World Conference on Basic Sciences and Sustainable Development

Organizing institutions

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS)
• Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA)
• The Club of Rome (CoR)
• Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia (MESTDS)
• World University Consortium (WUC)
• Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences (VINS), Belgrade, Serbia
• Serbian Association of Economists (SAE)

Program Committee

Co-Chairs:

• Nebojša Nešković, Secretary General, WAAS
• Vladimir Kostić, President, SASA
• Carlos Álvarez Pereira, Vice-President, CoR

Members:

• Shamila Naïr-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General, UNESCO
• Goran Milašinović, President, Commission of Serbia for Cooperation with UNESCO
• Michel Spiro, President, Steering Committee of IYBSSD 2022
• Luc Bergé, President, European Physical Society
• Garry Jacobs, President and Chief Executive Officer, WAAS
• Isaac P. Witz, WAAS
• Aleksander Zidanšek, WAAS
• Tanja Ćirković Veličković, SASA
• Stevo Todorčević, SASA
• Ugo Bardi, CoR
• Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir, CoR
• Jinfeng Zhou, CoR
• Aleksandar Baucal, Serbian Chapter of CoR
• Alberto Zucconi, WUC
• Miroslav Adžić, Assistant Director, VINS
• Jasna Atanasijević, SAE

Organizing Committee

Co-Chairs:

• Marijana Dukić Mijatović, State Secretary, MESTDS
• Aleksandar Vlahović, President, SAE

Members:

• Peggy Oti-Boateng, Former Director, Division of Science Policy and Capacity-Building, UNESCO
• Antonia Jutronić, Secretary General, Commision of Serbia for Cooperation with UNESCO
• Luc Allemand, Secretary General, Steering Committee of IYBSSD 2022
• Stuart Palmer, Honorary Treasurer, European Physical Society
• Nebojša Nešković, Secretary General, WAAS
• Vladimir Kostić, President, SASA
• Carlos Álvarez Pereira, Vice-President, CoR
• Alberto Zucconi, Secretary General, WUC
• Snežana Pajović, Director, VINS

Following the initiative of the Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), the General Conference of UNESCO proposed in November 2019 to proclaim the year 2022 as the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (IYBSSD 2022). The proposal was based on the facts that since 2005 six international years of basic sciences had been organized and that in September 2015 the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the resolution Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which included 17 Sustainable Development Goals, most of which are clearly connected to basic sciences. In December 2021, the United Nations General Assembly approved the proposal. The total number of organizations that participate in the organization of this series of events is 50. In addition, 112 science academies, learned societies, and scientific associations support the organization of IYBSSD.

The main aim of IYBSSD 2022 is to mobilize national, regional, and global scientific institutions to clearly demonstrate to the public and especially to political and business leaders worldwide how basic sciences are helping us to establish an inclusive, balanced, and sustainable development of the planet. The main message of the series of events is that basic research is the important initial link in the chain of research and development that can, only as a whole, make nature and society sustainable.

The initial event within IYBSSD 2022 was held on July 8, 2022 at the UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris, France, while the final event will take place at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), in Geneva, Switzerland, in the beginning of October 2023. One of the main events within the series of events will be the World Conference on Basic Sciences and Sustainable Development, to be held on September 19–22, 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. The proposal was given by the World Academy of Art and Science and it was accepted by the Steering Committee of IYBSSD.

The agenda of the Conference contains the following:

• Special Session
• Introductory Session
• Section 1: Importance of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development
• Section 2: Advanced Basic Research in Mathematics and Physics
• Section 3: Advanced Basic Research in Chemistry and Biology
• Section 4: Advanced Multiple Disciplinary Basic Research
• Section 5: Connections of Basic Sciences with Other Sciences, Innovation, and Engineering
• Section 6: Contributions of Basic Sciences to Medicine, Healthcare, and Water and Food Security
• Section 7: Connections of Basic Sciences with Energy Technologies, Climate Action, and Protection of the Environment
• Section 8: Contributions of Basic Research to Advanced Education
• Poster Section: For Women in Science
• Concluding Session

The Special Session will be devoted to the latest report to The Club of Rome, Limits and Beyond, and the Open Balkan Initiative. Sections 1–8 will include two sessions each and there will 68 talks in all the sessions. The Poster Section will include three sessions. The authors of the posters are nine young scientists awarded within For Women in Science National Program in Serbia, established by the company L’Oréal Balkan, the Commission of Serbia for Cooperation with UNESCO, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia.

Besides, two exhibitions will be going on during the Conference, prepared by Matica Srpska, the oldest Serbian cultural and scientific institution – on its past and present activities, and by the company L’Oréal Balkan, on the Sustainable Development Program of L’Oréal Group, the world’s largest cosmetics company – L’Oréal for the Future. In addition, a concert will take place within the event – on September 21, 2022 in the National Museum in Belgrade.