Celebrated each year on 10 November, this year’s World Science Day for Peace and Development theme at UNESCO Headquarters is ‘Why Science Matters – Engaging Minds and Empowering Futures’.

On this occasion, UNESCO is organising a webinar with experts in the field on 12 November to highlight the significant role of science in society and in our daily lives.

Click here to sign up for the webinar.

Context

In August 2023, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed the period 2024-2033 as the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development. This marks an important step in global efforts to harness scientific knowledge for a sustainable future. Led by UNESCO, this Decade aims to mobilize a wide range of scientific disciplines, including basic and applied sciences, social and human sciences, as well as interdisciplinary and emerging fields, to contribute to transformative change in societies, economies, and the environment. By promoting scientific literacy and encouraging collaboration among governments, UN agencies, the private sector and civil society, the Decade seeks to enhance science’s role in pursuing sustainable development goals and working towards a safer, more prosperous future for all.

Youth at the forefront

This year’s World Science Day for Peace and Development will be held under the aegis of the Decade. It will present an opportunity to engage a wide-range audience, with a focus on young people (including through the UNESCO Youth Forum and Science Youth Network) and non-scientific participants in discovering and exploring the role of science in our rapidly-changing digitalized world. Young people will have the opportunity to ask questions to distinguished scientists about the ways in which science affects our daily lives and contributes to finding solutions to the most pressing challenges that the world is facing from local to global levels.