International Social Science Council

Last updated

International Social Science Council
AbbreviationISSC
Merged into International Council for Science
Successor International Science Council
Formation1952;72 years ago (1952)
DissolvedJuly 2018;5 years ago (2018-07)
Type INGO
Location
Region served
Worldwide
Official language
English
Alberto Martinelli
Website worldsocialscience.org

The International Social Science Council (ISSC) was an international non-governmental organization promoting the social sciences, including the economic and behavioural sciences. Founded in 1952, the organization was based out of UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. [1]

Contents

History

The ISSC was established in October 1952 under the auspices of UNESCO following a resolution adopted at the 6th UNESCO General Conference in 1951. [1]

It was adopted on 19 September 1972, completed and revised on 14 November 1979, and underwent multiple revisions on 17 December 1985, 3 December 1992, 27 November 1998, 8 November 2006, and finally 10 December 2010. ISSC was registered in accordance with French Law.

In July 2018, the ISSC merged with the International Council for Science (ICSU) to form the International Science Council (ISC).

Mission

The mission of the ISSC was to advance the social sciences – their quality, novelty, and utility – in all parts of the world:

The activities of the council were guided by the principles of academic freedom, the pursuit of excellence, equitable access to scientific information and data, unfettered conduct of science, open communication and transparency, accountability, and the use of knowledge for societal value. Besides, the Council sought to support the participation of women, minorities, and other under-represented groups in social science research.

Governance and structure

The ISSC was governed by a General Assembly, comprising the council's membership. The General Assembly met every three years to review the council's activities and determine the general direction of its future work.

The ISSC Executive Committee was elected by the General Assembly and acted as the council's governing body. It consisted of the President, two Vice-Presidents and a Treasurer, as well as ten further members (Ordinary Members).

The General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Executive Committee, approved the appointment of the Executive Director, who headed the council's Secretariat, and served as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee and all appointed (standing or ad hoc) committees of the ISSC.

The council was advised and guided by individuals from around the world who volunteered their time to serve on various ISSC Committees and Working Groups.

Activities

The ISSC led a number of flagship activities and was a partner on many collaborative initiatives.

World Social Science Report

The ISSC produced the World Social Science Report every three years, as part of its strategic partnership with UNESCO. The reports aim to address important social science challenges, take stock of social science contributions and capacities, and make recommendations for future research, practice, and policy.

World Social Science Forum

The ISSC convened the World Social Science Forum. These events gathered researchers, funders, policymakers, and other stakeholders to debate topics of global significance and to determine future priorities for international social science.

Transformations to Sustainability

Transformations to Sustainability (T2S) is a research program supporting social-science-led research on social transformations to greater sustainability. The program is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and has supported 38 seed projects (September 2014 to March 2015) and three Transformative Knowledge Networks (December 2015 to December 2018). The program aims to build on the networks of knowledge gathered through the seed projects and Transformative Knowledge Networks to create and leave behind a lasting global knowledge base.

The Transformations to Sustainability program contributes to Future Earth.

Programmes and networks

The ISSC initiated and supported several international research programmes to foster comparative, interdisciplinary research by setting up networks of social scientists from different disciplines and regions of the world. The ISSC co-sponsored several international research programmes and networks around various themes, such as the environment, disaster risk, poverty, and gender. These initiatives were undertaken in partnership with various partners and other organisations around the world.

Prizes

The ISSC was awarded two prestigious international prizes: the Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research and the Foundation Mattei Dogan Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research.

Nominations for the prize were made by ISSC members or other professional associations in various disciplines, as well as by universities and academic institutions. The selection of a winner is made by an international jury of scholars.

World Social Science Fellows

From 2012 to 2015, the ISSC led the World Social Science Fellows programme, an international scientific programme to support early-career researchers in the social sciences. ISSC aimed to foster a new generation of globally networked research leaders who will collaborate in addressing global problems with particular relevance for low and middle-income countries.

Member organizations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Council for Science</span> International non-governmental organisation

The International Council for Science was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members were national scientific bodies and international scientific unions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Economic and Social Council</span> One of six principal organs of the UN

The United Nations Economic and Social Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialised agencies, the eight functional commissions, and the five regional commissions under its jurisdiction.

Diversitas was an international research programme aiming at integrating biodiversity science for human well-being. In December 2014 its work was transferred to the programme called Future Earth, which was sponsored by the Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability, comprising the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the Belmont Forum of funding agencies, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations University (UNU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Union of Biological Sciences</span> International non-governmental organization

The International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) is a non-profit organization and non-governmental organization, founded in 1919, that promotes the biological sciences internationally. As a scientific umbrella organization it was a founding member of the International Council for Science (ICSU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Sociological Association</span> Scholarly and professional society for sociologists

The International Sociological Association (ISA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to scientific purposes in the field of sociology and social sciences. It is an international sociological body, gathering both individuals and national sociological organizations. The ISA was founded in 1949 under UNESCO and it has about 4,500 individual and 45 collective members, hailing from 167 countries. Its sole purpose is to "represent sociologists everywhere, regardless of their school of thought, scientific approaches or ideological opinion" and its objective is to "advance sociological knowledge throughout the world". Along with the Institut International de Sociologie (IIS), it is seen as a world-leading international sociological organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calestous Juma</span> Kenyan academic

Calestous Juma was a Kenyan scientist and academic, specializing in sustainable development. He was named one of the most influential 100 Africans in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by the New African magazine. He was Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation for Economic Development Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Juma was Director of the School's Science, Technology and Globalization Project at Harvard Kennedy School as well as the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His last book, Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies, was published by Oxford University Press in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federico Mayor Zaragoza</span> Spanish politician, diplomat and poet

Federico Mayor Zaragoza is a scientist, scholar, politician, diplomat, and poet from Spain. He served as the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from 1987 to 1999. After his tenure as Director-General, he continued to participate in various peace-related organizations such as the Foundation for a Culture of Peace and the International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, as a member of their honorary boards. Additionally, he serves as the honorary chairman of the Académie de la Paix.

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences for the advancement of sustainable development. UNESCO was designated as the lead agency. The Year's activities spanned the three years 2006–2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Union of Forest Research Organizations</span>

The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is a non-profit, non-governmental international network of forest scientists, headquartered in Austria. In 2019, IUFRO counted 630 Member Organizations worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismail Serageldin</span>

Ismail Serageldin, Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), the new Library of Alexandria, inaugurated in 2002, is currently, Emeritus Librarian, and member of the Board of Trustees of the Library of Alexandria. He serves as Chair or Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions and civil society efforts, and serves on the Advisory Committee of the World Social Science Report for 2013 and 2016, as well as the UNESCO-supported World Water Scenarios (2013) and the executive council of the Encyclopedia of Life (2010) and Chairs the Executive Council of the World Digital Library (2010). He also co-chaired the African Union's high level panel for Biotechnology (2006) and again for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in 2012–2013, and was a member of the ICANN Panel for the review of the internet future (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Academy of Art and Science</span> International scientific organization

The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities</span>

The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) is an interdisciplinary research centre within the University of Cambridge. Founded in 2001, CRASSH came into being as a way to create interdisciplinary dialogue across the University’s many faculties and departments in the arts, social sciences, and humanities, as well as to build bridges with scientific subjects. It has now grown into one of the largest humanities institutes in the world and is a major presence in academic life in the UK. It serves at once to draw together disciplinary perspectives in Cambridge and to disseminate new ideas to audiences across Europe and beyond.

The World Science Forum (WSF) is an international conference series on global science policy. Since 2003, it is organised biannually in Budapest, Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heritage science</span> Cross-disciplinary scientific research of cultural heritage

Heritage science is the interdisciplinary domain of scientific study of cultural and natural heritage. Heritage science draws on diverse humanities, sciences and engineering disciplines. It focuses on enhancing the understanding, care and sustainable use of heritage so it can enrich people's lives, both today and in the future. Heritage science is an umbrella term encompassing all forms of scientific enquiry into human works and the combined works of nature and humans, of value to people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNU-CRIS</span> Institute in Belgium

The United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) is a Research and Training Institute of the United Nations University (UNU). Based in Bruges, Belgium since 2001, UNU-CRIS specializes in the comparative study of regional integration and the provision of global and regional public goods, including environmental stability, poverty reduction, peace, and justice.

Future Earth is an international research program which aims to build knowledge about the environmental and human aspects of Global change, and to find solutions for sustainable development. It aims to increase the impact of scientific research on sustainable development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrizia Nanz</span>

Patrizia Nanz is a political scientist and an expert in public participation and democratic innovations. She has provided expertise to businesses, state agencies, and governments in various European countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Leach</span> British geographer and social anthropologist

Melissa Leach, is a British geographer and social anthropologist. She studies sustainability and development concerns in policy-making and has a focus on the politics of science and technology of Africa. As of 2017 she was the Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) located on the University of Sussex campus.

Heide Hackmann is the Interim Director of the Future Africa Institute and Strategic Advisor on Transdisciplinary and Global Knowledge Networks at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Formerly, she served as the CEO of the International Science Council, an international organization of national and international science councils.

The International Science Council (ISC) is an international non-governmental organization that unites scientific bodies at various levels across the social and natural sciences. The ISC was formed with its inaugural general assembly on 4 July 2018 by the merger of the former International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC), making it one of the largest organisations of this type.

References

  1. 1 2 Worcester, Robert M. (1994). "What is the International Social Science Council (ISSC)?". International Journal of Psychology. 29 (5): 649–651. doi:10.1080/00207599408248178 via EBSCOHost.