Unrest in the scientific community led to a document with the Historical Pact logo explaining what the approach of the new government’s National System of Science, Technology and Innovation would be. It raises the need to change the hegemonic model of science and technology that “does so much damage to nature and societies”.
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This is stated by the former rector of the National University Moisés Wasserman in his most recent column published in EL TIEMPO (July 15 edition): “There are 16 pages where ‘Live deliciously’ appears fourteen times as the goal of science. Probably anecdotal history as the first science policy document to describe science as a threat”.
The letter in question not only speaks of science as “hegemonic”, but also speaks of the urgency of incorporating a criticized approach to the public policy of this sector, to the social realities of different communities, including knowledge and ancestral traditions. by some scientists.
“This is an internal campaign document that we created before the elections and was never official, but rather our attempt to create a debate about science within the framework of the campaign that was fulfilled,” explains Irene Vélez-Torres. the science industry joint team representing the incoming president of the text’s authors and technical secretary.
“This is not government policy,” said the professor at the Universidad del Valle, who described himself as an “activist researcher” on Twitter.
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In this context, the head of the same team, Iván Darío Agudelo, told this newspaper that “it is not an official campaign document circulating; This is a proposal that a group of social science scholars have built for a debate that is permanently in academia: how to build an inclusive society in which science must play a fundamental role in transformation”.
According to him, the entire scientific, academic and business community “can have complete peace of mind that this new government has a commitment to recognize and empower them.” The liberal senator said that Gustavo Petro visited the Academy of Exact Sciences a few days before his first presidential tour, “to present his vision of an enterprising State, precisely in which science develops capacities so that we can guarantee basic public goods for society.”
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Three days before the second round, regarding a newspaper article stating that this association had not yet met with Rodolfo Hernández, Petro said: “I met with the Academy of Sciences and told him that it is not possible to build progressive public policies without science. “
Despite the explanations, the discomfort in the scientific community drew attention. One of these voices belongs to Enrique Forero, president of the Colombian Academy of Exact Sciences, who stressed that classifying science as a “hegemonic” practice that harms society is “the greatest insult to science in general”.
According to him, the text in question does not recognize the work of scientists with the country’s remote communities. “We have been doing this for a long time, engaging with indigenous, peasant and Afro communities.” Likewise, he expressed his concern about the idea that incorporating valuable cultural practices into the industry would have nothing to do with scientific practice, adding, “We cannot step back by questioning the scientific method.”
According to the portfolio, this process was successfully completed after four meetings between representatives of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the commission appointed by the new government for the partner.
In the last meeting, the teams delivered the minutes of the meeting by taking the breakdown of the days. According to Minciencias, both teams emphasized mutual cooperation to realize a transparent and efficient connection.
According to outgoing minister Tito José Crissien, knowledge generation, in addition to the presentation of the portfolio, was among the issues worked on by the team appointed by the ex-president Gustavo Petro and coordinated by Senator Iván Darío Agudelo. , its transfer, use and social allowance and the formation of scientific professions.
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@Science Time
Source: Exame
