Past Activities and Results
2025
The Swiss Young Network for Science Policy and Diplomacy (SYNESPOD) project has fulfilled its third phase goals that continue to strengthen the platform on science for policy and diplomacy through partnerships with (inter)national institutions, increasing the impact and visibility of the Swiss Young Academy (SYA) and early-career professionals in Switzerland and beyond in addressing challenges toward sustainable development. This has been achieved through teamwork and leadership of five project members (including D. Farman, C. Zemp, S. Meier) with the two project speakers (J. V. Milić and M. Peydayesh).
Specifically, during the third year of the project, we realized our objectives by building capacity via workshops and mapping, while strengthening the strategic network for science policy and diplomacy, thus increasing visibility and impact through the following key results.
Science for policy and diplomacy Workshop
We co-organized another workshop on the science for policy and diplomacy, complemented with the perspective on the Swiss political system and sustainability for scientists (in English) with Reatch & GSPI, training (30) attendees, and strengthening our capacity in science for policy and diplomacy, as detailed in a workshop communication.
Session at the Geneva Science Diplomacy Week
In addition, we participated in and co-organized another session at the Geneva Science Diplomacy Week (GESDA), an international forum for science diplomacy, in partnership with foraus and the “AI in science and society” project group of the SYA. This strengthened our collaboration, followed by an invitation to participate in the GESDA Summit and an offer to contribute to another workshop next year.
Publication of Report on educational offers in science for policy and diplomacy in Switzerland and beyond
Furthermore, we published a brief report on educational offers in science for policy and diplomacy in Switzerland and beyond in collaboration with Reatch and GSPI.
Complementary Activities
Finally, we further advanced our capacity, visibility, and the strategic network for science for policy and diplomacy at the SYA through other complementary activities. This involved contributing to the European Young Academies Network (ENYA) meeting in Bern (e.g., by organizing two workshops) and the General Assembly of the Young Academies Science Advice Structure (YASAS), as well as the inaugural meeting of INGSA-Europe and the SAM conference, while continuing to evolve into the next phase.
Our project has been recognized by the STPH policy brief on Swiss science diplomacy and other international organizations, such as the MSCA Network, ENYA, and the ISC. We plan to define a strategy to institutionalize SYNESPOD in the next project phase.
2024
The Swiss Young Network for Science Policy and Diplomacy (SYNESPOD) project has fulfilled its next phase goals that continue to strengthen the platform for science policy and diplomacy through partnerships with (inter)national institutions, increasing the impact and visibility of the Swiss Young Academy and early-career professionals in Switzerland and beyond in addressing challenges toward sustainable development. This has been achieved through teamwork and leadership of six project members (D. Farman, S. Grüninger, S. Meier, F. Egli,) as well as the two project speakers (J. V. Milić and C. Zemp).
Science for policy and diplomacy workshop (3 May 2024)
We co-organized a workshop on the science for policy and diplomacy complemented with the perspective on the Swiss political system and communication for scientists (in English) with Reatch and GSPI, training attendees and strengthening our capacity in science for policy and diplomacy, as detailed in the workshop report.
Meetings with (inter)national partners
We also had a series of meetings with (inter)national partners, including online brainstorming meetings and a hybrid meeting in Geneva, including foraus, Reatch, Global Young Academy (GYA), Young Academy of Finland (YAF), Young Academies Science Advice Structure (YASAS) of the Science Advice for Policy by the European Academies (SAPEA), and Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI). We have also interacted with representatives from the European Parliament and other academies, including the Swedish Young Academy (SUA, with a joint event), Young Academy Ireland, and the UK Young Academy, while contributing to the European Young Academies Network (ENYA) meeting and the first General Assembly of the YASAS, addressing challenges and opportunities for engaging at the science-policy interface.
Geneva Science Diplomacy Week
In addition, we participated in and co-organized a workshop at the Geneva Science Diplomacy Week (GESDA), an international forum for science diplomacy, in partnership with foraus. This strengthened our collaboration, followed by participation in the GESDA Summit and the invitation to contribute to another workshop next year.
Complementary Activities
Through these and other complementary activities, such as the contribution of the speakers to the World Biodiversity Forum in Davos (Clara Zemp), and webinars with MSCA Network and SAPEA (Jovana V. Milić), we advanced our capacity, visibility, and the strategic network for science for policy and diplomacy at the SYA which will continue to evolve, while the corresponding partnerships are detailed on the website.
Development Report on educational offers in science for policy and diplomacy in Switzerland and beyond
Finally, we have prepared a brief overview of educational offers in science for policy and diplomacy in Switzerland and beyond in collaboration with Reatch and GSPI.
Our project was recognized by the STPH policy brief on Swiss science diplomacy.
2023
The Swiss Young Network for Science Policy and Diplomacy (SYNESPOD) project has fulfilled its goal to establish a platform for science policy and diplomacy through partnerships with (inter)national institutions, increasing the impact and visibility of the Swiss Young Academy (SYA) and early-career professionals in Switzerland in addressing challenges toward sustainable development globally. This has been achieved through the teamwork and leadership of nine project members (D. Farman, S. Grüninger, S. Meier, F. Egli, B. Pearce, L. Müller, and L. Clack), including two speakers (J. V. Milić and C. Zemp).
Workshops on the Swiss political system for scientists (25 July & 7 September 2023)
We co-organized two workshops on the Swiss political system for scientists (in French on 7 September and German on 25 July) with Reatch, training the attendees and strengthening our capacity in science for policy in Switzerland, as detailed in the online report on the workshop.
International meeting with partners (27 September 2023)
We also had a series of meetings with (inter)national partners, including online brainstorming meetings and a hybrid meeting in Bern, including foraus, Global Young Academy (GYA), Young Academy of Sweden (SUA), Young Academies Science Advice Structure (YASAS) of the Science Advice for Policy by the European Academies (SAPEA), and Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI). We have also interacted with representatives from the European Parliament and other European academies, while participating in the European Young Academies Network (ENYA) meeting, as well as discussed challenges and opportunities for engaging early-career researchers at the interface of science, policy, and diplomacy, as detailed in the report on our meeting.
Workshop at the Geneva Science Diplomacy Week GESDA (11 May 2023)
In addition, we participated in and co-organized a workshop at the Geneva Science Diplomacy Week (GESDA), an international forum for science diplomacy, in partnership with foraus as well as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI), which is detailed in our online report on the event. This has initiated a lasting collaboration, leading us to be invited to the GESDA Summit and to contribute to another workshop at the GESDA Science Diplomacy Week next year.
Complementary activities
Through these and other complementary activities, such as the contribution of the speakers to the Swiss Sustainability Science Forum in Bern (Clara Zemp) and COP28 event on 11 December 2023 on “The Role of Academies in Climate Policy Advice” organized by the Inter-Academy Partnership (Jovana V. Milić), we have initiated the process of establishing a strategic network for science for policy and diplomacy at the SYA which will continue to evolve, and the corresponding partnerships are detailed on the website.
