By Reiner Braun and Jean-Paul Lainé
October 2008
Since 2001, World Social Forums have gradually structured the agendas of thousands of NGOs, the media, unions, social movements, local authorities, institutions and even governments across the planet. Today they are considered as major events to elaborate, share and build social, cultural and economic transformations on global and local levels. The next WSF will be in Belem, Brazil, from January 26th to February 1st 2009.
The main objectives decided by the Preparatory Council are:
1. To build a world of peace, justice, ethics and respect for different spiritualities, free of weapons, especially nuclear ones;
2. To free the world from its domination by capita– lism, multinational corporations, imperialism, patriarchalism, colonialism and neo-colonialism and inequitable systems of commerce, and to cancel the debts of poor countries;
3. To ensure universal and sustainable access to the common goods of mankind and nature, to preserve our planet and its resources, particularly water, forests and renewable energy sources;
4. To democratise and decolonialise knowledge, culture and communication and to create a system of shared knowledge and learning and to abolish Intellectual Property Rights
5. To guarantee, diversity, and equality of gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation and to eliminate all forms of discrimination (including the hereditary caste system);
6. To guarantee (throughout people’s lives) economic, social, human, cultural and environmental rights, particularly the rights to health care, education, housing, employment and decent work, communication, and food (with guaranteed food-security and sovereignty);
7. To build a world order based on sovereignty, selfdetermination and on people‘s rights, including minorities and migrants;
8. To build a democratic, emancipated, sustainable and supportive economy, based on ethical and fair trade , and centred on the needs of all people
9. For the construction and expansion of truly local, national and global democratic political and economic structures and institutions, with the participation of people in decisions and control of public affairs and resources;
10. To protect nature (The Amazon and other ecosystems) as the source of life for the planet Earth and for the aboriginal peoples of the world, who demand their territories, languages, cultures, identities, environmental justice, belief systems and right to live. Although the impact of science and technology on our daily lives, on economic, social and environmental realities are greater than ever, we have been observing, since the origins of the WSF , a chronic shortage of scientific and technical themes in these forums. Therefore international and national scientific organisations like INES are preparing the first World Social Forum on Sciences and Democracy in 2009
Our aims and goals are:
1. To promote and develop the idea that knowledge should be considered one of the common goods of humanity;
2. To face the challenges confronting the exercise of social responsibility by scientists;
3. To strengthen the autonomy of scientific research, defending its public mission and striving to improve the conditions in which scientific activities are conducted by students, researchers and engineers;
4. To strengthen the capacity of civic movements to produce knowledge and to be partners of scientific institutions; and
5. To strengthen the capacity of our societies, in both North and South, to take democratic decisions in the field of science and technology. Scientists and social movements need to share their expertise and conceptions in order to build a society that better respects human rights, cultural diversity, social and economic values.
INES is preparing several events for the Forum, e.g.:
1. Peace and scientific responsibility;
2. Science and sustainability;
3. Challenges for Scientists: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) as exam– ples of the new role of scientists as critical watchdogs and thinkers for the survival of human beings.
More information: http://fm-sciences.org
Prof. Jean-Paul Lainé, International Representative of SNESUP, (www.snesup.fr), Member of the INES Executive Committee
Reiner Braun, INES Activities Coordinator, Executive Director of International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) www.ialana.net