Science diplomacy of Poland

Science diplomacy (SD) has recently gained unprecedented attention as a subject of both an academic enquiry and political discourse. Thus, states employ many efforts to conceptualise and implement their science diplomacy strategies. To date, the most advanced in this regard are the rich industrialized countries slowly followed by others, e.g., Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries like Poland. While science diplomacy of selected states is debated among practitioners and analysed empirically, these efforts do not include CEE countries. In this article we present the regulatory, institutional and operational frameworks of Polish science diplomacy. The opinions of SD stakeholders obtained in a series of interviews supplement the findings and give a wider perspective on the challenges Polish science diplomacy is facing. We argue that although a universal model of science diplomacy does not exist, states such as Poland may profit from the experience of more advanced systems. We also claim that Polish science diplomacy is currently significantly conditioned by the domestic political situation. This negatively impacts continuity and coordination in strategic programming and implementation of SD. The case of Poland is compared with two other countries—France and the Czech Republic.

Monika Szkarłat