2019-10-16
Sponsored by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), the 2019 World Conference on Science Literacy took place in Beijing.
Wan Gang, vice chairman of the CPPCC and president of the CAST addresses at the 2019 World Conference on Science Literacy in Beijing on Oct. 16, 2019.
Wan Gang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and president of the CAST, addressed the event and explained the significance of its theme "Science Literacy for Sustainable Development". He expressed the hope for all nations to join hands to deepen cooperation, achieve more productive results, and play a bigger role in promoting global science literacy.
According to Wan, the first World Conference on Science Literacy was held in Beijing in September 2018, which released the Beijing Declaration for Promoting Public Science Literacy Across the World and accomplished a series of important outcomes, and this year’s edition had invited 600 guests from five international organizations and science and technology organizations of 28 countries to discuss ways for cooperation and development together with representatives of the government, industry, universities and research institutes.
Wan said that this year’s conference, with the theme of "Science Literacy for Sustainable Development", aimed to promote the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It will boost mutual learning and resources sharing in science education, science communication and science popularization across the globe to promote common improvement in public science literacy and sustainable development of human society.
Wan stressed that the world today is undergoing changes never seen in a century. On one hand, the unprecedented great developments in scientific and technological innovation are profoundly influencing the global development patterns and changing the mode of production and way of life of human beings. On the other hand, the global issues impacting sustainable development are growing increasingly prominent, becoming common tasks and challenges of the world.
He pointed out that as an organization for science and technology workers, CAST is willing to be more open and work with partners and peers from all nations to establish an international organization for science literacy, to enhance global science literacy, to contribute to the realization of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to promote sustainable development across the world.