Advancing Science in the Americas: A Look into IANAS Initiatives

1. D e v e l o p i n g S c i e n c e i n t h e A m e r i c a s “IANAS today and things to come in Guatemala” Guatemala City, July 26-28, 2009 For more information on the network, please visit: http://www.ianas.org

2. A B O U T I A N A S IANAS is a regional network of Academies of Sciences founded in the spirit of IAP in May 2004. The main objectives of the network are: • Assist in the building of national scientific capacities by strengthening science and technology relationships among the countries of the Americas, as a tool for societal development. • Cooperate in building capacities of the Academies of the region, through exchange of information and experience. • Aid in the creation of new Academies in those countries of the Americas desiring assistance in the establishment of a Science Academy. • Influence the scientific decision-making processes in the Americas, with the goal of promoting prosperity and equity in the hemisphere.

3. IAP’s core business IAP and its member academies believe that science, scientific knowledge and scientific progress are an essential part of human culture and are vital to advance human welfare and well being. IAP is therefore committed to making the voice of science heard on issues of crucial importance to the future of humankind. To that end, IAP will serve as platform for member academies to develop mutual collaboration, as well as common positions and actions. V I S I O N IANAS VISION (CONFERENCE 2007) Science Academies in our continent have a major role to play in assisting developing countries to acquire STH capabilities, because these institutions are generally independent, merit based, self-renewing organizations that include the STH leadership of a nation.

4. P O L I C Y M A K I N G IANAS is a new and relevant actor for STH development in our continent. IANAS has actively participated in seminars and meetings organized by UNESCO, the Organization of the American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Academy of the Developing World (TWAS), the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and member Academies. The network has coordinated two Virtual OAS Forums and visited countries in the region for Academic Capacity Building. In recognition to the network’s active role, in December 2005 the Permanent Council of OAS recognized IANAS as a civil society organization, credentialing the network to officially participate in OAS meetings and activities.

5. P L A N O F A C T I O N IANAS recently held a General Conference and its General Assembly in Venezuela. These two meetings represented a good opportunity for the member Academies to appraise the actions of the network in the past three years, to discuss strategies for regional S&T capacity building, and to build a Plan of Action for the near future. • Draft a firstIANAS Strategic Plan. • Promote existing and newIAP Programsin the region; • Implement an Inter-American Science and Technology Information System; • Enlarge the exchange of expertise tostrengthenthe existingAcademiesand promote theestablishment of new Academiesand Science Organizations; • Formulate an innovative hemisphericscientific mobility program for the less developed countries of the region; • Coordinate the actionsof IAP, IANAS, TWAS and ICSU in the Americas;

6. S C I E N C E To foster Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) systems in the region, IANAS develops a programme that works in conjunction with the IAP Science Education Programme. Specific objectives of this programme are: E D U C A T I O N • promote collaboration and synergism in the implementation of science education projects in the Americas. • stimulate the sharing of materials and experiences among projects. • generate common methods, mechanisms and guidelines to evaluate the progress of the individual projects. • create a forum for the discussion of the optimal materials and methods. • stimulate collaboration among Academies in the organization of science fairs, scientific Olympics and science prizes to children. The programme has focal points in 16 countries and several meetings, workshops and courses have been held. In 2008, besides national meetings and training courses, the programme held a Workshop on Evaluation of Inquiry-Based Science Education and the third meeting of its national focal points..

7. S C I E N C E In addition to national meetings and training courses, the program helds Workshops on Evaluation, and meetings of its national focal points In a meeting in Lima on November 2004, the Science Ministers of the Americas, approved the IANAS Science Education Program as an OAS Hemispheric Initiative. Until 2006, funding came exclusively from IAP. Now we have other sources: OAS-FEMCIDI granted a support of USD 63,700 for 2007, USD 144,100 for 2008 and USD 119,000 for 2009. The Mexican Ministry of Education has provided USD 210,000 to seven Science Academies (Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama and Peru) to support them in the implementation of Science Education Programs. E D U C A T I O N

8. W A T E R To cope with one of the greatest challenges facing society, IANAS develops a Water Program that operates in association with the IAP Program. The major objectives of this program are: • develop local capacity building in water management in the Americas; • increase public awareness on the emerging water crisis; • address policy and decision makers on how to cope with the challenge of assuring access to safe-drinking water to the population in the region; • network water researchers and managers to enhance water management capacity in the hemisphere; • call to the table the major water programs in the region to discuss complementary work and to avoid duplication of efforts and funds. P R O G R A M M E The program has focal points in 13 countries and has organized several meetings and workshops. In 2006, together with IAP, IANAS organized a Regional Workshop on “Bridging Water and Research Management: Enhancing Water Management Capacity in the Hemisphere” (July, Guarulhos). An international symposium to discuss interactions between climate change and water management in South America and a second meeting of the national focal points were also organized, as satellite events to the IAP/IANAS workshop. The program is co-chaired by the Brazilian and by the Mexican Academy of Sciences.

9. W A T E R • The IANAS member Academies are now establishing multidisciplinary Water Committees to prepare a white paper presenting a strategic view on each country’s national water resources. A first version of these papers was presented for discussion at the last meeting of the national focal points of the program, held in Nicaragua in May 2009. • This is also a clear example of how the IANAS Water Program helps enhance an Academy’s social relevance and visibility, strengthening its capacity to contribute to national policy and decision making processes. • Recently, IANAS was invited to hold the next Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy as a joint activity to the 5th Meeting of the National Focal Points of the IANAS Water Program. The Argentinean Academy has manifested interest to host this joint meeting. • This Forum is an activity of the University of California and is funded in part by an endowment gift from the Bank of America. P R O G R A M M E

10. IANAS has established a Capacity Building Program. As initial steps, IANAS has visited countries within the region with no Academies to discuss the organization of the local scientific communities. Examples of activities developed in 2006 were a visit to Nicaragua, which resulted in the establishment of the Nicaraguan Society for Science, and the development of a study, in a partnership with the Ford Foundation, on the institutional framework of successful Latin American universities. The main hypothesis behind the study is that, in spite of the overall institutional rigidity and resource limitations, in many higher education institutions in the region there are still some scientific and technological research groups, programs and institutions that have been able to create the innovative arrangements that are necessary for their work, and should be studied as models and examples to be followed in the region. C A P A C I T Y B U I L D I N G

11. C O M M U N I C A T I O N To increase the awareness of the network’s actions, IANAS maintains since February 2005 a trilingual website in English, Portuguese and Spanish (www.ianas.org). A trilingual bulletin is periodically published and circulated to Science Academies, regional multilateral organizations and governments. If you wish to receive our bulletin, please contact us at: ianas@ianas.org

12. D e v e l o p i n g S c i e n c e i n t h e A m e r i c a s • Workshops (last 8 months): • Energy (Buenos Aires) • Women for Science (Mexico City) http://www.ianas.org

13. D e v e l o p i n g S c i e n c e i n t h e A m e r i c a s Science Funding Landscape Workshop Guatemala City, July 26 and 27, 2009 http://www.ianas.org

14. A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S Major support for this Workshop comes from IAP, IDRC (Canada) and the Secretary of Science and Technology of Guatemala ¡thanks, gracias, merci, obrigado!

15. W O R K S HO P P L A N Science Funding Landscape Workshop PROVIDERS (FUNDING ORGANIZATIONS) USERS FROM THE SCIENTIFICALLY LAGGING COUNTRIES: 1 University Representative, 1 young scientist and 1 representative of the National S&T Council

16. W O R K S HO P P L A N Science Funding Landscape Workshop • One day of plenary talks. • Most of the discussion held in parallel roundtables assembling a small number of participants from the scientifically lagging countries and the representatives from organizations that offer funding opportunities in the hemisphere. • The representatives from the funding organizations will sit permanently in the same roundtable, while participants from Latin American and Caribbean countries will be moving from one roundtable to the other.

17. W O R K S HO P P L A N Science Funding Landscape Workshop • Organizations providing funding opportunities will have a space to present their views and programs. • Representatives from the countries will also have the opportunity to present their specific needs. Each country is expected to present their real needs. • This dynamics pretends on one side, that the targeted countries become aware of existing opportunities. On the other hand, funding organizations will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the needs of each of the countries. • In parallel to the roundtables, there will be slots for bilateral meetings ("exchange time"), which will be a time dedicated for bilateral contacts between participants and organizations. During the “exchange time”, participants will be able to further discuss with the organizations issues raised during the roundtables.

18. W O R K S HO P P L A N

19. W O R K S HO P P L A N

20. W O R K S HO P P L A N

21. D e v e l o p i n g S c i e n c e i n t h e A m e r i c a s Gracias, Merci, Obrigado, Thanks http://www.ianas.org