TASSA Participates at the Science Diaspora Event, AAAS Annual Meeting by NODES

As part of the AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, NODES (Networks of Diasporas in Engineering and Science) held a half day discussion and networking event that engaged scientists and engineers, students, innovators, and government and embassy officials on model practices for catalyzing the growth and engagement of science and engineering diasporas in policy processes both in their country of origin and in the United States.

TASSA President Prof. Haluk Unal delivered a presentation describing the significance of science diasporas in the United States higher education. Proh Unal also described the activities of TASSA.

Specific questions discussed during the sessions focused on

• How do diaspora communities organize themselves and build partnerships with the public and private sectors and civil society for effective, scalable, and sustainable policy engagements with their countries of origin?
• How are diasporas building their capacity to develop and help inform governmental policies?
• What lessons and practices can be drawn from successful cases of diasporas engaging with policy?

For more information http://www.aaas.org/event/nodes-forum-2016-engaging-science-and-engineering-diasporas-policy

(NODES) is a partnership between the U.S. Department of State, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, to develop science diaspora networks across the United States. It strives to support science and engineering diaspora networks by sharing best practices and knowledge, convening diaspora groups, and catalyzing their growth by linking them with useful tools and institutions so that these knowledge networks can have greater impact in their country of origin and in the United States. NODES seeks to leverage existing collaborations while fostering a variety of new ones through forums, workshops, and online resources that promote connectivity and the sharing of best practices among members of diaspora communities. A yearly gathering at the AAAS annual meeting serves as an anchor for mobilizing new constituencies, catalyzing new capacity building activities and sharing resources.