Science and Balkan

 

 

 

 

ABSTRACT:

 

In the next centuries, science and technology will conduct the world. In this stage, “The Global Education and Research in Science/Technology, GERST”, will shape the new relationships between the scientific community and society.  GERST will be one of the engines of “information society.” In this paper we briefly consider the GERST programmes. On the other hand, after the end of Cold War Balkan have gone backwards in scientific and in university education term. We will also discuss the recent developments in science and in science education in Balkans to examine the consequences of the GERST programmes.  Finally I will also discuss the establishment of a new international non-governmental scientific organisation which would advocates the duty of scientists and educators in taking full responsibility for the ethics of knowledge and GERST in Balkan.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

      The 20th century began as “ the century of modern science” with great enthusiasm for scientific and technological progress. Quantum physics began the process by revolutionizing first physics then all aspects of science and technology. And yet during the Cold War this revolution in science was used as an essential ingredient for national security and national prestige. Science prospered due to conflicts between the USSR (East) and the USA (West). However the main aims of these super powers were to become the winner of the Cold War.  Since nuclear arms were not utilised, the winner had to attain modern human technology and rapidly apply it to her communication industry, economy, space programs, etc. One of the most important reasons behind the demise of the USSR was her failure in the race of science/technology that also ended the Cold War.

      Due to fast progress in science and in modern technology the whole world has changed majorly. The process of globalisation accelerated in the World through “New World Order” programmes.  Meanwhile the processes of globalisation have also given a new vision to the political configurations in science and in education by changing the major part of the concepts for the educational evolution of the state, for the scientific policy of state, for the structural evolution of scientific and educational societies, for the schools, for the universities, for the scientific and educational publications, etc., while defining and shaping some new dimensions or a new way. In the “Knowledge Age” the scientific thinking will help more “information society” address its global problems in a rational way; and the global science and the global education with high technology will support more people change their outlook on social, economic and political problems, they are facing.

      In this stage new relationships between science/technology and the huge companies and a new “contract” between the scientific community and society will be shaped by “The Global Education and Research in Science/Technology“ (GERST) through; (Akdeniz  1995,p. 152)

         -international research centres and global high-cost international scientific collaborations,

         -the process of standardisation in academic degrees and the equivalencies established in diplomas via common education (Science Education Network) and global information (Internet),

         -electronic publications in science and in education,

         -the new structure of the international non-governmental scientific organisations and societies,

         -the ethics of scientific knowledge and technology,

         -the ethics of academic life and etc.   

      Above all these global problems the worst case to occur is the also possibility of GERST getting exploited by “the major powers” to foster their own economic, political and cultural interests rather than solve the global problems of the world. It is questionable also that the programmes of GERST can be beneficial to regional peace. As observed in the case of Balkans, it is certain that GERST programs will never be able to provide the solution to central search for peace, harmony and tolerance.

          

 

GERST AND “KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY”:

 

      In the next centuries the world will be shaped by science and technology and the GERST will be one of the engine of “information society.” There are many signals from the scientific world that the GERST has already begun. For examples;

         i) The Tokyo Declaration of Physical Societies made at the Second World Congress of Physical Societies, RACIP-2; in Tokyo, Japan, in 18-22 September 1995: (Toki  1995); 

          “...The physics community will exploit (these) new tools to improve inter-personal contacts and dissemination of knowledge through electronic publishing, communication, research and education...”

      Prof. H. Schopper (Former director of CERN and Former president of EPS) also noticed in RACIP 2:

            “...One of the essential new elements is the end of the Cold War between West and East which has changed the perspective of science in the minds of politicians and the public. During the Cold War science and physics were seen as an essential ingredient for national security. Now major efforts in weapons development at previous levels are considered to be unnecessary and defence budgets which in some countries provided directly and indirectly large funds for physical and technical developments or even for fundamental physics, are being cut considerably...  The role of physics in its relation to society has to be redetermined.”

         ii) In the last April, (28 April-1 May 1999), UNESCO the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) met first time in Oslo. COMEST has the following mandate  (Finnbogadotir 1999):

         - to serve as an intellectual forum for the exchange of ideas and experience;

         - to detect, on that basis, the early signs of risk situations;

         - to fulfil an advisory role for decision-makers in this respect; and

         - to promote dialogue between scientific communities, decision-makers and the public at large.

      The participants in COMEST meeting considered a draft declaration on science and the use of scientific knowledge to present in UNESCO-ICSU World Conference which assembled in Budapest, Hungary, from 26 June to 1 July 1999. From the declaration:

         “Considering that a new relationship between science and society is necessary to cope with such pressing global problems as poverty, environmental degradation, inadequate public health, and food and water security, in particular associated with population growth,”

         iii) Recently, (22-25 June 1999), the scientists and educators participated in the international conference for the international conference on Science Education for the 21st Century” held in Szeged, Hungary to answer these questions: “Can common education and global education (new information technologies in science education) in science prosper research in science? How the global science education (Science Educaton Network, SEN) will help “information society”? What is the role of  SEN in the South? What is the ethical responsibility of SEN. The researchers and teachers who engage in this exchange of ideas do so because they feel a responsibility for the future fat of science education.

      On the otherhand, we (scientists) agree that the science and technology will conduct the “knowledge society” in the next centuries. The scientific knowledge will provide the new raw material for prosperity of mankind. The “global revolution” is being defined and shaped by science. Considering only partially GERST facts, scientists and teachers (mostly from the South and from the region where conflicts are still exited), responding to the new globalise conditions that their people are facing or will face quite soon, must actively involve in efforts to build international equal Cupertino following the main human characteristics of high education and scientific activities. For to make the internationalisation, globalisation and integration succeed, scientists have to release, time after time, top-class or top-labwork and put in an enthusiastic and serious showing at political venues. There are good reasons for thinking that the intellectual and scientific “breaks” are necessary to be applied to proceed with more caution in human demands associated with effective, integrated world’s governance. We also have to keep in mind that science/technology is able to change the world better, to improve the quality of life, but it is also true that its application can have adverse effects on the world. There is a potential risk of human homogenisation through a common education or a global education. Also, one of the first aspect of the costs of the industrialisation based on science/technology is pollution (the hazards of radiation, the Green- House effect, desertification, etc.) which is growing fast. Another aspect is the actual gap between North and South countries, or a high standard of living based on people without food. Here are some stark statistics taken from the UNDP Human Development Reports of 1997 and 1998.

         -More than 1 billion people are deprived of basic consumption needs.

         -Of the 4.4 billion people living in developing countries nearly three fifths lack basic sanitation. Almost a third (more than 1.2 billions) have no access to clean water. A quarter does not have access to adequate housing. A fifth have no access to modern health services. A fifth of the children do not attend the school to grade 5. About a fifth do not have enough dietary energy and protein. Worldwide, 2 billion people are anaemic.

         -Some 840 million people go hungry or face food insecurity.

         -160 million children are moderately or severely malnourished. Some 110 million are out of school.

         -Half million women die each year in childbirth.

         -Nearly a third of the people in the least developed countries are not expected to survive to age 40.

         -Nearly a billion people are illiterate.

         -About 1.3 billion people live on incomes of less than $1 a day, 3 billion on less than $2 a day.

      It is quite important considering that the world population could double to over 10 billions in 21-st century. This huge increase will happen, can you imagine what kind of world it will be like, and what problems will have to be faced. At least the double the amount of food to satisfy consumption, the urgent problem of the scarcity of usable water the need more and cheaper power, the need for the technological solutions that improve the efficiency of energy production and more over, the immense environmental challenges facing the next century, despite scientific disagreement etc. 

      However in the mean time the science community should be focusing the fact that in the “Knowledge Age “ GERST can be exploited by “the major powers” to foster their own economic, political and cultural interest rather than solve the global problems of the world like energy, water and ecology which are summarised above.

 

 

SCIENCE AND BALKAN

 

      Let me examine the recent developments in science and in science education in Balkans to discuss the consequences of the GERST programmes.

      Balkan is part of Europe, Europe’s southeastern peninsula, where the Western Civilisation was born. In the ancient Turco-Bulgarian language, “Balkan” was defined as a rocky and mountainous region, so the word was used to denote mountains, which dominate the Europe’s southeastern peninsula and its hinterland.  Later on; people, scientists (historians, geographers…) and politicians began to apply “Balkan” for the region. In these days   ''Balkan'' has come to be considered a negative, undesirable description of people doomed to repeat disaster. For the politician  and for the Non-Govermantal Organizations correct term is now ''Southeast Europe,'' like Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War,  to presume to carry no baggage! But people lived together in this region for than 1000 years under the Byzantine and Ottoman  authorities. A historical fact that led to the creation of a common Balkan culture. Balkan people share a comman Balkan culture in human behavier, in music, in dance, in gastronomia across many nations, many languages and many religions. A historical fact that led to the creation of a common Balkan culture. The French Revolution effected this region as well, and during the Cold War the region’s people were kept apart in two different worlds by centralised political aims.

       With the end of the Cold War the Balkan people gained back their opportunity to recapture their cultural inheritance. and the Balkan scientists also started to Balkan-wide scientific collobarations by using Balkan scientific potential. Today Balkan population is about 200 millions and 200 universities and 20 large national research centres in physics in the Balkan countries.

      For example, let us consider the role of physics in Balkans; today there are about 15 000 physicists. And Balkan Physical Union (BPU) is one of the most active non-governmental organisation in the Balkans. BPU was established in 1985 in Kosova. Today, members of BPU are the national physical societies of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonian, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia. Until the Tirana Declaration that was endorsed by BPU members in Tirana in 1990, BPU member countries had little direct knowledge of each other’s scientific potential in physics due to centralised governments whose political strategy was to keep countries apart.  The Declaration announced the intention to promote and improve science, as well as the exchange of knowledge and information through links to be established among scientists that would lead to joint research projects and common programmes in the Balkan countries.

 

      The stimulus provided by the Tirana Declaration in 1990 led to the first major activities of BPU:

         (i) The Balkan Schools of Physics (The first school was held in Istanbul, in 1991),  

        (ii) General Physics Conferences of BPU; the first of which (BPU-1) was held in Thessaloniki, Greece in September 1991 where more than 600 physicists from the Balkans came together for the first time in the history of science. 2nd BPU General Physics Conference  (BPU-2) was held in Izmir, Turkey in September 1994 at which 800 physicists from the Balkans participated and more than 1000 Balkan physicists met again at BPU-3 in Cluj_Napoca, Romania in September 1997. They will meet again in Bulgaria, in 2000 at BPU-4.

        (iii) The BPU Physics Students Branch was established to promote friendship among the Balkan students by the Balkan Physics Student Conferences. 

        (iv) The BPU also started to publish a scientific journal in 1993 entitled Balkan Physics Letters (BPL).

        Because of these initatives, Balkan physicists obtained much information about each other’s scientific activities. One also notes that these initiatives motivated them to make independent visits to each other’s universities and national research centres, and to participate in other activities in the region beside the BPU’s. Balkan-wide research institutes and research groups stared to form. The ICTP (Abdus Salam) provided her facilities under the special agreements and programmes. In BPU’s short history; (Akdeniz 1996,p. 22), one could find the first article by Greek and Turkish physicists.

      During as well as after the Cold War, the scientists (mostly physicists) from the Balkan had been extremely supported by the global and European scientific and educational centralised programmes to join mostly in high-coast international scientific collaborations in Europe, for example collaborations in CERN and to join common physics education programmes applied to in order to ensure the mobility of students and diplomas in Europe, EUPEN. For more details: (Herdinande 1998, p. 216).

      Unfortunately, in the last ten years (since the end of the Cold War) Balkans have gone backwards in science, in education and in culture regarded science and education. GERPT programmes and European Centralised scientific and educational programmes did not bear fruit, the scientific gap between EU and Balkans become more sharply, and in spite of recent improvements towards in peace in the Balkans, the dangers from the political, religious and ethnic conflicts still prevail in the Balkans.

      These days are more worst days than during the Cold War days for the Balkan people and for the Balkan scientific community too; the main causes of this critical situtaion of science and education in Balkans are the following.

         -The magnitude of the brain drain from Balkans to West (USA-EU) is more bigger than before.

        -The national “non-governmental” scientific and cultural societies and organizations in Balkan are strongly controled by centeralized and nationalized goverments (state.) in Balkan.

         -The members of these socities (scientists and theachers)  need more  financial and moral support from the government (national state) to play a role in GERST.

         -“Non-governmental regional scientific and culturel organizations in Balkan are in such limitation because of member socities status in their own countries.  (And after the long efforts as president of BPU, I did myself, I did not sucssed to operate a Balkan-wide physics research center and to found a Balkan graduate school in physics and related topics  under the BPU coordinations similar the Abdus Salam ICTP in Trieste.)

         -On behalf of the sustainable science development and of to not isolate Balkan scientific community, the programmes makers of the GERST and centralised EU science and education programmes, scientific organisations and societies, international research centre executives, international publishing companies do not agree with the independent Balkanwide scientific cooperations and organisation co-ordinated Balkan scientists themselves. In last ten years the most of elite scientific centres and research institutes in Balkans are collapsed and closed because of internal political and economical problems. European Centralised Scientific Programmes and GERST programmes (one of the reasons of these programmes was to constructive contribution to the peaceful development of civilisation) do not cover such regional institutions.  For example, recently the new statute has cut off the TESLA Scientific Centre (founded in 1996 in VINCA-Belgrade) from Belgrade University.

         -The most of universities in Balkan lost their famous tradiontal education system in science. At the university level also IMF is pushing privatisation. And Private universities are only opened to provide profits (no fundamental science and culture.) The state university students have been forced to pay high university fee.

         -In the last ten years Balkan lost more than 100% the number of papers (done in Balkans) published in international scientific journals. As a result of BPU scientific cooperations and activities, the number of papers in physics done by the collaboration with the physicists from different Balkan countries to about ten papers per year. In last five years this number more or less is same.

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

     

      In these conditions how scientific community and society in regions, like Balkan, should be aware of the need to apply natural and social sciences and technology to address the root causes conflicts. It is questionable also that the programmes of GERST can be beneficial to peace. How the poor countries could be gone forwards in scientific term and in education term by GERST? Will the Third World possibly succeed in preserving their own scientific and cultural traditions by GERST?  (Hussain  1999).  How the research groups and institutions should strengthen their regional co-operation activities?

      In this status, how Balkan research groups and institutions should continue their activities? In Balkan, the relation between scientists is already cut off and the role of science and of education to support common Balkan culture for peace is delayed.    

      There is also possibility that GERST could be used by super powers for their own interest. By GERST in which human capability to deal with the enormous challenges of coming decades will be greatly enhanced. I notice for the Balkans, the GERST programmes (included NATO and EU science programmes) can never provide the solution to central search for peace, harmony and tolerance.

      As I purposed at the Pugwash Workshop on “Ethics in Science” held in Debrecen, Hungary in 7-8 February 1998 and at “The World Congress of Humanists Unity” held in Sarajevo, Bosna-Herzogovina in 13-16 May 1998: (Akdeniz 1998a). The GERST have to be considered one of global ethics of scientific knowledge and technology in “Knowledge Age”. Before the Kosova conflicts, in Hefei Conference on New Technologies in Physics Education, held in China, in October 19-22 1998, I recommended the establishment of a new indepanded movement like Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs:  (Akdeniz 1998b, p. 221). The GERST must work side by side with this new international organisation that must be better equipped than those of the 20-th century to grapple with the problems they must address. The members of this new international organisation must be individual scientists and teachers (i.e. who are no executive member or staff in governmental and non-governmental organisations, international scientific collaborations. Etc.)

      Of course there are many important organisations who work on sustainable development of science and technology; for examples, ISCU Standing Committee on Responsibility and Ethics in Science and UNESCO the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology are trying to establish “the contract” between the scientific community, the private sector and society. I hope they will inspire scientists around world to think more carefully about the welfare of planet they live on and about its people they share and I hope they will also to play a crucial role in improving international scientific cooperation, particularly between developing and developed countries.

But what we need a organisation (a movement) which would advocates the duty of scientists and educators in taking full responsibility for the ethics in GERST and in preventing and overcoming the actual and potential harmful effects of high technologies in research and education through poor countries possibly will succeed in preserving their own scientific and cultural traditions by this organisation. Developing countries (from south) and regions where there are still conflicts (for example Balkan) possibly succeed in preserving their own scientific and cultural traditions by these moral efforts via scientific and cultural collaborations co-ordinated by this organisation. Such organisation can also initiate a period of everlasting peace for the people of region like Balkan. (At least, Balkan Science and Culture Conference for Peace must be held.) 

 

 

Acknowledgements

 

This work was supported by the Research Fund of the Istanbul University . Project Number :              B - 204/300699 .

 

 

REFERENCES

 

Akdeniz, G.: 1995, ‘Role of Physics in Balkan’. In H.Toki (ed.), RACIP-2, World Congress of Physical Societies, Tokyo, pp. 152-156.

 

Akdeniz, G.: 1996, ‘Counter Balancing Globalisation’. Europhysics News 27(6), 231-232. ; ‘Globalisation in Physics and Balkans’. Fizikai Szemke 8, pp. 271.

 

Akdeniz, G.: 1998a, ‘The Role of Science in Balkans’. In Pugwash Workshop on Ethics in Science, Debrecen and in The World Congress of Humanists Unity, Sarajevo .      

 

Akdeniz, G.: 1998b, ‘Globalisation in Physics and its Role in South’. In H. Jianqing & X. Shouping (eds), Proc. International Conference on New Technologies in Physics Education, CPS. , Hefei,       pp. 221-225.

 

Finnbogadottir, V.: 1999, ‘Opening Address’ in the first meeting the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology, Oslo.

 

Hendrich. H.: 1998, ‘EUPEN Tries to Consolidate Its Consortium’.  In H. Jianqing & X. Shouping (Eds.), Proc. International Conference on New Technologies in Physics Education, CPS. , Hefei ,      pp. 216-220.

 

Hussain, F.: 1999, ‘Science and Third World’. Presented in the Future of the Universe, the Future of the Earth and the Future of our Civilisation, Budapest.

 

Toki, H.(ed.) : 1995, RACIP-2. World Congress of Physical Societies, JPS. , Tokyo.

 

*) Past President, Balkan Physical Union.