“From Social Sciences Research to Implementing Public Policies” – A FUNGLODE Roundtable at UNESCO

Organized by FUNGLODE, in collaboration with the Delegation of the Dominican Republic to UNESCO and the UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST), this roundtable will thus make dialogue between two of the most famous French sociologists; a politician, former President of a Latin-American country and renowned intellectual who has always believed in the synergy between sciences and policy; and an academic who served as a civil servant at a high level, and who is currently President of an important network of French universities with an international vocation. <br /><br />In a 10 minutes preliminary presentation, before a debate with the public, both speaker will address different perspectives and dimensions of the complex and complicated issue of how theoretical work turns into rational policy actions, by focusing on three questions: <br /><br />1) How can political theorems produced by social scientists acquire meaningful political sense and compel policy makers to act?<br /><br />2) How are translated statistical work and quantitative/ qualitative analysis into policies? <br /><br />3) Should (Could) researchers become directly involved in the political arena in designing the strategies and the tactical actions associated to the conversion of social research into policies?<br /><br />It is expected that the event will contribute to stimulate further reflection on the process of conflict and cooperation that exists between scientific diligence and the needs, expectations, and discretionary power of policymakers, including the multifaceted dynamics between objectivity and subjectivity that regularly play an important role in public policymaking.<br /><br />From its objective and the quality of its speakers, this event will also contribute to the work of the MOST Programme which precisely aims to reinforce the interfaces between the research in social sciences and the public policies.<br /><br />Indeed, the UNESCO’s MOST Programme, created in 1994, aims to apply social science research to development issues, encouraging policy-oriented-research to face current global challenges, and bridging the gaps between researchers, civil society and policy-makers in order to allow them to work together, whilst respecting the individual role and place of each actor. <br /><br />At the international level, MOST has currently two strategic priorities: social inclusion and the social dimensions of global environmental change. <br /><br />From its side, the FUNDGLODE, with which UNESCO signed a partnership agreement in 2009, is a NGO dedicated to training and research in social sciences and human, in particular through its Global Institute of Advanced studies in Social sciences.<br />