On November 29, 2022, the Ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) took place in Palais des Nations, Geneva. On behalf of TJU, Professor Zhang Weiwen, Director of Center for Biosafety Research and Strategy (CBRS), together with British and Bulgarian universities and research institutions, delivered a joint statement on biosafety education based on the Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists (Tianjin Guidelines) to the 184 Member States and more than 30 international organizations and think tanks in the 9th Review Conference of the Convention.
A side event themed Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists during the Ninth Review Conference of BWC
These guidelines provide 10 guiding principles to ensure that scientists are conducting research in a way that promotes responsible conduct and to underpin biosecurity governance at national and institutional levels. Based on the Tianjin Guidelines, existing codes of conduct for scientists can be revised, supplemented and updated in response to changes in the society, and to new biosafety risks arising from rapid advances in bioscience and technology.
The WHO released the Global Guidance Framework for the Responsible Use of the Life Sciences (Framework) and defined Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists (Tianjin Guidelines) as high-level.
On December 7, TJU and London Metropolitan University held a side event themed Biological Security Education in Support of Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists: the Urgent Need for Global Promotion of Coordinated Biosafty Education, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, attended by more than 90 officials from dozens of countries and representatives of scientific institutions and civil society. Experts from TJU and other institutions detailed the biosafety education advocated by the Tianjin Guidelines from different aspects. They shared the vision of BWC on biosafety education, the work conducted by TJU and other internationally renowned institutions on relevant programs as well as its global picture. In response to different issues and audiences, various examples and new methods were proposed for biosafety education. For the future, a new initiative was also unveiled to create an international biosafety education network.
By Mo Jingwen
Editor: Sun Xiaofang
