TÜBİTAK has achieved an international success by being selected to the Board of ANSO, the highest management body of the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO), which has 67 members from 50 countries.
Attending the ANSO General Assembly Meeting, TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal said, “As the President of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), we are delighted to come together at the General Assembly to advance our vision of the "The Belt and Road Initiative ". Since the first international forum in Beijing, the ANSO community has taken an critical responsibility to ensure that science, technology and innovation lead to sustainable development in the Belt and Road region. As a member of the Board of Directors, we see that ANSO has achieved success with its efforts towards this goal.
“Overcoming these challenges for our common future will only be possible with widespread mobilization across the entire ecosystem.”
Mandal emphasized “At the time of global and regional challenges, from the pandemic to climate change, co-development and collaboration remain an important option to turn these challenges into opportunities. At TÜBİTAK, we mobilize our entire ecosystem with a science-based, co-creation-based approach to overcome these challenges. This is one of the key points for sustainable development and achieving our country's net zero emissions target by 2053. ” He also said “The importance we place on activating the ecosystem towards climate science and green technologies is reflected in the priorities of our support programs and project competitions. Overcoming these challenges for our common future will only be possible with widespread mobilization across the entire ecosystem.”
“It is an important advantage to increase the cooperation of organizations that came together within the scope of the Sustainable Development Goals, based on co-development”
Prof. Dr. Mandal mentioned he was glad to see the ANSO community took action with the same motivation based on the ANSO Priority Thematic Areas and Sustainable Development Goals. He noted that organizations coming together under the Sustainable Development Goals represented an important advantage to increase cooperation based on co-development. Mentioning the importance of institutions collaborating with each other in addressing multiple sustainable development goals, Mandal said, “For example, paired with sustainable development goals on health and well-being, the Urban Environmental Health Alliance can work with other institutions to address sustainable development goals on affordable and clean energy, as well as on sustainable cities and communities. These interactions can be further strengthened with projects such as ANSO Collaborative Research and ANSO-CAS Joint Research Projects. Projects related to zero waste, remote sensing, large-scale photovoltaic power generation, disaster risks, drug discovery and biodiversity might also be included.
He also mentioned, “Joint scientific research on key issues of global and regional concern is vital to strengthen ANSO's vision of “The Belt and Road Initiative”. We have the opportunity to continue to develop links within and between research communities. New members, institutions, and even scholars can connect to ANSO Associations operating under ANSO Intersecting Themes / Linked Themes Platforms in an effort to build a community for a thematic approach towards sustainable development.”
Regarding ANSO Sustainable Development community of researchers and institutions, Mandal said, “It is our shared responsibility to ensure that this valuable research community continues to evolve towards impact. Bringing together multiple associations and under a specific ANSO Thematic Area Focus will be effective for continuing to build on cross-interactions. It may be possible to reflect further on these opportunities at this point of discussion on future development strategies.”
What Is ANSO
ANSO is a non-profit, non-governmental international scientific organization founded in 2018 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 36 other international science and education institutions from around the world. ANSO came into being under the principles of "joint consultation, joint effort and joint sharing" championed by the Chinese "Belt and Road Initiative".
ANSO is committed to promoting shared development, sustainable development and the advancement of the UN SDGs through catalyzing and implementing concrete international cooperation initiatives in Science, Technology & Innovation and Capacity Building (STIC). It is envisaged that ANSO will focus attention on the investigation and addressing of the most urgent regional and global scientific challenges. This focus includes supporting the needs and scientific capacity building of the Global South through partnerships and cooperation with the member countries and institutions. ANSO is an international organization designed to win global recognition and support through continuous activity, sound scientific programs and actions and success in addressing global needs and challenges.
History of ANSO
The idea of establishing the “Alliance of International Science Organizations” (hereinafter as ANSO), was firstly discussed in the “First International Science Forum of National Scientific Organizations on the Belt and Road Initiative” held in Beijing in November 2016. Leaders from 22 national scientific and research organizations, two Nobel Prize winners, over 30 academicians from all over the world and more than 350 scientists from nearly 40 countries and regions attended the Forum. As the result of this important event, “Beijing Declaration” was released to seek more comprehensive framework to support the international cooperation on science, technology and innovation along the Belt and Road and other regions as well.
In July 2017, the representatives from 12 academies, institutes and international organizations attended the workshop in Islamabad of Pakistan. The name of the alliance (ANSO) was determined, a draft the statutes and development strategy were formulated.
In November 2018, ANSO was formally inaugurated and the 1st ANSO General Assembly and 1st ANSO Governing Board Meeting were held, laying solid foundation for the development of ANSO. In the same year, the registration for ANSO as an international S&T non-governmental organization was accomplished.
28.06.2022