WAAS@60 Report – Jun 2021

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Contents

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• FLASHBACK TO THE FUTURE
  • WAAS: 60 Years in Retrospect
  • WAAS Today
  • Inventing the Future
  • Art & Science
• GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
  • Role of Civil Society in the Multilateral System
  • Leadership for Planetary Momentum
  • Democratizing Global Governance
  • Global Referendum: Voice for Humanity
  • Role of Academies in the Multilateral System
• HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURITY
  • Peace and Human Security
  • Global Institute for Human Security
  • Financing the Future
  • Strategy for Full Employment
  • Future of Human Rights
  • Reconciling Freedom and Authority
• SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND SUSTAINABILITY
  • Science as a Social Good
  • Basic Sciences and Sustainable Development
  • Integration of Science for Society and Human Wellbeing
  • World Sustainability Forum
  • Eco Vision
• FUTURE EDUCATION
  • World University Consortium
  • Global Leadership Education
  • Mind, Thinking and Creativity
• GLOBAL SOCIETY
  • The Pandemic as a Systemic Crisis
  • Youth in Global Society
  • Culture and Systemic Change
  • Ethics and Information
  • Social Responsibility of Media and the Future of Information
• LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report presents insights and conclusions of “WAAS@60—A Planetary Moment”, an e-conference held on February 15-19, 2021 marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the World Academy of Art and Science. The report reflects on the unique mission, character and work of the Academy and explores innovative ways in which it can respond to current and emerging challenges.

As leading scientists and artists of the world envisioned in 1960, the Academy serves as a forum for leaders, scholars and thinkers to address the pressing challenges confronting humanity from a transnational, transdisciplinary perspective independent of political boundaries and prevailing orthodoxies. WAAS was founded on faith in the power of original and creative ideas—Real Ideas with effective power—to provide leadership in thought that leads to action. WAAS is a network of networks aspiring for a global movement of conscious social evolution.

WAAS was founded by eminent individuals deeply concerned with the social consequences and policy implications of knowledge. Born during the early days of the Cold War when the proliferation of nuclear weapons was in high gear, the Academy affirmed the social responsibility of science to concern itself with the application and consequences of its creations and discoveries. Since then it has examined both the enormous creative power and potentially destructive consequences of advances in science and technology in fields related to peace, human rights and human security. WAAS@60 examined critical issues pertaining to health and population growth, food and nutrition, economy and education, environment and climate, democracy and global governance, society and individual well-being, science and technology, information and media.

The title of the conference—“A Planetary Moment”—reflects the extraordinary circumstances under which the discussion took place. Recent times have been characterized by a steep decline of trust in social institutions, especially national governments and business, reduced support for multilateralism, a resurgence of bilateralism and unilateralism, a retreat from democracy and loss of confidence in the media. Only the scientific community has retained much of its standing, but it too is under continuous attack.

These trends have resulted in a global leadership vacuum just at the moment when enlightened leadership is most needed to address the unprecedented multidimensional challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly approaching existential threats of climate change.

Yet at the same time, recent events reveal unprecedented opportunities for global progress. The very magnitude and seriousness of current problems have created sufficient pressure to overcome or at least weaken the resistance posed by barriers to real change. During the past one year deeply-entrenched beliefs are being challenged and swept aside. Massive public investments in social welfare, employment and environment have thrust aside the long-standing neoliberal reliance on private sector investment and tax cuts. Prominent business leaders have renounced the goal of shareholder profit in favour of a more inclusive multi-stakeholder approach that recognizes the social responsibility of business. The world’s leading financial institutions are shifting their priorities away from unsustainable investments toward financing the SDGs. The automotive industry has announced radical changes that will dramatically accelerate its shift from petroleum-based vehicles to electric vehicles. Educational institutions are finally embracing the power of technology to provide high quality distance learning at a fraction of the cost of conventional classroom models with the potential to reach the tens of millions who lack access through the existing system.

WAAS@60 examined the significance of these shifts in public policy, sentiment and action. It has also sought ways to accelerate, magnify and support the transition to a new paradigm which shifts the focus from historically high levels of military spending to far greater investments in human security, and from social passivity to social activism to generate momentum for change. These and other initiatives form a significant part of the Academy’s evolving agenda of work to accelerate the process of global social transformation needed to promote human security for all.

Among the catalytic strategies discussed and under examination by WAAS are a global advocacy campaign for human security, central bank direct cryptocurrencies to finance the SDGs, a global platform to reflect the voices of “We the people”, ways to expand the role of civil society in the multilateral system, a new global delivery system for higher education, a paradigm shift in pedagogy, measures to address the cancer of fake news, global leadership education, global youth networks, new models for integration between science, policy, ethics, society and sustainability, and strategies for post-pandemic recovery.

The structure, membership and activities of the Academy encompass a very wide range of academic fields and occupational professions. The sessions in this conference transcend the barriers posed by disciplinary boundaries to examine issues from multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives. Thus, the discussion on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic explores its impact on health, economy, employment, law, governance, social rights and equity. Discussion on the Sustainable Development Goals encompasses issues related to human security, human rights, economy, employment, governance, the multilateral system, business, civil society, and social movement.

Since its inception the Academy has been searching for more comprehensive and integrated ways to address the complex problems confronting humanity. At its founding it recognized the vital contributions of both science and art as complementary ways of understanding and reconciling the role of objective factors and subjective perceptions in human affairs. Both art and science are essential to human creativity. WAAS@60 has sought to include and synthesize both perspectives in its examination of global issues.

WAAS has been characterized by progressive ideas that have evolved over the years, alongside social development and emerging global trends. From its inception the Academy has been a transnational network of individuals bound together by shared understanding, vision, and values. The Academy’s leaders understood that human networks were the greatest power they possessed to effectuate change in the world. WAAS has grown in number, activities and reach through the decades and operates collaboratively with an extensive network of partner organizations. WAAS today is conscious of the collective power of human aspiration and values to ultimately accomplish what no single individual or organization can ever do. Sixty years after its birth, the Academy remains young, ambitious, hopeful—with the modesty and common sense to claim very little and the ambition to still aspire for very much.

CROSS-CUTTING THEMES OF WAAS@60

FLASHBACK TO THE FUTURE

WAAS: 60 YEARS IN RETROSPECT

WAAS was founded in 1960, but its origins date back to momentous events that shaped the course of world history in the 1940s and 50s, including the establishment of the Manhattan Project under the leadership of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the atomic bombing of Japan, the start of the Cold War, the division of Europe into rival military blocs, the invention of the H-Bomb and onset of the nuclear arms race, which ultimately led to the production of more than 125,000 nuclear weapons. These momentous external events sparked major changes in the minds and hearts of scientists, artists and other intellectuals concerned with humanity’s future as symbolized by the release of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto in 1955, warning of the catastrophic dangers of nuclear war with the heart-wrenching declarations:

“Renounce war or perish!, World peace or death! We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.”

The Academy was a child of the momentous events that followed the rapid advancement of science and the rising consciousness of human beings. The Manifesto led to the First International Conference on Science and Human Welfare in Washington DC in 1956, at which leading intellectuals discussed the future of humankind and recognized the social responsibility of science for the unfolding course of events.

“Its aim was to chart a peaceful course for global social progress toward a future in which all mankind will be able to enjoy the immense achievements of the human brain.”

The conference led directly to the formal establishment of WAAS on December 24, 1960 with the call

“Non-Scientists and Scientists alike! Let us all help to make this forum a true Agency for Human Welfare.”

The Academy was established with the explicit aim of marrying scientific knowledge with universal human values. It sought to become an independent, transnational, non-partisan group of eminent individuals concerned with the policy implications and social consequences of rapid advances in different fields of knowledge. Among its founders were J. Robert Oppenheimer and four of the eleven signatories of the Manifesto—Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Joseph Rotblat and Hermann Muller. They also included five Nobel Laureates and distinguished international diplomats such as Joseph Needham, a co-founder of UNESCO; Lord Boyd Orr, the first Director-General of FAO; and G. Brock Chisholm, the first Director General of WHO.

During this period, untoward events continued to unfold dramatically, reinforcing the justification for their concern and the need for action. Two years later the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. This was also a period in which dramatic technological advances in transport and telecommunications brought the world closer together. In parallel with the invention of powerful weapons, science brought succor to humanity in the form of life-saving antibiotics and vaccines, such as the polio vaccine developed by WAAS Fellow Jonas Salk. One unanticipated outcome of falling death and infant mortality rates was the population explosion followed by growing threats of famine. Population growth and food production became issues of major concern to WAAS during its first decade.

WAAS TODAY

The world is under the stress of rapid technological, economic, social and cultural evolution. This stress has created deep fissures in the existing system and institutions of global governance. Confidence in governments, business and the media is historically low. Only science retains high levels of public trust and confidence. The growing conflict between progressive elements and regressive forces is disrupting social cohesion, undermining confidence in the multilateral system of international relations, sowing seeds of discord in society and spurring a retreat from democracy. The zigzag patterns of advance and retreat, affirmation and denial challenge conventional theories and conceal deeper lines of social evolution advancing beneath the surface turmoil. Traditional concepts and forms of leadership are inadequate to cope with the challenges confronting humanity today. Innovative approaches are needed to fill the leadership vacuum. The Global Leadership for the 21st Century project initiated by WAAS in collaboration with the United Nations Office at Geneva is studying the deep-seated processes that are driving global social evolution. It is examining critical issues related to peace, health, food security, economic inequality, employment, finance, environment and climate change. It is seeking ways to define a more inclusive multilateral system and to identify catalytic strategies to accelerate global social progress. WAAS programs are focusing on the process of rapid social transformation and exploring innovative strategies to create a voice for global humanity, new models for coordinating scientific research and policy-making with social equity and implementation, new pedagogy and delivery systems for global education, new approaches for private and public sector financing of the SDGs, including the introduction of central bank digital currencies and measures to realign private sector investment with global social objectives, and strategies to enhance the credibility of the media, harmonize global cultural integration and enrich cultural diversity.

INVENTING THE FUTURE

We are in the midst of one of the most profound transitions in history. There is an urgent need for new ways of thinking that generate new types of solutions to the problems threatening humanity’s survival and impeding its further progress. The future lies in integrated transdisciplinary perspectives. Realization of the SDGs will only be possible when we fully realize the extent of the linkages and interdependences between them and evolve a holistic concept that closely coordinates and integrates action on them all as dimensions of the overriding objective—Human Security.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of a comprehensive and integrated approach to Human Security that encompasses all aspects of human welfare. Conventional ideas about competitive national security are increasingly irrelevant. The threats confronting humanity today are no longer confined to some sectors and parts of the world. They are increasingly multidimensional and global in nature and can only be effectively addressed by cooperative global action.

Human Security is a concept that includes peace, economic welfare, social cohesion, cultural harmony, ecological balance, human rights, equity, and sustainable development. Effective security solutions cannot be arrived at by national governments or multilateral institutions alone. They must arise from an unprecedented effort at multilateral collaboration, intergenerational dialogues, multidisciplinary perspectives and multistakeholder partnerships based on mutual trust in one another and in our social institutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic may subside within a year or two but the lessons to be learned from it will be of increasing relevance in coming years. Competitive security and national sovereignty are no longer viable principles on which to found global governance and human wellbeing. The pandemic has exposed all the flaws in a fragmented global social system which fails to effectively utilize humanity’s immense knowledge, organizational capabilities, technological know-how and material resources for the betterment of all humanity.

WAAS’ future programming is examining opportunities in a wide range of fields including:

• Inclusive Multilateralism: To enhance the participation and contribution of civil society organizations and other stakeholder groups in the multilateral system.
• Human Security: To promote the application of an integrated approach to human security as a comprehensive, inclusive framework which places the welfare and wellbeing of human beings at the center, and shifts focus from competitive national security to all-inclusive human security.
• Learning from the Pandemic: To examine the COVID-19 pandemic holistically from multiple perspectives and draw lessons to improve multilateral coordination and inform a more balanced policy and public debate which will enhance our ability to cope with future crises of a systemic nature.
• Integration of Science, Policy and Ethics for Society and Sustainability: To promote the study of the connections between science, social responsibility, and the evolution of the relationship between science and society. Initiate partnerships with scientific institutes working to translate cutting-edge science into concrete actions for social welfare and human wellbeing.
• Voice for Humanity: To promote the development of a virtual platform to give a direct voice to “We the People”.
• Science and Sustainability: To strengthen the linkages between the natural sciences and public policies and practices for promoting sustainability in all fields.
• Global Leadership Education: To develop courses on leadership based on the GL-21 program to equip individuals in all fields to better understand, navigate and effectively act in this rapidly evolving, increasingly complex global society.
• Future Education: To promote more accessible, relevant and effective higher education based on a new pedagogy and global delivery systems, and with a transdisciplinary, human-centered approach.
• Social Responsibility of the Media & the Future of Information: To promote strategies to evaluate the objectivity, neutrality and reliability of information from major news services and provide recognition to institutions with the highest standards.
• Social Transformation: To examine historical and recent social achievements to identify strategies to transform the long, slow process of social evolution into a conscious process of social transformation.
• Inter-generational Networks: To foster the development of networks that foster more effective exchange of knowledge and experience between generations to enhance learning on all sides.

ART AND SCIENCE

WAAS was founded as a transnational, trans-disciplinary academy of art and science in order to integrate the objective perspectives of science with the subjective insights drawn from the arts. Art and Science are not two separate and incommunicable worlds, but two complementary branches of the same tree that can converse and converge with one another to generate continually evolving knowledge that is greater than the sum of its parts. Art and Science were perfectly integrated by geniuses such as Leonardo da Vinci, who was a master of both universes. Scientific knowledge, as Einstein said, has a very precise contour and dimension, while artistic imagination and creativity are boundless. Science without Art is unimaginative and mechanistic. Art, through a scientific approach, transforms abstract knowledge into concrete applications. 

There is no dichotomy between these two branches. Creativity in science and art are closely related processes. Serious efforts are needed to accelerate the integration of these two branches of knowledge in education and in various forms of knowledge discovery and expression. Our complex and interconnected global problems necessitate an interdisciplinary approach by which leading thinkers across disciplines share ideas and insights. WAAS is a melting pot of experts from diverse fields and offers a platform where they can collaborate to come up with holistic and sustainable solutions. Founded as an Academy of both Art and Science, WAAS can play an important role in furthering this effort of integration.

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM

LEADERSHIP FOR PLANETARY MOMENTUM

The world requires roughly $4-5 trillion annually for the implementation of the SDGs. Innovative public financial strategies by central banks combined with revision of private investment strategies by leading banks can generate all the funds needed for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, chemical-intensive agriculture to sustainable agriculture, food scarcity to universal food security.
Youth, with their tremendous positive energy, represent an enormous untapped resource. They must be given an active and important part in global society’s decision-making and implementation processes.

DEMOCRATIZING GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

The common factor in all the biggest challenges facing humanity is their global and cross-cutting nature. Greater and more effective international collaboration and global governance are critical to solving them. The message from the UN75 Survey is clear—while the UN has undoubtedly made the world a better place, it needs to be retooled to be able to respond to a completely new world scenario. A majority of 1.5 million respondents to the survey believe that we need a more inclusive UN system that gives greater voice to non-state stakeholders, especially civil society.

The global conversations around the future of the UN have elicited hundreds of proposals from think tanks, academia and civil society organizations, that revolve around the question: How can we make the UN credible, relevant and accountable to all? Among the many proposals are three innovative strategies presented by Democracy Without Borders to provide a greater voice and formal representation of civil society in the UN system.

1. World Citizens’ Initiative: This proposal would enable people around the world to put forward proposals on key issues of global concern for discussion and further action at the highest political level. The Initiative would be a formal UN instrument for citizen participation and consultation, similar to the European Citizens’ Initiative. Citizens would be able to register their own proposals, and those proposals that get over five million signatures would be put on the agenda for consideration by either the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council.

2. UN Parliamentary Assembly: This proposal first put forth more than 70 years ago allows for the inclusion of elected representatives of the citizenry from each nation to participate in the agenda-setting and decision-making of the UN. The Assembly will act as a representative body connecting the people with the UN and reflecting a broad diversity of viewpoints. Each nation would have the option to elect representatives from among parliamentarians or directly from the general public. A key feature of the assembly would be that delegates group according to their political views and not according to the country of origin or geopolitical background.

3. UN Civil Society Envoy: This proposal would enable greater participation, spur inclusive convenings and drive the UN’s outreach to public and civil society organisations. It would champion the implementation of a broader strategy for opening up the UN to people’s participation. It would perform an assessment of best practices, inconsistencies that exist and roadblocks with a view of improving standards and simplifying processes.

The Academy is examining a variety of challenges posed to the implementation of these proposals. With the necessary political will, civil society activism and technology, means can be identified to overcome the challenges. If implemented, these proposals would help spark a transformation of the UN, and bridge the trust deficit in political institutions and international law.

GLOBAL REFERENDUM: VOICE FOR HUMANITY

Any new digital platform should be fit for competition in the attention economy by using state-of-the-art technology and should be a real alternative to privately-owned commercial platforms. DG Agora has developed a blockchain-based platform technology which allows for a delegation of votes in the sense of liquid democracy. It is now available and has been offered to the project on an actual cost basis. WAAS seeks to identify like-minded organizations to collaborate.

ROLE OF ACADEMIES IN THE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM

Declining trust in politics combined with consistently high levels of trust in scientists and researchers ascribes to Academia an increasing role in policy-making and implementation based on interdisciplinary research.

The interconnected nature of global challenges requires evolution toward coherent, integrated knowledge systems. The implementation of the SDGs demands global interchanges of interdisciplinary knowledge through global platforms for science and technology, more equally distributed scientific capacities, and related infrastructures.

Improved global cooperation could have prevented the ongoing unequal distribution of COVID vaccines—collective, coordinated action by the Academies can increase the effectiveness of research and implementation.

Prevailing networks of Academies concentrate on national and regional Academies, which have limited access to political decision-making. Extending their research toward interdisciplinarity and implementation will enhance cooperation with all stakeholders. Mission-oriented and human-centered cooperation with business, politics, NGOs, youth, etc., can contribute to local, national, and global solutions.

More evidence-based political and public understanding of science will facilitate the management of growing complexities and increase the trust of the people. Effective integration of Academies into the multilateral system needs an accelerated evolution of existing bottom-up elements of a global scientific system with top-down support from the UN.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has developed through its high scientific expertise to become a global authority linked to the UN. IPCC is a striking example of the successful integration of the global scientific system into the multilateral system.

WAAS calls for developing a more inclusive multilateral system which more effectively includes and engages science academies and research institutes as collaborating partners in its activities.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND SECURITY

PEACE AND HUMAN SECURITY

GLOBAL INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SECURITY

Implementation of an integrated approach to human security requires a revamping of prevailing institutional models for research, policy-making, implementation and coordination between public agencies and communities. The compartmentalization of scientific disciplines results in fragmented understanding, piecemeal policy formulation and uncoordinated implementation.

New models are needed to close the horizontal gaps between disciplines and the vertical gaps between knowledge generators, policy-makers and implementing agencies.

The interactions and interdependencies between the different sectors—political, economic, social, cultural, ecological, and technological—result in a complex social reality in which all dimensions of security are interrelated and interdependent. 

WAAS is fostering an integrated framework and model which is multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder and global, and spans the full gamut of activities across disciplines from conception through implementation to promote human security for all. Several existing institutions share certain characteristics of the model under consideration.

InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) is a global network of science academies that synthesizes knowledge from different sciences for practical application to address social challenges. It pre-emptively scans the horizon with its academies, identifies emerging issues, and positions its work in such a way as to make the maximum positive impact.

Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Global Ethics (IPCGE) brings together world policy-makers to commit to and implement the universal values of global ethics for a culture of peace, environmental protection, social justice, and international legislation in alliance with educational, religious, and non-governmental organizations.

Two new models which capture more dimensions of an integrated approach are the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) and Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA), which are discussed elsewhere in this report.

WAAS is exploring ways in which it can promote a new institutional design for research and implementation with its partners, which

• encompasses all sectors, stakeholders, levels from global to local, and all dimensions of human security;
• bridges the gaps between disciplines, specialized institutions, piecemeal policies;
• and also closes the gaps separating research and policy-making from practical implementation.

FINANCING THE FUTURE

Development needs have primarily been financed through private sector financing, conventional public sector funding and philanthropic commitment. These sources are not sufficient in scale and speed to meet the pressing finance needs. Two-thirds of the investment needed to finance the SDGs relate to the global commons, which cannot be met by private finance. The current financial system is also unstable, erratic and subject to sharp fluctuations.

A complementary system is needed. The introduction of a parallel electronic currency specifically designed to finance global commons and a human-centered economy can provide the necessary resources to achieve the UN SDGs while stabilizing the existing monetary system. The Academy’s project on Financing Our Future examines the feasibility of introducing such a mechanism for sustainable financing of our common future and in particular, the SDGs.

The introduction of a parallel electronic currency can be achieved by giving Central Banks a modified monetary mandate to inject new liquidity into the system (top-down), or through corporate or communal initiatives (bottom-up). By issuing a blockchain-enabled parallel electronic currency earmarked for SDG-related projects and using channels for monetary flow other than the conventional system, our future could be financed in a different manner. Smart contracts made possible by blockchain enable investments to be targeted to specific applications without diversion for speculation, corruption or other uses.

Letting go of our current monetary monoculture would in the long run stabilize international financial markets, increase monetary regulatory efforts, reduce negative externalities, increase social pareto-optimum and stabilize democracies. The approach is explained in the Financing Our Future: Report to the World Academy of Art & Science, authored by Stefan Brunnhuber, Program Director of the WAAS Expert Group on Innovative Financial Strategies.

STRATEGY FOR FULL EMPLOYMENT

FUTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

‘Human Rights’ may appear to be mere words but words that tend to acquire increasing power for effectuation. When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948, member states consciously withheld legal power to enforce them. But the Declaration initiated a powerful movement that has gained increasing momentum over time. The international community has enacted a covenant of treaties that make much of it enforceable today. The SDGs are a living embodiment of those rights now transformed into goals and targets to be realized by all the nations of the world. 

There is a universality latent in all human rights. We can use the current crisis as an opportunity to rebuild better and create a future society where human rights are extended to all. The enunciation of rights generates potential power for their realization, but the time and manner required depend on the intensity of the aspiration and commitment and the magnitude of the resistance of entrenched forces. 

There is a core interdependence between peace and human rights. Both these can be achieved by a new social contract that places the well-being of the people above all else, combined with effective policies and the political will to implement security and well-being. 

Many vulnerable people are not aware that they are entitled to rights of which they are being deprived. Education can play a critical role to rectify this situation. It is a very important tool for empowering people to claim and obtain their entitlement by providing the required knowledge, skills and attitudes. Advanced technology too can make power-sharing more easily attainable. 

People wield enormous power today. Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, Me Too, and other such movements voice the aspirations of society for peace and the universalization of human dignity and rights. Young people particularly can play a larger role. They need to go beyond protests, strikes and tokenism, to become the drivers of positive social evolution.

RECONCILING FREEDOM AND AUTHORITY​

Growth and development require the integration of multiple complementary perspectives to arrive at a whole which transcends the narrow boundaries of competing partial truths. The twin ideas of freedom and authority appear to be mutually contradictory values which are difficult to reconcile. On closer examination, they are complementary sides of a greater truth. Freedom without the discipline of authority leads to chaos. Authority without the conscious free acceptance by individuals leads to tyranny.

One expression of this contradiction is the current debate juxtaposing the efficiency of social authority with the messy disorder of unbridled individual freedom. This is illustrated by differing approaches to handling the pandemic, where strict application of authority for the safety of the collective contends with demands for individual freedom of choice.

But this opposition is overly simplistic. There can be no effective democracy without rule of law backed by authority for enforcement. The individual represents the conscious peak of the social collective and plays an indispensable role in its evolution. But the collective is the gene bank of all human aspirations and capacities for social evolution, which provides the supporting foundation for the development of individuality. Neither can thrive without the other. What is needed are solutions that reconcile seeming contradictions such as freedom and authority, individual rights and collective needs, and modern and indigenous knowledge. Freedom, authority and all other values need to be directed by a unifying positive objective.

Freedom by itself cannot stand supreme. Freedom and authority, the rights of the individual and the equality and wellbeing of the collective need be reconciled. This truth was embodied in the formula of the French Revolution for freedom, equality and fraternity of collective action for the common good. Thus far, no society has succeeded in that reconciliation. That is humanity’s challenge for the future.

SCIENCE, SOCIETY AND SUSTAINABILITY

SCIENCE AS A SOCIAL GOOD

The World Academy was founded by eminent scientists deeply concerned by the realization that nuclear weapons posed an existential threat to humanity. Despite their efforts, the nuclear genie remains on the loose. The current pandemic has demonstrated the critical role of science in dealing with a global crisis. It exemplifies the potential for conflict between science, politics, economy, public opinion and human security.

Digital technologies and artificial intelligence have vastly expanded the potential social benefits and threats. The realignment of technologies demands regulation to ensure that innovations contribute to human wellbeing and societal progress.

The existing paradigm for the management of scientific knowledge is inadequate to manage the unprecedented power of knowledge. Research is conducted in disciplinary silos removed from one another and from the challenges of the real world. Education fails to equip scientists with the wider knowledge necessary to fully comprehend the interactions between different spheres and its implications for society. Links between scientists and policy-makers responsible for regulating scientific applications and protecting society from its consequences are tenuous. Implementation of decisions is carried out by specialized agencies ill-equipped to handle complex interdependencies between different fields of existence.

Who is responsible for taking the decisions and managing the consequences? How can the powers of science and capitalism be reconciled in a multi-stakeholder model that includes politicians, financiers, consumers and humanity at large? By what process and institutions can we reconcile the demands of the planet with the unbridled aspiration for greater consumption? The complexity of the challenges we face makes it difficult for policy-makers to comprehend the best choices and for politicians to navigate the maze of competing interests their decisions impact. The present system provides no clear answers.

A new paradigm is needed to build trust and confidence, enhance coordination and knowledge exchange. We need new institutional models that bring together all stakeholders at early stages of the process of knowledge discovery and development rather than waiting until scientific development is complete before considering the concerns of people and the planet, and the challenges of effective regulation and governance.

The challenge confronting us today is to evolve an integrated development paradigm encompassing the full spectrum of human security needs. Human Security is a comprehensive framework which encompasses all forms of security, social equity, human rights and the interests of all stakeholders. This will require evolving an institutional framework capable of reconciling the competing perspectives and interests of free scientific discovery, government regulation, political stability, commercial profit, social harmony, individual rights and ecological sustainability. The Academy is seeking to develop new institutional models for this purpose.

BASIC SCIENCES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Fundamental science is essential for a coherent approach to the challenges of a sustainable and inclusive recovery, the resilience of global supply chains, and the competitiveness of our economies.

WAAS has initiated a discussion to explore the connections between the sciences, the relationship between science and society, the social responsibility of science and its contribution to energy, medicine, health, climate action, education, and sustainable development.

Science enables the transformation of our socio-economic systems. Science advice for policy-making is vital. The science advice mechanism of the EU is an example. The complexity of the world is governed by the interactions between the components that lead to new qualities and unpredictability. Interdisciplinarity is needed for a proper analysis of complex processes in society, including the realization of the SDGs. The principles of thermodynamics govern physical systems but in social systems, values play a decisive role.

Science provides the biggest leverage for solving difficult contemporary challenges. If we want science-based solutions to prevail against the present and future dangers, we must attract the best and the brightest to science.

Each country should create its integrated approach to the research and development chain. Basic research, i.e., exploration of the unknown, as an essential human desire and motivation, ought to drive the chain. Each country should define and dialectically unite its national and global approaches to science and technology. A WAAS project on science and sustainable development is being considered for developing this theme further.

INTEGRATION OF SCIENCE FOR SOCIETY AND HUMAN WELLBEING

WAAS traces its origins to the Russell-Einstein Manifesto (1955) and a period when there was a growing awareness of the social responsibility of scientists. But even today, the international scientific community is not adequately equipped or sufficiently engaged in policy-making.

In order to bridge the gap in the science-policy dialogue, WAAS has initiated discussions with science academies and scientific institutions such as Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) and Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA). Both organizations mobilize broad networks of scientists to obtain the latest and most complete understanding of the complex interdependencies between disciplines and between science and society.

WAAS is examining different models for closing the gaps which hamper the effective application of new discoveries in a manner well designed to address social challenges and ensure a sustainable future.

GESDA was created two years ago to address global social challenges by accelerating the development of new science and technology. It strives to anticipate advances on the frontiers of science, bring together researchers, policymakers, and potential end-users, identify important policy issues that need to be addressed, and accelerate development and the transition from laboratory to market of science-based solutions to support the implementation of the SDGs and enhance human wellbeing. GESDA scans the research that is being conducted around the world, and establishes a dialogue between researchers in cutting-edge fields, UN and government officials, policy-makers, and business. Its replicable methodology may provide a proof of concept for an integrated model for technology research, policy-formulation, and commercial application.

SAPEA brings together outstanding expertise in engineering, humanities, medicine, and natural and social sciences from over 100 academies across Europe. It provides independent scientific advice to European Commissioners to support their decision-making. It also works to strengthen connections between Europe’s academies and academy networks and stimulates debate in Europe about the role of evidence in policy-making.

SAPEA embraces ambiguity, diversity and complexity, and offers interdisciplinary science advice that makes clear the distinctions between good science and bad science or between truth and fake truth.

WORLD SUSTAINABILITY FORUM

World Sustainability Forum (WSF) is a joint initiative of the University for Sustainability, Fundación Cultura de Paz, InterAction Council, Person-Centred Approach Institute (IACP), WAAS, WUC and other like-minded organizations to accelerate the global transition towards sustainable development.

The pandemic exposed the institutionalized lack of resilience and a deficit of effective leadership at the highest levels. It has also highlighted the need for coordinated inter-regional and international responses that rapidly expand access to science, technology and innovation.

WAAS and WSF are engaged in discussions to identify potential areas for collaboration to promote the common goal—SUSTAINABILITY.

WSF is positioned at the intersection of science, business and policy. It seeks to address this deficit and facilitate a solution through engagement with global political, business, religious, scientific and other leaders. It will build alliances and leverage its convening power to get scientific expertise, corporate power and political experience to promote systems of governance and innovation that accelerate the transformation. WSF recognizes that development is integral, it cannot consider economic factors alone. Neither can there be sustainable development without people’s participation. WSF proposes to create a global research ecosystem that meets the felt need for a more informed relationship between science, technology, policymaking and global cooperation, and thereby develop a model of governance and business that catalyses the development, diffusion and absorption of breakthrough science research for sustainable development.

Sustainability is essentially a multilateral and multi-stakeholder phenomenon. WAAS, with its membership comprising of natural scientists, social scientists, politicians, policymakers and diplomats, is positioned to contribute in these areas and generate science-policy dialogue between the scientific community and the policymakers. WSF is a collaborative initiative in this direction.

ECO VISION

WAAS was created as an Academy seeking to integrate Art and Science as complementary perspectives that can be combined and integrated to arrive at a more complete and effective  knowledge needed to address complex problems. The subjective, psychological consciousness of the Arts when combined with the analytic objectivity of the Sciences helps us understand life and harness this knowledge for greater human wellbeing. 

Artist Daphna Margolin’s project on Eco Vision is an example of the Academy’s endeavour to integrate Art and Science. It uses art to explore how scientific innovations aimed at serving the  needs of humankind impact the delicate balance between nature and humanity. It includes photographs of two- and threedimensional works of art exploring science, genetics, ecology, social justice, evolution, and more. It builds bridges between a rational understanding of science and technology, and an imaginary world created by art. It powerfully illustrates the vast gulf between conscious intentions and the actual impact of technological advances on human activity, human wellbeing, and the planet. The future of the earth, Eco Vision emphasizes, is in our hands and to save it, we need to think globally and act locally.

FUTURE EDUCATION

WORLD UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM

Is it possible to design an affordable system of world-class education that is accessible to everyone everywhere? This is the question the Academy asked during an international conference at the United Nations Office at Geneva in June 2013. Our quest for such a system led to the founding of the World University Consortium (WUC). Since then, we have explored answers to this question at five international conferences organized by WAAS and WUC and other forums around the world and in a number of other insightful conversations. We are now in the process of synthesizing the rich learnings from these consultations to frame the contours for a new paradigm in education.

The education of the future must be based on a new approach that is contextual, transdisciplinary and integrated. It needs to integrate essential perspectives from the sciences and the arts and the physical and social sciences, unifying the objective and subjective dimensions of reality as well as different civilizational and cultural perspectives. Education is beginning to move beyond courses, to focus on the outcomes we want to produce, and the competencies and future skills we want our graduates to acquire. 

Most important of these competencies is the capacity to think independently, to complement and complete abstract formulations of knowledge with contextual realism and application, to understand the limits to rationality and the ways to overcome its faulty premises, to reconcile apparent opposites and relate seemingly unconnected phenomena, to shift the focus from perspectives which compete and seek to reject one another to those which complement and complete one another. 

Digital learning can facilitate synchronous and asynchronous, personalized and self-paced learning. It has opened up immense opportunities for evolving a new paradigm, including radical changes in knowledge delivery systems. The rapid changes effected by educational systems around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic confirm that time is right for radical innovation in delivery systems. 

Separating knowledge transfer from evaluation and accreditation makes it possible to harness the capabilities of vast social resources which presently lie outside the formal educational system. It will also foster an environment in which the best educators can reach out to millions of people regardless of their institutional affiliations and students can choose from a global menu of knowledge offerings without being limited by institutional requirements. Higher education needs positive disruption. WAAS and WUC seek to be catalysts in bringing about this constructive change.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP EDUCATION

Addressing global challenges demands a new conception of leadership, new strategies and a new type of education to prepare present and future leaders to handle the complex nexus of problems confronting humanity today. The Academy is engaged in efforts to synthesize ideas, examples and proposals generated by the UNOG-WAAS Global Leadership for the 21st Century project. Its aim is to create a leadership educational program that is transdisciplinary, integrated, personcentered, values-based, with a global perspective and equitably available to all. It is based on a multidimensional, multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral conception of leadership which involves all fields, levels and aspects of a global society.

Leadership is a social process that seeks to convert the long, slow process of subconscious social evolution into a conscious process of rapid social transformation. Knowledge of the process is essential for this conversion. Leadership education needs to identify and comprehend the subjective social factors and forces which underlie and drive objective social change. It needs to identify ways to generate social awareness, release social aspirations and energies, and translate them into inspiring values and goals, and channel them through effective institutional mechanisms which convert the energies into effective power for change. Effective leadership can be achieved not only through the action of dynamic individuals but also through inspiring ideas, universal values, catalytic strategies, innovative organization, creative initiatives, and new measures.

MIND, THINKING AND CREATIVITY

Mind is humanity’s highest developed instrument for seeking knowledge. It is the master tool that we use to comprehend the present, remember the past, and anticipate and plan for the future. From the act of striking two flints together to create fire to combining strings of 1s and 0s to design the code for supercomputers, mind has enabled humanity to create remarkable technologies and organized global institutions. The mind is the unifying foundation on which humanity’s entire social evolution is based. To understand this vital instrument better, the Academy has launched a ground-breaking project to explore Mind, Thinking and Creativity. A greater understanding of the nature of mind, its ways of knowing, the limits to thinking and rationality, mind’s untapped potential, the workings of creativity and genius are essential for addressing the challenges confronting humanity today.

GLOBAL SOCIETY

THE PANDEMIC AS A SYSTEMIC CRISIS

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most acute global challenge in 75 years, touching all aspects of human existence all over the world. According to the UN Human Development Index, it has set the world back by ten years in all parameters. It has disproportionately affected disadvantaged populations, exposed geopolitical fault lines and deepened the underlying crisis of inequality. It forcefully reminds us that human security needs to be embedded in a planetary security concept that considers humanity as a part of life as a whole, and such holistic security will require a firm global commitment. 

Lowering inequality is the best preparation for disaster prevention at all levels—global, national, or local. We need to invest more into building system resilience rather than pursuing efficiency to an extreme. We need more and better ways of regulating the system. We also need to reshape human behaviour. These are important to move from an economy that seeks to maximize efficiency towards one of increased and maximized equity and resilience. 

We need global mental preparedness for change and adaptation. The preparedness for change is a precursor for real change. Willingness to learn and adapt to change, in collaboration with others who all may have a piece of the answer, is the key to mastering systemic challenges. 

The world critically needs a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to policy-making, which will enhance our ability to cope with future crises such as climate change. The Academy is striving to promote a comprehensive multidisciplinary perspective and integrated multisectoral approach to addressing the crisis. 

One such initiative is the COVID-19 Project of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization (ISACCL) in Bucharest, a WAAS Center of Excellence, which is inviting a wide range of experts from different fields to explore lessons and implications of the pandemic for the post-COVID-19 world.

YOUTH IN GLOBAL SOCIETY

WAAS has launched several initiatives to encourage and support the integration of youth more effectively in the Academy’s activities and in the multilateral system.

Youth and inter-generational communication both within WAAS and with the external world are important means of expanding the work of the Academy, strengthening inter-generational understanding, and identifying more effective ways to collaborate on joint initiatives for the common good.

Youth today can play a vital role in the multilateral system. Innovative strategies can be adopted to enhance the participation of youth in international organizations and to contribute ideas and participate in decision-making processes, especially those which directly impact on future generations.

WAAS encourages its younger members to build stronger bonds among themselves through networking groups, events and joint workshops. It also supports leaders in the Youth Leadership Network and various other youth organizations to form a global network of networks linking together youth organizations in different regions and across specialized areas of work. Such a Global Youth Network can strengthen youth organizations and movements, focus on common values and objectives to enhance the voice and power of youth in global and national decision-making, and equip them to successfully address the problems affecting humanity.

WAAS PUBLICATIONS

CULTURE AND SYSTEMIC CHANGE

Taken together, these three factors—sustainable society characteristics, necessary system changes, and required actions—provide an objective, reality-based system change roadmap for human society. This high-level system change content—a clear understanding of the destination and path to get there—facilitates the development, coordination and implementation of system change processes, theories and other support mechanisms. Developing such a whole system framework will enable us to identify, correlate and integrate new narratives, models, and transformative practices, as well as facilitate the development of sustainable cultures.

WAAS is exploring new approaches to achieve practical system change through whole system approaches. The initiative seeks a deeper understanding of the process of social transformation, identification of desirable outcomes, formulation of catalytic strategies, and the designing of a systems-change map that highlights how people/groups can coordinate their efforts to optimize efforts to promote human development.

ETHICS AND INFORMATION: FROM BIOSPHERE TO GLOBAL SECURITY

The Anthropocene and the noosphere are two major paradigms that have begun to make sense at the global level, yet they have developed mostly in isolation from each other. The Anthropocene denotes the epoch dating from the commencement of substantial human impact on earth, while the noosphere refers to the stage of evolutionary development dominated by consciousness, mind and reason. A balanced understanding of global transformation will require the insights of both paradigms.

WAAS is exploring a paradigmatic dialogue between the two perspectives to construct an information society that is ethically sound. The founding motive of WAAS came from the awareness that academic knowledge cannot be separated from social responsibility for how that knowledge is used. Leading academics, scientists and artists came together to affirm that sense of responsibility for the common good of all humanity.

Today, nuclear weapons, pandemics and climate change are not the only threats confronting humanity. Withholding information or spreading incorrect or unethical information can undermine democracy, polarize citizens and disrupt the social fabric. WAAS seeks to identify effective ways to enhance systems that support information ethics.

Data doubles almost once every 12 hours. Growth in information has led to the fragmentation of knowledge into silos. This has created artificial boundaries between people, countries, and all aspects of life, and resulted in the world’s wicked problems. Complexity is the foundation of life and life expresses itself through relationships, not in silos.

We need to move from the shackles of rigid forms and systems to the freedom of true knowledge. We need to overcome our sense of separation from each other and the world, as well as the separation between ethics, epistemology and ontology.

Traditional scientific discourse too often ignores ethical considerations. This needs to change. For example, technical education in artificial intelligence needs to include knowledge regarding the potential misuses, abuses and negative social consequences of AI. Scientists must consider the consequences of scientific theories, data and conclusions, and take responsibility for the social impact of science.

While new and dynamic channels of information are capable of distorting perceptions and waging information warfare, the same system also empowers civil society and youth groups to rise against abuse of power and demand accountability.

Society needs systems to navigate and discriminate the proliferating minefields of falsehood, fake news and unethical science.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF MEDIA AND THE FUTURE OF INFORMATION​

Current models of social media lend themselves easily to be exploited by propagandists. They need to become more accountable. Anonymity, which is intended to protect freedom of speech from persecution, becomes an instrument for falsification, which permeates and undermines the credibility of all information flows. The challenge is to reconcile freedom of expression with measures that safeguard the rights of the public and individuals to reliable, responsible communications.   We need to provide alternative funding mechanisms, so the commercial and transactional nature of news are kept apart. Objective news reporting needs to be insulated from the pressure of financial and political interests. As media has become increasingly interactive and integrated, it is now possible to identify and manipulate people’s biological and emotional responses to the content they read. We need to set the balance between accountability and capacity, and between government control, fundamental freedoms and the technologies that will be integrated with communication media.

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

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