Workshop on Higher Education and Professional Responsibility in CBRN Applied Sciences and Technology across the Sub-Mediterranean Region 3-4 April 2012. Palazzo Zorzi, Venice Keynote Address

1. ‘Higher Education and Professional Responsibility
in CBRN Applied Sciences and Technology across
the Sub-Mediterranean Region’
UNESCO, ISESCO & LNCV
March 3rd, 2012
Palazzo Zorzi, UNESCO Venice Office
Video Message
by
HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan
I
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a very great honour for me to act as patron
of this important and innovative event. I feel privileged indeed to
address you across borders on these vital issues that know no borders.
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear threats are chilling
when faced alone. In the company of friends, colleagues and
committed regionalists, the challenges seem evermore manageable -
Solutions become evermore real. I am only sorry that I cannot be with
youall in person to share your experiences and to contribute to your
efforts. Be assured that I am among you in spirit and with you in
commitment.
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2. I am delighted to say that our particular work here in Jordan,at EL
Hassan Science City, will be ably and eloquently presented by Dr
Nisreen AL-Hmoud, Head of the Biosafety Unit and Division Head of
the Environmental Laboratories at the Royal Scientific Society. Dr
Nisreen is a credit to our scientific staff and is also the dedicated
President and Chairperson of BBIC, Jordan.She will report to you all on
the progress we have made here since BBIC-2007 and will update you
on the exciting preparations for BBIC-2013.
II
Ladies and Gentlemen:The tectonic political and economic shifts that
continue to rock our Euro-MENA region can only remind us that
borders have little meaning when it comes to the welfare of our
people. Those primary concerns of so many of our citizens – poverty,
thirst, environmental degradation and disease – are shared and
suffered together. We all know that the Life Sciences offer an infinite
number of responses to the myriad everyday challenges that face our
region. This workshop will help to set the foundations for future
achievements. Harnessing the talent of scientists and academics is
essential to promoting sustainable growth and security, but their
efforts will mean nothing unless we can match their vision with the
agendas of business and policy-making.
Indeed, those greatest threats that we face to safety and stability do
not recognise borders – However, so many of our regional decision-
makers are confined by them, and are bound by state structures that
cannot produce the innovations that we desperately need. Here in the
Euro-MENA region, we face many shared challenges but we also benefit
from a pool of talent and ingenuity that can overcome so many
obstacles. We share a debt to our people, whether as scientists or
public representatives, to keep them safe from harm and to ensure
their wellbeing at all times.
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3. This International Workshop on Applied Sciences and Technology
Across the Sub-Mediterranean Region will do much to identify
challenges and strengthen networks for creative solutions. UNESCO,
ISESCO and the Landau Network-Centro Volta have combined to create
an impressive forum for promoting a strong culture of safety and
security in CBRN applied sciences and technology. Drawing together
universities and the international scientific community within the Sub-
Mediterranean Region is a vital first step to action and outreach.
Indeed, this multidisciplinary approach reminds us that we are all
stakeholders in building a world in which ‘Responsible Science’ defines
policy.
Establishing the status of Education, Outreach and Adherence to
International Standards is a vital first step to identifying priorities. All
too often in the past, scientific initiatives dealing with public safety
and security have been structured from the top down, making them
bureaucratic, unresponsive and inaccessible. I am delighted to note
that this Workshop is very much focused on bringing science into the
service of people.It is also vital that we facilitate the empowerment of
the next generation of scientists in our region. It is important that we
give them the correct tools for responding to challenges in a
multidisciplinary and sensitive manner. We must ensure that ethical
issues are broached and discussed in an open and honest way.
At El Hassan Science City, we have learnt that capacity-building in any
area of science is a many-faceted thing. We begin at the academic level
by devising curricula and teaching methods that respond to the needs
of research and policy. Much of our focus at Princess Sumaya
University for Technology is on providing tomorrow’s scientists with
the tools that will make them full contributors to future STI agendas.
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4. We introduce them to networks in the region and beyond where codes
of conduct join scientists in a common pursuit of excellence. We teach
our young scientists the importance of placing standards above
subjective values, so that science can respond appropriately to cross-
border and cross-cultural challenges. Indeed, this is often a two-way
process. It is always a learning experience, even for the most
experienced scientists, to share the future visions and hopes for
professional responsibility of young scientists and researchers. This is
particularly true in the various fields of CBRN, where issues are
evolving and threats are shared across borders AND generations.
Of course, we are aware that CBRN education in our region is sorely
under-resourced. As part of our efforts to remedy this, we are building
our own networks and creating a quality mentoring system to bring
the best experience and talent to our campus. We hope that your own
Regional Network, which engages universities and institutes to
promote awareness on CBRN issues, will help our young engineers and
technologists to build the skills that will help them in the future.And,
of course, academia and the scientific community of the Sub-
Mediterranean Region must coordinate their activities with all of the
relevant stakeholders. A Culture of Safety and Security must be
inclusive in order to function properly.
III
The collaboration between Landau Network - Centro Volta (LNCV) and
RSS is of great importance to us. I am indeed delighted that RSS is
a partner organization in the evolving International Network of
Universities and Institutions to Raise Awareness on Dual Use Concerns
in Bio-Technology. This EU-backed project will help to strengthen the
framework for the CBRN Centers of Excellence initiative. I have no
doubt that this project marks beginning of a long-lasting and deeply
productive collaboration in biosafety and biosecurity for our region.
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5. I am also pleased to note that the Center of Excellence for CBRN in the
Middle East will be located at MESIS, on the El Hassan Science City
campus.The Middle East Science Institute for Security is, indeed, a
fitting base for any initiative that seeks to construct the appropriate
security architecture for our communities.
Last September, we at El Hassan Science City were delighted to
welcome delegates for the 3rd Biosafety and Biosecurity International
Conference (BBIC). The event reminded me of the importance of cross-
border cooperation in CBRN activities and reinforced to me how much
of a difference working together on common challenges can make. We
BBIC participants had all shared an eventful journey from Abu Dhabi
to Casablanca and then to Amman. Along the way we learnt much
from each other and from our varied disciplines and experiences.
Today, as the issues facing our region are placed in an evermore
challenging and exciting political context, Jordan has taken on the
BBIC Presidency and is dedicated to contributing its commitment and
expertise to making our region a safer and more secure for its people.
Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen: Science must focus on identifying priorities for
Society and applying New Technologies to today’s challenges. The
bond of trust between Scientists and society has come under much
strain in recent decades and we have a long to go before we can
persuade the most vulnerable in our communities that science is here
to help. The vital commercial, private sector which has often coopted
science for profit, not for people, must also be brought into our
collaborative community. A coordinated regional strategy for CBRN
risk mitigation must be developed by all of us working together.
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6. Your focus on Higher Education and Professional Responsibility in
CBRN Applied Sciences and Technology will do much to spawn
sustainable programs with the potential to improve many lives.
Perhaps more importantly, you will do much to change a mindset that
holds scientific intervention to be far removed from our citizens’
everyday needs. Weather we are dealing with the ongoing existential
challenges of our region, or planning for inevitable cross-border
catastrophes, technology and innovation provide the tools that we
need to secure our people.
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