Science Forum South Africa, 15h30 – 17h00, Thursday 9th December 2016, South Africa.

Session Summary:

This session announces to the world the findings of over 350 individuals who came together annually over five-years in Brussels, independently of the EU, to codify a unique set of ethics and principles to inform work at the boundary of science, society and public policy. What makes this body of work unique is that it stands alone, anchored by the real-life experiences of ‘bottom-up’ stakeholders from science and society, not ‘top-down’ elites.

They challenged themselves to identify how power operates in science. They set themselves the task of establishing a new playbook to better address the practice, ethics and liability issues surrounding ‘evidence-based policy-making versus policy-biased evidence-making’. This process is now entering its final stage with SFSA delegates being the first to receive its conclusions. This Brussels Declaration stands to have considerable impact on the ways in which the practice of scientific research, the inputting of evidence to inform policy, and the ‘taking’ of advice by elected officials is structured and delivered to promote greater inclusivity, integrity and accountability. Five key architects from UNESCO, Japan, South Africa and the EU will deliver this final report, while debating with SFSA delegates the logic of its twenty key recommendations around five pivotal questions.

	Moderator Aidan Gilligan (IRL): Founder & CEO, SciCom – Making Sense of Science, Ireland.
	Panellist: Prof. Julian Kinderlerer (SA): Cape Town University, South Africa.
	Panellist: Dame Anne Glover (UK): University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
	Panellist: Prof Tateo Arimoto (JP): Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan.
	Panellist: Imraan Patel (SA): Department of Science and Technology, South Africa.
	Panellist: Dr Lidia Brito (MZ): United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Mozambique.