The IAI takes part in the Global Ministerial Dialogue on Science Diplomacy
In the photo: Marcella Ohira (left), IAI; Gabriela Montenegro, SENACYT Guatemala; Claudia Alarcón, IAI
In March 2025, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) participated in two key meetings on science diplomacy held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
The IAI's Executive Directorate took part in the Global Ministerial Dialogue on Science Diplomacy (March 25 and 26), a high-level forum that brought together policymakers, scientists, and diplomats to strengthen international cooperation in the face of major global challenges. Its participation underscored the IAI's strategic role in integrating science into foreign policy and building international partnerships.
On March 27, the Deputy Executive Director and Director of the IAI's Center for Science Diplomacy, Marcella Ohira, was a panelist at the Workshop on Training in Science Diplomacy: Objectives, Practices, and Recommendations, organized by the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance and UNESCO, with the support of the European Union. This workshop, held in a hybrid format, aimed to transform the commitments made during the ministerial dialogue into concrete actions to strengthen scientific diplomacy capacities at the global level.
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Alongside Marcella Ohira, two members of the Advisory Board of the IAI's Center for Scientific Diplomacy also participated as panelists: Marga Gual and Kim Montgomery. The event provided a platform for sharing experiences on training initiatives in scientific diplomacy in the Americas and other regions, highlighting good practices, gaps, and recommendations for adapting training programs to diverse audiences, including scientists, diplomats, and policymakers.
One of the highlights of the workshop was the presentation by Franklin A. Morales, head of International Technical Cooperation at Panama's National Secretariat for Science, Technology, and Innovation. Morales emphasized that “there is no need to reinvent the wheel” and called for efforts to focus on existing initiatives. In this regard, he highlighted the IAI's Center for Scientific Diplomacy as a key option for strengthening capacities in the region.
The IAI's participation in these forums reaffirms its leadership in promoting international scientific cooperation and its commitment to developing capacities to collectively address the challenges of global change through science diplomacy.
See the full agenda for the event at: https://www.science-diplomacy.eu/media/Agenda_Workshop-on-Science-Diplomacy-Training_27-March-2025-speakers.pdf.
See the full workshop report at: https://www.science-diplomacy.eu/news/workshop-report-release-science-diplomacy-training.