Global resilience through knowledge-based cooperation: a new Protocol for Science Diplomacy

The world is currently dealing with one of the most severe health, economic and social crises in recent memory, through coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Scholars are converging on the perspective that traditional means of addressing these crises have served their time. On the additional backdrop of a global political landscape in transition, realising a post-pandemic recovery will require new modes of international collaboration with scientific knowledge and expertise figuring more prominently. A smart approach to science diplomacy—to global resilience through knowledge-based cooperation—does not prescribe the content, but rather focuses on the process of science-based international exchange. The new Protocol for Science Diplomacy presented in this policy brief inspires the alignment of shared, cosmopolitan interests and their application to cross-border societal challenges. It comprises a set of 12 procedural and infrastructural principles with which actors can create a space for constructive and productive science diplomacy interactions. These principles are: sensitivity; inclusiveness; transparency; deliberation; reciprocity; complementarity & manoeuvrability; legitimacy; alignment; evaluation; capacities; capabilities; trust. Our Protocol for Science Diplomacy identifies ground rules for international scientific and policy collaboration that enable us, inter alia , to make meaningful steps towards tackling the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by their 2030 deadline. As such, it offers a roadmap for science diplomacy in the next decade and beyond.