Rabat – Al Akhawayn University in Morocco (AUI) and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) announced the launch of the ICESCO Ibn Battuta Center for Science Diplomacy, with the initiative seeking to contribute to making science a bridge for cooperation and dialogue between Africa, the Arab world, and Asia.
The center will be based on the university’s campus in Ifrane, the two parties said in a joint statement, noting that it is designed to strengthen the capacity of ICESCO Member States to mobilize scientific knowledge in support of diplomacy and informed public policymaking.
The center will focus on different areas, including training a new generation of diplomats capable of understanding major contemporary scientific issues, developing academic and scientific cooperation projects and producing scientific expertise for ICESO and its Member States.
The statement identified climate change, food security, water, as well as AI and more areas as all components that shape science diplomacy, which is emerging as a new area of international cooperation.
On choosing Al Akhawayn University as the host of the ICESCO Ibn Battuta Center, the press release cited the school’s international cooperation network that it has developed since its opening in 1995.
“The university has signed bilateral agreements with 312 partner universities in 54 countries. Since its establishment, 9,246 students have participated in international exchange and mobility programs: 3,571 foreign students have been hosted in Ifrane, while 5,675 AUI students have gone abroad to study,” the university said.
The statement also recalled the faculty has an average of 40% international professors, representing 56 nationalities. And it outlined how membership in international university networks, including the International Association of University Presidents, the US-based Council of Independent Colleges, and the Global Liberal Arts Alliance, could help this cause in the future.
“The center will be able to build on these exciting relationships and programs to bring together researchers, students, diplomats, and policymakers from the Muslim world with their counterparts from different regions of the world, in order to foster joint efforts and contribute to addressing the major challenges facing the world today,” the communique concluded.
