Dirac Medallists 2010

Italian physicist Nicola Cabibbo (left above, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy) and Indian-American physicist Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan (right above, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA) have been awarded ICTP's Dirac Medal and Prize for 2010. 

The award recognizes their fundamental contributions to the understanding of weak interactions and other aspects of theoretical physics. The weak interaction is one of the four fundamental forces of nature, along with strong interaction, electromagnetism, and gravity. It is crucial to the structure of our universe, as it, among other things, causes the fusion that makes the sun burn. Read more...


Founded in 1964 by Abdus Salam (Nobel Laureate), the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government and two United Nations Agencies, UNESCO and IAEA. Its mission is to foster advanced studies and research, especially in developing countries. While the name of the Center reflects its beginnings, its activities today encompass most areas of physical sciences including applications.

Is the UNESCO Underwater Heritage Convention Well Considered?

Following up a New Orleans conference in February 2010, eight scientists (six from the United States) have published a report titled "Underwater Cultural Heritage & UNESCO in New Orleans: An Introduction". The Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention was approved by the UNESCO General Conference in November of 2001, and went into force for ratifying states in January 2009. To date 32 nations have ratified the Convention, not including the United States of America. (Nor have France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Sweden nor the United Kingdom among many other non-ratifiers.)

The report is quite critical of aspects of the Convention, as is demonstrated by this excerpt:

For now, a feeling remains in many heritage and scientific circles that sections of the Convention are an unenforceable set of Utopian rules and regulations compiled by legal teams who incorporated minimal fundamental input from archaeologists. If the initiative is compared to terrestrial archaeology, where countries would react with outrage to any supposition that they need to be centrally supervized so intimately from abroad, many marine archaeologists with decades of experience and contribution are highly concerned about why they are suddenly being forcefully re-educated in their core competencies.

Download the entire report (PDF, 26 pages) 

Check out UNESCO's website on safeguarding underwater cultural heritage.

Science & Technology Policy Asian Network Newsletter

The UNESCO Office Jakarta and the Regional Bureau for Science in Asia and the Pacific, which is also in Jakarta, publish the Science and Technology Policy Asian Network (STEPAN) newsletter. Here are the last three issues:

• STEPAN update, vol. 9, no. 1 (June 2009)
• STEPAN update, vol. 9, no. 2 (December 2009)
• STEPAN update, vol. 10, no. 1 (June 2010)

Learn more about STEPAN!

UNESCO Report on Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park Calls for Additional Protections

"Efforts by the governments of British Columbia, Montana, and the United Statesseemingly have removed mining-related threats to Glacier National Park andWaterton Lakes National Park. But an international team of scientists believes both Canada and the United States must work harder to protect the resources of the International Peace Park.

"Though the field team's final report to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Committee presented in July in Brazil did not differ in tone from some of the tidbits that leaked out following the field team's visit to the two parks last September, its formal presentation put on record the team's concerns over the long-term health of the two national parks."

Read more from the National Parks Traveler

UNESCO contributes to the fifth Internet Governance Forum

The 5th meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania, from 14 to 17 September 2010. It will focus on the following issues: managing critical Internet resources, security, openness and privacy, access and diversity, Internet governance for development, taking stock of Internet governance and the way forward, and cloud computing.

During the four-day Forum UNESCO will provide various spaces for inclusive discussion on the Organization’s key contribution to the Internet Governance debate. In particular, UNESCO will organize two workshops:

Privacy and Social Networking (16 September)  This workshop will bring together worldwide stakeholders and take a broader approach to examine the interaction between privacy protection, freedom of expression and security.

Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet (14 September) This event is a follow-up to a well attended discussion on Internet Censorship and Filtering by the participants of IGF 2009 in Sharm el Sheikh. UNESCO will take this opportunity to release an in-depth analysis entitled Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet. This report, conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute, builds upon previous discussions and provides a panorama of observations and useful exploration of the subject.

Read more!

A World of Science (July–September 2010)

Contents Volume 8 n°3

IN FOCUS 2. A bleak outlook for biodiversity?

NEWS 
12 ‘IPCC for nature’ gets green light 
12 Thirteen new biosphere reserves 
13 A 4D system for improving conservation of Calakmul 
14 50 years of ocean studies

INTERVIEW 
15 Why Vineet Soni is bent on saving the guggul plant

HORIZONS 
17 Tracking plant diversity in a changing world 
21 Mapping the oceans to save the seas

IN BRIEF 
24 Diary 
24 New releases

Direct link A World of Science Vol. 8 n° 3 (document PDF) 
See also ARCHIVES for A World of Science

U.S. Delegation Attends IHP Intergovernmental Council

Former U.S. Mission Science Attaché Will Logan, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); Head of Delegation Matt Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); Ambassador and Mrs. Killion; Eugene Stakhiv, USACE; Verne Schneider, USGS; Jody Eimers, USGS

The Intergovernmental Council (IGC) of UNESCO's International Hydrological Program (IHP) met at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris July 5 – 9.  It was a noteworthy occasion for the United States, which recently became an IGC member and was elected to the seven-member IHP Bureau at the outset of the weeklong meeting. 

The IHP has been a leader in the field of hydrology since it was established in 1975 in order to facilitate intergovernmental cooperation in water sciences and water resource management.  Today, the IHP places a particular emphasis on hydrology as a component of sustainable development.  To meet its objectives, IHP coordinates water centers around the world, including the new International Center for Integrated Water Resources and Management (ICIWaRM) in the United States. 

Read more about the delegation and meeting.

Read more about Will Logan.

Congressional Research Service UNESCO Related Reports

The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress has from time to time produced reports on UNESCO related topics. Here are links to some of them:

• UNESCO Membership (November 20, 2003)
• Tsunamis: Monitoring, Detection, and Early Warning Systems (May 10, 2007)
• International Convention Against Doping in Sport: Issues for Congress (August 11, 2008)
• Biosphere Reserves: Fact Sheet (October 03, 1997)
• BIOSPHERE RESERVES AND THE U.S. MAB PROGRAM (June 4, 1999)
• Ocean Commissions: Ocean Policy Review and Outlook (August 9, 2006)
• WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE, JUNE 26-JULY 1, 1999: PURPOSE AND ISSUES (May 24, 1999)
• The UNESCO Wold Heritage Convention: Congressional Issues (January 07, 2009)

Also of interest with respect to UNESCO:

• Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Drought: Species and Ecosystem Management (April 9, 2008)
• Tsunamis (May 10, 2007)
• Tsunami Detection and Warnings for the United States (May 28, 2008)
• U.S. Public Diplomacy: Background and the 9/11 Commission Recommendations (Updated May 1, 2006)
• Science and Technology Policymaking: A Primer (June 20, 2008)
• Diplomacy for the 21st Century: Transformational Diplomacy (January 29, 2008)

The Broadband Commission for Digital Development

Leading lights from industry, civil society, UN agencies and the creative sphere, who together comprise the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, have emphasized the critical role of broadband networks in future global development. The meeting was co-sponsored by the ITU and UNESCO.

Click here for more information.

Clinton puts science at heart of US development strategy

"Moves by the the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to put science, technology and innovation firmly at the centre of its aid efforts have been enthusiastically endorsed by a rousing speech from secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in which she described herself as "a friend of science".

"'Innovation, science [and] technology must again become fundamental components of how we conduct development work,' Clinton told a high-level meeting of international development and science experts in Washington DC this week (14 July).

'The meeting, entitled 'Transforming Development through Science Technology and Innovation' (STI), was originally billed as a consultation to help map out a "bold new" science strategy for the US Agency for International Development (USAID)."

Read more of the SciDev.Net article by Yojana Sharma.

World Social Science Report 2010

Social science from Western countries continues to have the greatest global influence, but the field is expanding rapidly in Asia and Latin America, particularly in China and Brazil. In sub-Saharan Africa, social scientists from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya produce 75% of academic publications. In South Asia, barring some centres of excellence in India, social sciences as a whole have low priority. These are a few of the findings from World Social Science Report, 2010: “Knowledge divides”.

Produced by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and co-published with UNESCO, the Report is the first comprehensive overview of the field in over a decade. Hundreds of social scientists from around the world contributed their expertise to the publication. Gudmund Hernes, President of the ISSC, Adebayo Olukoshi, Director of the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), Hebe Vessuri, Director, Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), and François Héran, Director of Research, National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), France, are among the experts who presented the Report during its official launch at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 25 June 2010.

Go to the Report website.

Say No To Racism

The teams from the Netherlands and Brazil at the World Cup supporting FIFA's campaign, Say No to Racism!

Regional Meeting of the National Commissions

Delegates at the 2008 Regional Consultation

The UK National Commission for UNESCO hosted the UNESCO Director-General’s Regional Consultation with National Commissions for UNESCO of Europe and North America on the Preparation of the Draft Programme and Budget for 2012-2013 (36C/5) from 5-8 June 2010, in London.

Read

• The Draft Agenda for the meeting.
• The Director General's Opening Address to the meeting.
• The May Information Bulletin from the National Commission Section of UNESCO

Meeting of the U.S. NatCom

The long-awaited annual meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO (U.S. NatCom) took place May 25-27 in downtown Washington, D.C. and, reportedly turned out much quite successful in spite of an unusually tight schedule. It was difficult to know the exact number of Commissioners in attendance but 40-50 is a reasonable estimate plus various invited guests and the not too numerous "public" of whom six were members of the AU Board.

Though not described as having overall themes, the meeting featured science, women and youth in the presence of Dr. Gretchen Kalonji, the new UNESCO ADG/SC due to assume her duties July 1st. An American young woman, former participant in the Young Professional Program, now a staff member in the Science Sector described her entry into the UNESCO world with enthusiasm. Another young woman was equally enthusiastic about her participation in the Youth Forum (held during last year's General Conference). Finally, the United States contribution to various aspects of UNESCO's work in the field of water was eloquently described by the President and Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Dr. Susan Avery, and two US scientists dealing with the International Hydrological Program.

Robert Kahn Receives the ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Award 2010

Bob Kahn is President and CEO of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), and is a supporter of both UNESCO and Americans for UNESCO. His wife, Patrice Lyons is a member of the Board of Directors of AU.

The award states:

Mr Robert Kahn played a key pioneering role in the development of the Internet. He laid the foundations of the TCP/IP protocol architecture, which is a standard operating feature of the Internet. CNRI is a non-profit organization that focuses on the strategic development of network-based information technologies and Kahn has continued to nurture the evolution of the Internet, steering the development of new standards.

Congratulations Bob!

UNESCO: 50 years of ocean monitoring

June 4: World Environment Day 2010

The theme of WED 2010 is “Many Species. One Planet. One Future.”

Pittsburgh hwas selected as the North American host city by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to join World Environment Day 2010. More...

Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the World Environment Day 2010.

Session of the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program

31 May – 4 June 2010

UNESCO Headquarters, Fontenoy Building, Room XII

The 22nd session of the International Coordinating Council of the MAB Programme (MAB-ICC) is being held from 31 May to 4 June 2010 at UNESCO Headquarters. The MAB-ICC is reviewing progress made in the implementation of the Madrid Action Plan adopted at its 20th session and is discussing various matters concerning the future of MAB; important decisions, on new sites to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves as well as on MAB Young Scientists Awards and the Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management will be made by the Council.

Documents for the 22nd MAB-ICC session

National Reports received for the 22nd session of the MAB-ICC

Introductory speeches

Towards inclusive knowledge societies: Review of UNESCO's action in implementing WSIS outcomes

This report reviews UNESCO’s work in implementing its responsibilities deriving from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) since 2005. It highlights some of what has been achieved to date and reflects upon the challenges that have arisen during the period.

The report looks in turn at UNESCO’s three main roles in WSIS implementation:

• as a coordinator/lead facilitator, with ITU, UNDP and UNCTAD, of the overall implementation process, including UNGIS and the WSIS Forum;
• as a facilitator of six Action Lines to facilitate the implementation of the WSIS outcomes in specific areas of work; and
• as an implementer of programmes and initiatives that seek to build inclusive Knowledge Societies and thereby contribute to the achievement of WSIS goals.

Read the full report.

Brief Interview with Gretchen Kalonji in Science magazine

Last month, materials scientist Gretchen Kalonji of the University of California, Santa Cruz, was picked to head the Natural Sciences Sector of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Kalonji has taught in France, Germany, China, and Japan and has worked on international strategy development for the University of California. Her term starts in July.

Q: How did you become fluent in two African languages, Swahili and Lingala?

From the ages of 7 to 23, I was outside the United States. Both my parents were journalists, and we lived in India, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Kenya. So I come to the international stuff kind of naturally. ... I lived in Kenya for 6 years starting as a teenager, and my ex- and late husband was Congolese, which explains the Lingala.

Q: What ideas do you have for the job?

It's a little bit premature to say, but I will ... [try to] leverage other strengths within UNESCO. One of their jewels is the network of World Heritage sites, [which could be] utilized to a greater degree by having teams of faculty and students work together on projects sited there.

Q: Where is there room for improvement?

Our greatest source of unleashed, insufficiently tapped capacity is the creativity of our youth around the world. ... Most of their time in educational institutions is spent sitting and learning facts. ... Having the students engage more directly in science and engineering research projects that are linked to the common needs in our society ... could have an enormous impact.