WMG members intervene at the STI Forum 2022

WMG members recently intervened at the the 7th Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, 2022 held from 5 to 6 May 2022. The theme for the STI Forum 2022 was: “Science, technology and innovation for building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. Following is the WMG Statement delivered by Gihan Soliman (BA, PGCE, MSc, RSci, Soil Sci) from International-Curricula Educators Association.

“As we look forward to fully recover from COVID 19; thanks to the advances in science, technology, and innovation (STI), we also worry about the injustice STI brings to the table. Technology has surely enhanced human performance to an unprecedented level yet intensified inequality among individuals and nations. The pandemic exposed such paradoxes in the uneven distribution of vaccine and medication, for one.

In fact, the year 2021, witnessed three STI paradigm shifts in the human history, introducing boundless opportunities as well as fears for the future beyond Covid 19; 1) the STI-triggered emergence of a self-replicating xenobot [1], 2) the ‘Human Augmentation’ thinkpiece [2] published by the UK Defence and Military, accepting that technology is a form of evolutionary Selection resulting in an ‘augmented’ existence of the human kind comprising physical, biological as well as socioeconomic dimensions [3][4][5]; 3) and finally, the issuance of the first 1-12 AI curriculum by the UNESCO [6], marking a significant adjustment of the educational system to accommodate our relationship to machines. Despite the improved overall capacity [7], our interaction with technology is generally mediated by a global economic system deeply rooted in Neoliberalism: cut-throat competition and inequality among people, genders, age-groups, and nations. Responses [8] include, but not limited to, a) Transformative education and interdisciplinary research, assessing the environmental and socioeconomic implications of the ever-evolving human-machine symbiosis; b) Media literacy (and indeed democracy). c) Incentivising STIs solutions that boost synergies among people, species, genders, and nations and empowering indigenous women, in harmony with the dynamics of nature. d) Weighing opportunities against risks as we evaluate nature-based solutions against massive-scale industrialisation and reliance on automation.