The Biological Security Research Centre at London Metropolitan University co-hosted with the Advisory Board on Education and Outreach (ABEO) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) a side event titled Progress in Chemical and Biological Security Education on the margins of the Twenty-Ninth Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP-29) to the Chemical Weapons Convention, The Hague, The Netherlands, 25-29 November 2024.
Chemical and Biological Security Education face great challenges. One common challenge is how to implement global and regional education sustainably and to design relevant resources.
Initiatives developed by international organisations such as the ABEO of the OPCW and by the civil society, including the work of the London Metropolitan University Biological Security Research Centre, have created the opportunity to share examples of good practices. This also allows each initiative to learn from previous and ongoing challenges.
This side event was therefore designed to provide a platform to introduce recent progress on chemical and biological security education and showcase updated research and activities, particularly to share the projects conducted by the ABEO and the Biological Security Research Centre. These projects, both targeting an audience of students and young professionals, highlighted the importance of collaboration between academia and international organisations in chemical and biological security education. A collaborative approach to chemical and biological security education was therefore essential to implement the Biological and Toxin Weapon Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention efficiently; and it was also necessary to develop new methodologies and implementation tools to address the rapid advancements in science and technology.
The programme included the presentation from ABEO Chairperson, Professor Magda Bauta Solés and BSRC Director, Professor Lijun Shang. It also included a short presentation from Maeva Khachfe, Director of Research, Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise Operations at London Metropolitan University to introduce the university’s support and involvement. In the end, there was a session for questions and discussion. The side event was attended by over 100 people including UN officials and Delegations from States Parties to the CWC from all over the world and civil society. The presentations were highly appraised, and the approaches taken by OPCW/ABEO and the Biological Security Research Centre were recognised and highly recommended.
All attendants agreed that this kind of dedicated side event should be encouraged to help civil society expertise to contribute to the future development of the chemical and biological security education to ensure a responsible use of knowledge in science.
Professor Lijun Shang, Director of the Biological Security Research Centre commented: “co-hosting a high-profile side event on the margins of the OPWC Conference of the States Parties to present biosecurity education works from London Met not only showcased the important works from my centre, but also promoted the Centre, the School and the University to outside world. I am looking forward to further collaboration across the world.”
The side event was funded by the OPWC, and a grant awarded to Professor Lijun Shang by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
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