Geoscience Diplomacy: Working Together to Solve Global GeoEnvironmental Challenges

Geo-environmental challenges often have complex and interconnected causes and consequences that span national geographic and political boundaries. Global challenges require global solutions, which can often be hard owing to different political, economic and social agendas across countries. At its core, science diplomacy utilises collaboration and encourages the open exchange of scientific knowledge, data, and best practice, strengthening cooperation between scientists with shared research interests across national and continental boundaries and enhancing relationships and understanding between nations. 

Throughout my career as a geoscientist, I have actively participated in interdisciplinary research projects with other geoscientists from various countries. Interestingly, while I hadn't explicitly labelled these international collaborations as 'science diplomacy', it became clear we were essentially practising 'geoscience diplomacy' by leveraging our geoscientific expertise to work effectively across international borders. 

My initial journey into science diplomacy began with a desire to facilitate more international research cooperation among my geoscience and environmental science colleagues, from the global north and global south. This led me to take certificate courses and attend S4D4C European Science Diplomacy, the Barcelona Science and Technology Diplomacy Summer School and Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) Science Diplomacy Week in Geneva. These courses significantly deepened my understanding of the global significance of partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It became clear that geoscience plays a significant role in achieving many of the SDGs and that international scientific collaboration is key in providing these geoscience solutions.

After my training, I co-authored a report on the benefits of science diplomacy and an article on Geoscience Diplomacy, participated in science diplomacy discussion panels and began to integrate my new knowledge and skillsets into my geoscience career. I focused on developing strategies to foster collaboration amongst geoscientists on projects related to the earth and environmental sciences research.

A further development in my career, as a science diplomacy advocate, is the inaugural Geoscience Diplomacy capacity-building workshop hosted by the myself and the Sustainable Earth Institute (SEI) at the 29th Colloquium of Africa Geology conference in Namibia this September. The aim of this workshop is to foster collaboration between Sub-Saharan African geoscientists and environmental scientists, encouraging collaborative work to address geo-environmental challenges specific to the African region. An integral aspect of this workshop will involve brainstorming and co-designing a virtual science diplomacy hub for Sub-Saharan African scientists. The primary purpose of the virtual science diplomacy hub is to facilitate collaborative efforts in tackling Africa-specific challenges, but beyond that it will bridge geographical and cultural gaps, reinforcing understanding, and geoscientific cooperation between Sub-Saharan African scientists and their global counterparts. 

Whilst problems may feel specific to certain regions, as climate change and geohazards become evermore frequent and intense, their impacts are increasingly felt across borders. International collaboration through science diplomacy is essential for developing solutions to these global challenges.