How can science cooperation help sustain multilateral cooperation in an era of geopolitical strain?

At the World Knowledge Dialogue 2026 in Geneva, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research’s Madeleine Hamel, Adam Day, and Caroline Dunton joined an interdisciplinary group of scientists, diplomats, and policymakers to tackle this question.

Key themes included:

• Science as a foundation for trust and legitimacy in multilateralism
• The growing politicization of expertise and data
• New governance models for anticipatory, adaptive global cooperation
• The Dialogue underscored the need to reconnect scientific knowledge, policy, and diplomacy to address complex global risks, from climate change to emerging technologies.

The event was jointly organized with Science in Diplomacy Lab and the Geneva Transformative Governance Lab, in collaboration with Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) and the Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI).