“Open Science with an in society: Around eighteen months ago, all member states of UNESCO unanimously approved recommendations on Open Science. These recommendations could transform the meaning of Open Science beyond just providing access to research articles and data to fellow scientists.
The most far-sighted aspect of Open Science is embedded in ‘open dialogue with other knowledge systems’. Open Science acknowledges that knowledge also resides outside the realm of ‘scientific institutions, professionals & journals’ and calls for collaboration between diverse knowledge systems. However, the challenge lies in bridging the gap between different knowledge systems to address urgent global issues.
A recent international study on ‘Bridging Knowledge Cultures’ found that professional training of scientists and academic researchers often prevents them from appreciating the existence of other cultures of knowledge outside their field. For example, a representative of a tribal community from Dumka, a small town in India, asserts that knowledge is crucial for their daily life, while for academics, it is their profession.
The UNESCO Recommendations also highlight the importance of ‘open engagement of societal actors’ and value ‘citizen science’ and ‘participatory research’. The movement of participatory research as a methodology for co-creation of knowledge has been in practice around the world over past five decades. This methodology encourages valuing oral and artistic expressions and experiential knowledge of community; indigenous and community knowledge resides in culture, rituals, ceremonies and expressed through local languages.
Post-pandemic world, experiencing serious and continuous climate disruptions, is just beginning to acknowledge that ‘co-creation’ of knowledge solutions may indeed be urgently required. Building capacities, mostly attitudes and normative appreciations of young scientists, towards these principles and methodologies requires urgent investment, if such a transformative potential of ‘open science within society’ is to be realized….”
