May 13, 2025 — iAONR President Lei Shen actively took part in a webinar hosted by Academia Europaea at the Cardiff Hub Center, joining an international dialogue on the importance of independent scientific advice in policymaking.
The meeting opened with a keynote address by Professor Ole Petersen, Director of the Cardiff Hub, who introduced the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) — a key platform providing evidence-based policy recommendations to European institutions at the request of the College of Commissioners, especially during times of crisis.
Professor Pearl Dykstra of Erasmus University Rotterdam, former Deputy Chair of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, chaired the session. She emphasized the importance of SAM’s three core components:
- The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors
- The SAPEA consortium of academic networks
- The SAM Unit
The webinar also featured presentations from a diverse group of international experts:
- Dr. David Phipps, Director of Research Impact Canada
- Dr. Cornel Hart, University of the Western Cape and member of the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship
- Director Sarah Chaytor, University College London and Co-Chair of the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)
- Dr. Alessandro Allegra, Science-policy practitioner and Policy Assistant to the Deputy Director-General RTD at the European Commission
During the open discussion, President Lei Shen raised several insightful questions regarding the role of academic and societal non-profit organizations in bridging science and policy. He specifically inquired about pathways for engagement with the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) for networks and organizations outside the European Commission framework.
The webinar fostered valuable exchanges on international science-policy collaboration and highlighted opportunities for global academic networks like iAONR to engage in evidence-informed policymaking processes.
Stay tuned for more updates on iAONR’s global outreach activities!
Agenda:
| Date & Time | May 13, 2025 15:00 Brussels |
| Webinar ID | 880 3920 7912 |
| Passcode | 695036 |
| Description | The first five years of the 2020s have seen policymakers wrestling with major challenges, including the global pandemic, international military conflicts and significant political and economic uncertainty, as well as the escalating impacts of climate change. What lessons have we learned from recent crises in terms of how science advice mechanisms perform? What remains to be done to strengthen our science advice ecosystems, infrastructures, processes and practices to deal with what lies ahead? Join us for this webinar, which is free and open to all. It is a side event to the European Scientific Advice Mechanism 2025 Conference, Building bridges: shaping Europe’s science-for-policy-landscape. |