Taking into consideration the current pandemic and derived socio-economic crises, more than ever, science diplomacy, understood as a series of structured practices at the intersection of science, technology and foreign policy, can become a fundamental dimension to the European Union (EU) and its Member States (MS). EU science diplomacy can contribute to address this current crisis as well as other global challenges, promoting both sustainable development and just and socially fair approaches. This would also help EU position itself as a global role model in integrative leadership and multilateral responses.

To make science diplomacy become effective, European stakeholders need to develop a basis of common understanding of i) what EU science diplomacy vision, mission, and principles should be for addressing global challenges, ii) the current EU science diplomacy state of the art and its stoppers, warnings and drivers and iii) a strategy on how to achieve that vision. The project “Using Science for/in Diplomacy for Addressing Global Challenges - S4D4C” works to support these aims and this report is a contribution in this direction.

S4D4C advocates for the collaborative action of not only all Member States, but also all stakeholders and professional networks to make the proposed systemic change happen. The authors want this report to be a live document so they are calling for comments, contributions, and ideas on how to develop implementation plans (with potential milestones and progress assessment) of the fifteen recommendations for the EU and other important stakeholders of different nature.

Please, send your name, affiliation and comments to s4d4c@fecyt.es by 10th October 2020 and they will be taken them into consideration. Comments and contributions will help publish an improved version of the report by the end of 2020. Meaningful contributions will be acknowledged in the next version of the report.