The Triennial Conference of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) and the Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies took place from 1-3 November 2022, both online and at the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2, in the US.
Co-hosted by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the meetings were jointly organised by IAP, the Global Young Academy, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the RSC College, and the U.S. National Academies’ New Voices Program.
The meetings included IAP member academies as well as the world’s young academies for the first time to strengthen connections and collaborations between the young and the established science academies the world over.
In addition to the Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies session, and the IAP General Assembly session, a joint conference explored “Inclusive Excellence: Harnessing knowledge for sustainable societies”.
The Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies session on 2 November brought together representatives from existing and from newly-establishing young academies from all over the globe (see here for a current list of young academies): twenty representatives from 17 young academies and two young academy initiatives attended on location in Arizona, with numerous representatives from further 30 young academies and a young academy initiative joining the discussions online.
The session offered a great opportunity for young academy representatives to exchange experiences, discuss successful young academy activities and develop common positions and best practices for cooperation both on a global and on regional levels. In doing so, the meeting successfully carried forward the outcomes from the previous WWMYAs in the Netherlands (2012), Sweden (2015), South Africa (2017), and Vietnam (2019), but also connected to the Conference theme of inclusive excellence.
The Conference on “Inclusive Excellence: Harnessing knowledge for sustainable societies” gathered over 220 participants from 60 countries, and explored how to make research systems more inclusive, effective, and sustainable, and considered how research can address global challenges, how current research structures and processes exclude valuable voices and knowledge systems, and how to make these structures and processes more equitable and sustainable.
Conference sessions examined topics such as climate justice, inclusiveness in open access publishing models, and lessons on innovation that can be taken from the COVID-19 pandemic, among many others. Young-academies organised sessions included a session on at-risk scholars, and on science advice by young academies.
“The success of this meeting is a perfect illustration of the progressive efforts to synergize initiatives for the advancement of science between senior and young academies worldwide,” said Priscilla Mante, GYA co-chair, adding that “this synergy is important to foster interdisciplinary and intergenerational dialogue needed for building sustainable research ecosystems that foster inclusive excellence.”
“This meeting, without exaggeration, was undoubtedly a long-awaited event. The exceptional diversity and expertise of speakers facilitated lively, well-balanced, engaging discussions,” she emphasised.
You can see the conference programme here; video recordings of the conference sessions will also be made available (forthcoming).
The InterAcademy Partnership also held their General Assembly session, allowing representatives of IAP member academies and regional networks to reflect on the activities carried out over the past three years, consider the future of the organisation, and to celebrate the passing of the baton from the outgoing to the new IAP leadership. For the first time ever, GYA members and alumni have also been elected for IAP governance bodies, see details here.
Land acknowledgement
We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.
Contact: For any queries regarding the 2022 Worldwide Meeting of Young Academies and connected events, please contact Anna-Maria Gramatté at the GYA Office.
See here for the 2022 Booklet on “The World’s Young Academies”, to learn more about what Young Academies do and how they operate.