If cerebral energy could power the grid, the recent World Science Forum held in Cape Town could have kept the lights in the country on for quite some time.
This gathering of the greatest minds will prove to be a true milestone, but only if it results in something concrete.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, delivering the keynote address on the first day, was emphatic that it would be up to every delegate there to carry forward the theme — Science for Social Justice — in their work.
But how possible is this? The answers lie in the where, when, who and why.
It was the first time the forum was held on African soil, and that is a significant moment — albeit more symbolic than anything else.
The Cape Town International Convention Centre is the perfect soft landing for anyone who wishes to visit the country and the continent without getting up close and personal with the lived experience of many on the tough side of the socioeconomic divide.
But it is still on African soil, which is to be celebrated.
Given the state of the world right now, any science that does not directly or indirectly tackle social justice, should be put on the back burner rather than the Bunsen burner
It meant African scientists were well-represented at the gathering, and the theme of social justice was not this disembodied concept being discussed by theorists a million miles from the epicentre of the theme itself.
The other important element of the forum this year was the timing.
It was scheduled for 2021 but had to be shifted due to the pandemic — a stark reminder of what Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) head Sarah Mosoetsa always points out: that science cannot be viewed as a silo away from social science.
But more importantly, it fell between the UN Climate Conference (COP27), which truly put climate science under the microscope, and the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal, which is happening now.
These are the most pressing issues of our time: if the planet is dead, all the best technology and science will count for nothing.
Science is not doing its work if it’s all about surgery done by robots that only the wealthy can afford, or the most advanced radio telescope projects that do nothing to lift the local communities where they have been built.
Given the state of the world right now, any science that does not directly or indirectly tackle social justice, should be put on the back burner, not the Bunsen burner.
At the one session, a delegate raised the point that the forum carried a chorus of science boffins rather than the voices of those who would benefit most from science that instilled social justice.
That is debatable, because the forum by its nature was a platform for scientists to raise issues, suggest solutions, explore options and analyse possible outcomes — and innate to that, one would hope, are needs-analyses of what non-scientific people actually require when science tries to address social justice.
In other words, in an ideal world, every scientist there would also be speaking on behalf of the people whose lives they are hoping or claiming to change through their work.
This highlights another key aspect of what should underpin all scientific work: consultation with communities whose lives are far away from the institutions in which good science is played out.
If we’re saying all science should be for social justice, it is critical that brain power goes toward finding solutions that actually solve the most pressing problems.
Many universities have over the past few years come up with social innovation and entrepreneurship programmes, and while it is laudable that so many middle-class students are putting their minds to finding solutions to societal problems, again, it counts for little if it simply puts fairy dust on the resume but does not include learning how to take the project to fruition.
These are the hard yards of making the leap from ideation to intervention.
The final part of the puzzle, which lies beyond the scope of even the forum itself, is the how.
Ramaphosa, quoting Nelson Mandela in his opening address, said: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived, it is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
How that is done can only be answered by each delegate who packed up their bags, leaving the Mother City and plush convention centre behind.
A bridge between a science paper and real lives is ultimately what matters most.
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