Science and Skills Diplomacy in an Uncertain World

This event asks how science and skills diplomacy can support trust-building, human capital development and long-term international cooperation in a fragmented geopolitical context, with a particular focus on Europe’s engagement with the Mediterranean and Africa regions. 

Its distinctive contribution is to connect three agendas that are often discussed separately. Science diplomacy is usually framed around research cooperation and the circulation of knowledge. Skills diplomacy brings in human capital development, institutional capacity and the ability of education and training systems to respond to social, economic and technological transitions. Higher education cooperation adds a third dimension: universities and university alliances as durable infrastructures for partnership, mobility, dialogue and mutual learning. 

The roundtable will therefore not treat science diplomacy as an abstract concept, nor skills as a narrow labour-market agenda. It will examine how science, skills and higher education can jointly contribute to more trusted, reciprocal and strategically relevant forms of cooperation with MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and African partners. 

The event brings together ETF, the University of Torino (UniTo), the European University Institute (EUI) because each institution adds a complementary perspective. ETF brings its mandate on skills, human capital development and partner-country cooperation, as well as its operational knowledge of education and skills systems in neighbouring and partner regions. The University of Turin brings the science diplomacy agenda and the Turin University ecosystem, anchoring the discussion in a major public university and territorial setting. EUI brings a research-based and policy-oriented perspective on knowledge, governance, higher education, university alliances and international cooperation. 

The roundtable, hosted in the Rectorate of the University of Turin, is conceived as a compact strategic discussion, closed door under Chatham House rule. It will combine an opening analytical framing, selected institutional and regional perspectives, and a moderated discussion.