Fudan-LSE Lecture Series No.78

Title: 

A New Odyssey for Global Science Governance: Introducing the O.D.E.SS.I. Initiative

Speaker: 

Prof. Joy Y. Zhang, University of Kent

Host: 

Prof. Yijia Jing, Fudan IGPP

Discussants: 

Prof. Li Tang, Fudan SIRPA    

Prof. Jiejin Zhu, Fudan SIRPA

Time: 

12:00-13:20, Sept. 4, Thursday, 2025

Venue: 

Room 805E, 8th Floor, West Sub-building of Guanghua Towers

https://www.wjx.cn/vm/rXpgLcq.aspx#

The Speaker：

Joy Y. Zhang is Professor of Sociology and the Founding Director of the Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice (GSEJ) at the University of Kent. An internationally recognised expert in the transnational governance of scientific risk, she specialises in emerging life sciences that impact both human and environmental futures. Her work advances sociological thinking on risk, cosmopolitanism, decolonisation, and subaltern politics. Zhang has initiated several landmark programmes, including the BioGovernance Commons in 2021, the founding of GSEJ in 2022, and, most recently, O.D.E.SS.I.—a global ‘odyssey’ for life sciences governance that brings together public engagement and science diplomacy. She is the author of three academic books and publishes widely in high-impact journals across both the natural and social sciences. She is frequently interviewed by global media and advises leading research and policy institutions in Europe and Asia.

Abstract:

As emerging technologies like synthetic biology promise to address global challenges, science governance must evolve to strike a careful balance between growth, security, and sovereignty. This talk responds to two key shifts. First, there is a generational rethinking of science–society relations, with growing calls for more inclusive, imaginative, and context-sensitive forms of engagement. Second, UNESCO’s renewed emphasis on global science literacy and the Sustainable Development Goals urges us to decolonise communication methods and promote epistemic justice. This presentation invites public policy specialists to consider how science diplomacy and engagement can be reimagined—not merely to secure partnerships, but to foster more just and globally attuned science futures. Drawing on Zhang’s involvement in G20 and G7 discussions, the talk introduces a new ‘odyssey’—O.D.E.SS.I.—a framework for public engagement in the life sciences grounded in Openness, Deliberation, Enabling, Sensibility and Sensitivity, and Innovation.