This symposium was organized by CERN and the World Academy of Art & Science under the auspices of United Nations Office at Geneva. It surveyed the potential impact of scientific and technological innovation in different fields on the progress of humanity in the 21st century and the alternative mechanisms available to ensure socially responsible management of these activities by the research community, business and governments.
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Conference on
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Organized by CERN & the World Academy of Art & Science
under the auspices of United Nations Office in Geneva
AT CERN
November 11, 2015 – 09:00-17:30
Science, Technology and Innovation are among the most powerful forces driving social change and development today. In the past they have been the source of both remarkable civilizational advances and threats to civilization. Some aspects of scientific development and application such as nuclear technology, pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and food additives are strictly monitored and controlled by governments and law. Other areas such as computerization of financial transactions, automation, biological research and telecommunications have been left primarily to the self-government of scientific institutions and business entities. Today the rate of scientific and technological development, dissemination and application far outpaces the capacity of society, institutions and individuals to adapt, contributing to increasing social imbalances, stress, upheavals, displacement and disruption. The challenge before humanity is to arrive at the most effective blend of governance and self-management to maximize both the freedom for scientific creativity and technological innovation and the welfare of present and future generations.
This symposium is being organized by CERN and the World Academy of Art & Science under the auspices of United Nations Office at Geneva. It will survey the potential impact of scientific and technological innovation in different fields on the progress of humanity in the 21st century and the alternative mechanisms available to ensure socially responsible management of these activities by the research community, business and governments.
November 11 – 0900 to 1300
Herwig Schopper – former Director General of CERN; Member, WAAS Board of Trustees.
Ivo Šlaus – Honorary President of WAAS; Dean, Dag Hammarskjöld University College of International Relations and Diplomacy.
Garry Jacobs – CEO of WAAS; Vice President, The Mother’s Service Society.
MODERATOR – Momir Đurović – President, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts; Member, WAAS Board of Trustees.
SPEAKER – Martin Rees – Cosmologist; Astrophysicist; Former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge; Former President of the Royal Society (tbc)
PANELISTS
MODERATOR – Emil Constantinescu – Former President of Romania; Member, WAAS Board of Trustees; Founding President of the Institute for Regional Cooperation and Conflict Prevention.
SPEAKER – Maria da Graça Carvalho – Principal Adviser to the Bureau of European Policy Advisers, European Commission; Member, WAAS Board of Trustees; Full Professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department of Instituto Superior Técnico (Technical University of Lisbon (tbc).
PANELISTS
MODERATOR – Bohdan Hawrylyshyn – former Director, International Management Institute, Geneva; Member, WAAS Board of Trustees; Economic advisor to the Ukrainian government.
SPEAKER – Azita Berar Awad – Director of the Employment Policy Department, ILO (tbc)
PANELISTS
November 11 – 1400 to 1730 -- SPECIAL PLENARY SESSION
Rolf-Dieter Heuer – Director General, CERN.
Michael Møller – Director General, UNOG; Former Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation.
Heitor Gurgulino de Souza – President, WAAS; Former Vice President, Club of Rome; Former UNU Rector.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Marie-Paule Kieny – Assistant Director-General, Health Systems and Innovation, World Health Organization.
PANELISTS
DISCUSSION
KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Michel Jarraud – Secretary General, World Meteorological Organization
PANELISTS
DISCUSSION
The World Academy of Art and Science is composed of 730 individual Fellows from diverse cultures, nationalities, and intellectual disciplines, chosen for eminence in art, the natural and social sciences, and the humanities. Established in 1960 by distinguished individuals concerned by the impact of the explosive growth of knowledge, its activities seek to address global issues related to the social consequences and policy implications of knowledge. The Academy serves as a forum for reflective scientists, artists, and scholars to discuss the vital problems of humankind independent of political boundaries or limits, whether spiritual or physical -- a forum where these problems can be discussed objectively, scientifically, globally, and free from vested interests or regional attachments, to arrive at solutions that affirm universal human rights and serve the interests of all humanity. WAAS is founded on faith in the power of original and creative ideas -- Real Ideas with effective power -- to change the world. Its motto is "Leadership in thought that leads to action."
The spirit of the Academy can be expressed in the words of Albert Einstein: "The creations of our mind shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind." Its Fellows share the ambition (as the Founders said in their 1960 Manifesto) "to rediscover the language of mutual understanding," surmounting differences in tradition, language, and social structure which, unless fused by creative imagination and continuous effort, dissolve the latent human commonwealth in contention and conflict.
Scientific discovery and technological innovation keep developing instruments of unparalleled power for fulfillment or destruction. We humans, more and more, are taking into our own hands the future evolution of our bodies, our minds, the civilizations we create, and the very planet we inhabit. So it is imperative that we guide what we do by what we know, and guide what we know by what we value. The aim of the Academy's founders was to function as "an informal WORLD UNIVERSITY at the highest scientific and ethical level, in which deep human understanding and the fullest sense of responsibility will meet."
The World Academy is incorporated in the State of California and is recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a tax exempt private foundation under section 501(c)(3).
The World Academy of Art and Science is an association of committed individuals drawn from diverse cultures, nationalities, occupations and intellectual pursuits spanning the arts, humanities and sciences, conscious of the profound social consequences and policy implications of knowledge, and united by a common aspiration to address the urgent challenges and emerging opportunities confronting humanity today. Our mission is to promote cross-disciplinary dialogue generative of original ideas and integrated perspectives that comprehend the root causes and effective remedies for our common problems, while furthering those currents of thought and social movement that affirm the value of human dignity and equitable development. The Academy dedicates itself to the pursuit of creative, catalytic ideas that can provide to present and future generations enlightened leadership in thought that leads to effective action.
The idea of founding an international association for exploring major concerns of humanity in a nongovernmental context grew out of many conversations that took place among leading scientists and intellectuals in the years following World War II. Prominent among this group were people such as Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer who had played a part in the development of the atomic bomb and were deeply concerned about how it and other scientific advances might be used – or misused.
This informal project took a major step forward in 1956, when a meeting – The First International Conference on Science and Human Welfare – was held in Washington, D. C. The organizers were two American scientists: Richard Montgomery Field of Princeton, who had worked for many years as chairman of an international committee on the social values of science; and John A. Fleming, former President of the International Council of Scientific Unions. At the end of the conference, participants agreed to take steps toward the formation of a World Academy, and elected an International Preparatory Committee for that purpose. Its members were: (from France) Pierre Chouard, George Laclavére and G. Le Lionnaise; (from the United Kingdom) Ritchie Calder, H. Munro Fox and Joseph Needham; and (from the United States) Robert Oppenheimer.
The Academy was formally founded (and its first officers elected) in 1960. They were: as President, Lord John Boyd Orr of Scotland; as Vice Presidents, Hermann Joseph Muller of the United States and Hugo Ostvald of Sweden; and, as Secretary General, Hugo Boyko of Israel.
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The World Academy is incorporated in the State of California and Fellows elected from 86 different countries. WAAS is recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a tax exempt private foundation under section 501(c)(3). By CheckMake payable to World Academy of Art & Science and mail the check to: For wire transfer or for additional information on donations, |
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SUBSCRIBE TO FREE ELECTRONIC EDITION ISSN 2038-5242 - Cadmus (Trieste. Testo stampato) |
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A 250-page “Interim Draft” PDF of The S&S Guide, a project of the World Academy of Art & Science, will be available for limited distribution free of charge to WAAS Fellows in June 2016. It reflects the critical fact that sustainability and security are both essential and can only be achieved in concert. The Guide is incomplete, but the compilers believe that, even in its current state, many WAAS Fellows will nd it useful for illuminating many of the most serious problems facing humanity under the broad, overlapping categories of “Security” (weapons proliferation, terrorism, cyber-attacks, economic and food insecurity, human rights, peacemaking, crime and corruption, inadequate infrastructure, etc.) and “Sustainability” (climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, energy, agriculture, population growth, cities, oceans, forests, vulnerability to disasters, green economics and nance, etc.)
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Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik Nov 19 2018 to Nov 21 2018  The world we live in presents challenges and opportunities beyond the capacity of even the... READ MORE |
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Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik Nov 19 2018 to Nov 21 2018  The world we live in presents challenges and opportunities beyond the capacity of even the strongest, most developed nation or group of nations to effectively address without working in concert with the rest of humanity. Peace and security, climate and environmental management, immigration and... READ MORE |
Being a world academy composed of members drawn from the arts, social and physical sciences, humanities, business, public administration and civil society poses fundamental questions. How can WAAS distinguish itself from other national and regional academies? Is there really a common meeting point between art and science? Is there a unique contribution that WAAS can make to the world’s knowledge?
At the New Delhi General Assembly, Fellows explored facets of a new program framework developed by the Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) which seeks to answer these questions in the affirmative. Rather than distinguish itself by specializing on a particular set of disciplines, issues or geographic area, the framework is an attempt to formulate a comprehensive approach and integrated perspective of knowledge inclusive of all disciplinary perspectives and applicable to social problems and opporunities in all fields.
The core of the framework is a human-centered conception of what constitutes reliable knowing, a question posed to the SPC by Ruben Nelson. In his presentation to the GA, Garry Jacobs explained how this conception applies to WAAS’s projects on new economic theory, individuality and limits to rationality. Pushpa Bhargava pointed out that a human centered perspective naturally incorporates ecology, since the survival and full development of humanity depends on its capacity to evolve in harmony with the environment.
Cadmus is a journal for fresh thinking and new perspectives that integrate knowledge from all fields of science, art and humanities to address real-life issues, inform policy and decision-making, and enhance our collective response to the challenges and opportunities facing the world today.
Eruditio is the electronic journal of the World Academy of Art & Science. The vision of the Journal complements and enhances the World Academy's focus on global perspectives in the generation of knowledge from all fields of legitimate inquiry.
