6.1.1 Learning Objectives and Preliminary Experts’ Insights
What is a science diplomat? What science diplomacy roles formally exist? Who can become a science diplomat? Partly, these questions were already answered in Lesson 2.4 What Kind of Science Diplomats Are There?, but now we will focus on the knowledge, skills and competences to be effective in science diplomacy. It will help you reflect on your own skills, identify those you need to develop or improve, and provide you with tools and resources from the S4D4C project and external partners to explore further after you complete this module.
Learning objectives
In this module you will learn:
- the most valuable skills for science diplomats
- the importance of negotiation, communication, networking and other leadership skills for science diplomacy
- how to communicate complex scientific information in a way that is useful for policymakers
- how to build a science diplomacy training curriculum or programme
What the experts think
To begin identifying what skills are useful for a science diplomat, we have asked the experts. Listen to them in the videos below:
| Tom Wang Expert in Science, Technology and International Relations. Former Chief International Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| What are the competences and skills required to be a good science diplomat? |
| Lorenzo Melchor EU Science advice and diplomacy officer, Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology FECYT). Former science adviser in the Spanish embassy in London) |
| What are the competences and skills required to be a good science diplomat? |
| Peter McGrath The World Academy of Sciences |
| What are the skills and competences the science diplomat should have? |
| Nadia Meyer Project Manager at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) |
| What are the skills and competences the science diplomat should have? |
From your own point of view (your country, sector, discipline, organisation), which are the most important skills for science diplomats?
- Do you think the skills of a science diplomat differ from the skills needed to be a scientist or a diplomat?
- Are there any ‘transferable skills’ from science to diplomacy, and vice versa?
- From those skills mentioned in the videos, what