Sustainable Science for a Developing World

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Sustainable Science for a Developing World
Sir David King ScD FRS Chief Scientific Adviser
to UK Government 27 May 2003
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(No Transcript)
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Mitigate, Adaptor Ignore?

• Do nothing rely on market economics to do the
  job
• Actively mitigate - reduce the extent of change
• Adapt - significant change is inevitable
  management of multiple risks

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What Is Sustainable Development?

• Development that meets the needs of the present
  without compromising the ability of future
  generations to meet their own needs
• Partha Dasgupta

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Sustainable Development

• Each generation should leave at least as large a
  productive base as its successor as it inherited
  from it predecessor
• Productive Base

Manufactured capital, human capital, natural/envir
onmental capital institutions, Cultural
coordinates
Social worth of these Assets Wealth of a
nation
Source Partha Dasgupta
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Capacity Building for Sustainable Development in
Africa

• Urgent need to tackle science, engineering and
  technology gap between North and developing
  African countries
• African countries need to build a lasting
  capacity in science, engineering and technology
  so that they can develop and implement their own
  solutions for sustainable development
• Scientific communities in universities, research
  institutes and learned bodies all have important
  role to play

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Capacity Building for Sustainable Development in
Africa (2)

• Capacity building has to range right across the
  educational sector
• Our focus is on setting up centres which can help
  raise standards and aspirations at the upper end
  of this spectrum
• Need to develop capacity necessary to create a
  climate of academic excellence in which the best
  young scientists are encouraged to remain in
  their own countries and diffuse their knowledge

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Creating Knowledge Networks in Africa

• Also need to encourage partnerships and other
  collaborative arrangements through a networking
  approach to develop a range of joint activities
  How?
• Between African country universities
• Through African universities and Northern
  universities

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Capacity Building for Sustainable Development in
Africa Outcomes

• If these initiatives are successful, they assist
  in providing African countries with international
  level scientists capable of developing and
  leading institutes in their own countries
• Benefits will cascade down through education
  system. How?
• Training the skilled scientists, engineers and
  medical practitioners that those countries need
  for sustainable development

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Capacity Building for Sustainable Development in
Africa Outcomes (2)

• Providing role models for future students
• Supplying teachers who can bring their world
  class training to bear on primary and secondary
  education in science and mathematics

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Trieste International Centre For Theoretical
Physics

• Set up by Nobel Prize winner Abdus Salam in Italy
  for young 3rd world scientists for 3-6 months
• Demonstrates effectiveness of finding well-placed
  charismatic scientist from North to provide
  leadership for such centres
• Need to establish similar centres around the
  developing countries, with close stewardship by
  top universities

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African Institute For Mathematical Sciences

• Highly innovative project involving collaboration
  between three universities in Cape Town and
  Cambridge University
• Main driver behind project Neil Turok, Professor
  of Cosmology at University of Cambridge
• Goal is to attract new generation of African
  students into the mathematical sciences

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African Institute For Mathematical Sciences (2)

• The institute will bring together international
  lecturers and local counterparts in a converted
  hotel in Muizenberg currently being refurbished
  for this purpose
• In first four years will be centred round taught
  Masters course for first degree graduates in
  mathematics from all over Africa
• Masters course will start 2 September 2003 with
  first 30 students and will directly feed into
  specialised post doctoral courses

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OST Foresight project on Flood and Coastal Defence

• Aims to produce a robust 30-100 year vision of
  future flood risk and coastal erosion for UK
  which will help UK to decide how to respond to
  those challenges
• Could be valuable to consider adoption of such
  long-term strategic approaches to management of
  coastal flooding and erosion in sub-Saharan
  Africa
• Foresight project is taking holistic view,
  looking at economic, social and environmental
  impacts

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OST Foresight project on Flood and Coastal
Defence (2)

• Project aims to determine policy responses that
  will be able to cope with extreme uncertainty in
  the future, e.g. how big/fast climate change will
  be, how society and land use will evolve
• Particularly looking for win-win possibilities
  long-term planning processes which could be
  cost-effective solutions to future problems, e.g.
  managed realignment
• Further information available at
  www.foresight.gov.uk

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Coastal Management in Zanzibar Lessons Learned
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Coastal Management in Zanzibar Lessons Learned
(2)
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Marine Protected Areas

• UK Government is promoting use of sustainable
  development and livelihood impact assessments as
  basis of fisheries agreements between the EU and
  West Africa
• These assessments should be grounded in broader
  ecosystem / precautionary approach which takes
  account of wider marine and coastal management
  considerations
• Marine protected areas will provide means to
  adopt such an ecosystem approach

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How Can We Continue To Benefit From Scientific
Advances?

• Importance of investment in scientific and
  technological capabilities and the ability to
  manage and benefit from technological change on a
  global stage
• Success in developing and applying scientific and
  technological knowledge increasingly requires
  more dynamic interaction within and between
  countries and the science base, policy-makers,
  the private sector and other civil society
  stakeholders