James A. Rising

This past June, a core group of the PhD students organised the first Science and Policy Summer School at the Columbia Global Center in Paris. With help from the Alliance Program and professors at both Columbia and Sciences Po, we were able to convene a group of 17 students from both sides of the Atlantic (Columbia, Arizona State, and the Universities of Minnesota and Southern California, and from Sciences Po, Pantheon-Sorbonne, École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure, and the Paris School of Economics) with 9 speakers (including Jeff Sachs, John Mutter, and Scott Barrett; Bruno Latour, Claude Henry, and Pierre-Henri Gouyon from Paris; Eric Maskin from Princeton; and representatives from the French government and NGOs).

The interdisciplinary, discussion-centered approach brought together a wide range of perspectives.  Discussions were lively, with students and professors engaging research and experience to better understand how to bridge the gap between science and policy-making. At the end of the week, student groups presented on the results of their own meetings and research.  Themes included scientific approaches to decision-making, South-South cooperation, global and national needs, the role of stakeholders, and international cooperation.  The participants left the summer school with renewed interest in continuing to discuss these topics and collaborate on reports and papers.

You can also read about the summer school in this article in the Sciences Po Newsletter, Global Horizons: http://www.sciencespo.fr/newsletter/actu/?id=2230.

We are hoping to continue this effort by having a second Science and Policy Summer School, and as the planning process begins, we hope to widen our community.  Contact me if you want to get involved.