问与答：法语国家的科学咨询网络

一个领先的科学政策小组已为讲法语国家建立了科学咨询网络，使整个法语世界的研究人员能够分享思想和最佳实践。

The francophone science advice network was launched at the 4^ThInternational Conference on Science Advice to Governments this week (31 August to 1 September), organised by the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA).

The architect of the new network is Rémi Quirion, the incoming head of INGSA and the chief scientist of Quebec. He talks toscidev.net关于他对讲法语网络的愿景，并讨论了他在INSA负责人的优先事项。

您今天启动的法语科学咨询网络是什么（9月2日）？

这是关于更多共同努力，彼此学习。在首席科学家和学者中，要看到世界上不同国家正在做什么，以便在科学建议方面分享最佳实践，或者更好地为下一个大流行做准备。

这个想法是如何产生的？

When INGSA was created in 2014 in New Zealand, I was one of the founding members and the only French speaker in the leadership. The network has grown a lot in recent years, but in a more Anglo-Saxon fashion. So I said to myself that I could focus on French-speaking Africa, to try to increase scientific advisory capacities in these countries.

我们在科学advic举行研讨会在喀麦隆e two years ago and we had another in Senegal. So there is a lot of interest for Quebec in working with French-speaking African countries to improve or facilitate scientific advice and learn from each other.

大流行提高了拥有这种网络的重要性。在加拿大，作为英联邦的一部分，与来自英格兰，澳大利亚，新西兰，印度，印度，加拿大等的科学咨询专家进行了许多与大流行有关的讨论和会议。但是，我们没有这样的组织讲法语的国家。因此，我们看到，在讲法语世界中的科学建议中交流最佳实践方面存在一定的缺乏。因此，我们决定创建一个法语网络。

What is the point of this network right now?

INSA刚刚在蒙特利尔组织的会议无疑是启动该网络的绝佳机会。另一个原因是大流行。我们需要大流行之前的科学建议，但它加强了我们需要它来交换最佳实践的观点。大流行对所有这一切增加了紧迫性，即使我们不在紧急情况下，我们也希望我们做好更好的准备。

目前，讲法语的撒哈拉以南非洲的科学建议是什么？

我们最初进行了一项研究，该报告将很快发布。当然，我们研究了大多数非洲国家，但也在法国，瑞士和比利时。

We organized a virtual workshop in February with representatives from the different countries, to see if they would find it useful. I was very pleasantly surprised at the interest from officials and others who said they needed it to help their governments make decisions based on evidence and science.

In countries where there was a slightly stronger scientific advice system, it was a little easier in terms of managing the pandemic. This shows that having a permanent scientific advice structure can help our governments. Now it’s up to us to work together to demonstrate to politicians even more that this can be very useful.

How will the network be implemented in practice?

我们想尝试拥有结构，可以促进这种联系的计划，这些链接，学术专家与政客之间的交流。必须培训学术界，以了解如何与政治家讨论如何与公务员讨论。[作为科学家]，我们习惯于提出非常详细的结果，非常丰富且长期的报告。但是，政客期望更短的事情。

您如何看待这样一个事实，即几乎所有非洲国家建立了一个科学委员会，以就COVID-19的疫苗接种建议。

这太好了，但是我们要远远不止于此，以与一个核心团队建立更永久的结构，该团队与政府建立良好的联系。因此，例如，为了决定疫苗，将疫苗专家添加到该团队中。如果您需要就地震提供建议，则添加地质专家等。基本上，想法是具有稳定的结构。

您昨天（9月1日）被任命为INSA的负责人，您的任务挑战将是什么？

In addition to strengthening collaboration between French-speaking countries in relation to the English-speaking world, my other major objective is the development of scientific advice at different levels of government. Scientific advice is different depending on whether you are at the level of the United Nations, at the level of a country, at the level of a region of a country, at the level of a city, etc.

因此，越来越多的人意识到，地方一级的科学建议非常重要。但是，它的发展较少。因此，我们必须尝试进一步发展它，因为问题和日常困难在城市层面。因此，这是在地方一级建立科学建议的问题，因为当我们在城镇和村庄中，我们提供的建议类型必须非常具体。

在您倡导在政策决策中使用科学证据的过程中，是否有一部分致力于鼓励来自讲法语的非洲的科学家来普及他们的工作结果？

到处都是一个挑战。可以肯定的是，无论是在加拿大还是其他地方，大多数研究人员都致力于科学出版物。but, thereafter, there is little emphasis placed on the transference of knowledge – to know how to transfer this information to our fellow citizens, how to also engage elected officials and governments in all of this.

这不仅取决于[不仅]评估研究人员职业中的科学出版物，还[评估]科学咨询活动，与政府的联络活动。这已经存在，但是需要做更多的事情。

同样，我认为大流行对我们有帮助，因为越来越多的研究人员对普及和更清楚地解释他们的研究感兴趣。

我们不应该首先尝试解决许多讲法语的非洲研究人员的问题，他们发现很难发表他们的作品，因为以法语出版的科学期刊很少见？

我们正在试图做的在魁北克,我们所愿ll be able to open up more to our colleagues from French-speaking Africa, is to start giving prizes for publications in French in major sectors such as the social sciences and the humanities, health, engineering, pure sciences. In addition, we financially support certain French-language magazines which are either Quebecois or French.

I think that we have to work together and for that, we will need the francophone community of Africa to say, ‘of course, we know that we have to publish in English, but also we want to be able to publish more in French in good quality journals’. And now, with everything called open access to publications and open science, it should be a little easier. We in Quebec, via the INGSA network, will try to help improve the quality of French-language journals and provide opportunities for authors from all French-speaking countries around the world to publish in those journals.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa French desk. This translated interview has been edited for brevity and clarify.