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The International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development is developed on the basis of themes identified as priorities by UNESCO and the United Nations. It encourages exchanges between scientists and all categories of stakeholders, whether from grassroots communities or political decision-makers and international leaders, as well as associations, students and local authorities.

For basic sciences to progress, it will be essential for every individual who wishes to do so to play their part, whatever their origin, their social or geographical position, or their gender.

Ensuring that children have access to quality science education from an early age gives them an appetite for research and, later, encourages them to pursue a scientific career. Even if they don’t choose a scientific career, learning the scientific method through hands-on experiments at school will teach them the importance of trial and error, of testing hypotheses and re-examining one’s certainties when new evidence comes to light. Children will learn to value the quest for truth. They will develop their curiosity. Whatever career the child later chooses, the skills he or she has acquired can be brought to bear on many other areas of their personal, professional and social life, thereby contributing to making them a responsible and autonomous citizen.

In many parts of the world, countries have committed to devoting 1% - or even as much as 3%  - of their GDP to financing research, using contributions from both the public and private sectors. Indeed, evidence shows that such a high level of expenditure nurtures the economy and a country’s international influence, or ‘soft power’. However, most countries are struggling to reach their own targets for the level of research investment.

Open science nurtures scientific research and innovation by enabling scientists to use open licenses to share their publications, data, software and even hardware. Open science, thus, contributes to greater transparency in research and can help to narrow the knowledge gap and foster international scientific collaboration. Open science will, thus, be instrumental in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals all over the world. It will be of paramount importance to disseminate the results of basic science and all the documents necessary to produce this new knowledge.