrid meeting in Bern, including foraus, Global Young Academy (GYA), Young Academy of Sweden (SUA), Young Academies Science Advice Structure (YASAS) of the Science Advice for Policy by the European Academies (SAPEA), and Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI). We have also interacted with representatives from the European Parliament and other European academies, while participating in the European Young Academies Network (ENYA) meeting, as well as discussed challenges and opportunities for engaging early-career researchers at the interface of science, policy, and diplomacy, as detailed in the report on our meeting.

Workshop at the Geneva Science Diplomacy Week (GESDA)

In addition, we participated in and co-organized a workshop at the Geneva Science Diplomacy Week (GESDA), an international forum for science diplomacy, in partnership with foraus as well as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI), which is detailed in our online report on the event. This has initiated a lasting collaboration, leading us to be invited to the GESDA Summit and to contribute to another workshop at the GESDA Science Diplomacy Week next year.

Complementary activities

Through these and other complementary activities, such as the contribution of the speakers to the Swiss Sustainability Science Forum in Bern (Clara Zemp) and COP28 event on “The Role of Academies in Climate Policy Advice” organized by the Inter-Academy Partnership (Jovana V. Milić), we have initiated the process of establishing a strategic network for science for policy and diplomacy at the SYA which will continue to evolve, and the corresponding partnerships are detailed on the website.

These partnerships and related activities have already demonstrated the potential and impact of SYNESPOD, stimulating the next stage of the project that will build on (inter)national connections and experiences to strengthen the science for policy and diplomacy platform at the SYA though participation in (inter)national events and capacity-building initiatives, further expanding its capacity, visibility, and global impact.