With the Académie des Sciences in 2015

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FOSTERING INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
Actions Targeting Development
COPED: Contemplating Franco-African Cooperation
From 13 to 16 April 2015, the Standing Committee for Developing Countries of the Académie des Sciences (Comité Pays en
développement, or Coped) held an important pan-African/pan-European colloquium in Cotonou, in partnership with the Académie
Nationale des Sciences, Arts et Lettres du Bénin (National Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of Benin) on chemistry and natural
resources, “Chimie et Ressources Naturelles”.
Chemistry plays indeed a key role in the study and recovery of plant, animal and mineral natural resources. It makes it possible to
extract, characterize and have at our disposal substances of interest for health, agriculture, industry and energy. Chemistry also allows
us to reproduce or modify the synthesis of natural molecules and thus prepare for the future of natural resource exploration, Africa
being particularly rich in natural resources. Finally, chemistry, as an experimental science discipline, because of its structuring, unifying
and integrating nature, is an excellent educational model for training future scientists. Countries in Africa in general, and sub-Saharan
countries in particular, as well as Madagascar, have many natural resources; yet chemistry there only plays an important role when plant
resource recovery is concerned. It was based on such findings that this major colloquium on chemistry and natural resources was held52.
Putting knowledge to work for development: GID
The Interacademic Group for Development (Groupe Interacadémique pour le Développement, or GID) was
created in 2007 by ten academies of Southern Europe and the African continent, including the Académie
des Sciences. It is committed to boosting a true codevelopment Euro-African programme53. In order to reach
this goal, GID is backed up by two important networks of academies, whose creation it did bring about:
GID-EMAN (the Euro Mediterranean Academic Network) et GID-ESAN (the Euro-Sub-Saharan Academic
Network).
The 7th Parmenides conference, which was held from 17 to 19
March 2015 in Dubrovnik. Its theme was “Common Heritage and
Technologies: Enhancement of heritage, a Key to Development”,
featuring three sub-themes: “Natural Heritage: its Value for
Development”; “Geological and Archaeological Heritages”; “Common
heritage and Urbanization”. At the end of the forum, François Guinot,
President of the GID, recommended the idea of organizing “Science,
Trade and Society Seminars” (Séminaires Sciences, Métiers et
Sociétés ) for those working in such fields, particularly for the
preservation and restoration of heritage elements." This forum was
part of a series of actions, including the regional seminar-workshop
on “Technology for Research on the Cultural Heritage of the Western
Mediterranean, its Protection and valorization" held by the Hassan II
Academy of Science and Technology of Morocco, 2-4 March 2015.
As for sub-Saharan Africa, GID:
• maintained its support to the GID-WHEP initiatives: organization of the seminar “Anthropologie des pratiques sanitaires et
des catégories affectives pratiques pluridisciplinaires face à des problèmes de santé” [Anthropology of health practices and
multidisciplinary practical affective categories addressing health issues], 19-21 May 2015, Marseilles; on 17 June 2015,
meeting at the University Cheik Anta Diop UCAD in Dakar on the ENSPEDIA project lead by Yannick Jaffré and his team,
“Maladie vécue et qualité des soins en pédiatrie: ce que disent les enfants, approche pluridisciplinaire entre sciences sociales
et sciences médicales” [The experience of disease and quality of paediatric care: what the children say, a multidisciplinary
approach combining the social and medical sciences];
• prepared the first African Forum on Science andTechnology for Development (FastDev), in consultation with the academies of Morocco,
Benin, Senegal, Burkina Faso and with support from the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) – the forum will be held in
February 2016 and focus on “The Employment of Young People: the Necessary Co-construction of Training Courses and Enterprises”.
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©WitR - Fotolia
Groupe interacadémique
pour le développement