Science Diplomacy Global Conference

Brussels, 29 MAY 2026

The world is undergoing a profound transformation. The rules-based international order is under strain, multilateralism is weakening, and cooperation is making way for conflict.

Yet at the very moment when political systems are fragmenting, the challenges confronting humanity—from the triple planetary crisis to artificial intelligence, biotechnology, pandemics, and nuclear proliferation—are inherently scientific and transcend borders and ideologies. This growing mismatch places science diplomacy at the centre of an increasingly complex global landscape.

Science diplomacy is therefore needed more than ever. However, the conditions in which it operates have fundamentally changed. Where, in the post–Cold War period leading up to the 2010s, it was largely understood as a bridge-building tool, science is now again increasingly politicised, securitised, and instrumentalised for strategic purposes. The erosion of trust in the international system directly affects the very currency on which science diplomacy relies. As scientific collaboration becomes entangled with power politics, a critical question emerges: who safeguards science as a global common good?

Universities have a unique role to play. As institutions grounded in knowledge and international collaboration, they are well-placed to uphold shared scientific values. Universities and the alliances they constitute demonstrate how academic networks can act as laboratories of science diplomacy. Central to this is the “fourth dimension” (Diplomacy IN Science) where researchers themselves act as ambassadors of global knowledge, provided they are supported by their institutions.

The EUTOPIA Global Conference on Science Diplomacy will bring together academics, policymakers, diplomats, and students to reflect on these dynamics, structured around three interlinked panels: [1] the changing global context; [2] the role of scientists as ambassadors of science; and [3] how universities and European University Alliances can develop science diplomacy capacity and agency.

The conference (on site only) will be supported by a discussion paper proposing a shared approach. By convening these perspectives, the summit aims to build a common understanding of the role of universities and European University Alliances in science diplomacy, and to lay the foundations for a shared position on how they can act as stewards of the global scientific commons.