Because 2017 is Canada’s 150th Anniversary, the CSPC themes are being structured within the following context:

  • How effectively have we used science-based knowledge to meet Canada’s challenges over the past 150 years and also today?
  • How should we use science-based knowledge more effectively over the next 50 years to meet Canada’s challenges?

And here are the five themes of CSPC 2017:

  • Evolving our economy from resource based to knowledge driven
  • Ensuring Canada’s position in the world as a powerful peace keeping, innovative, diverse nation
  • Ensuring an effective federal system with alignment of the interests and values of regions and sectors
  • Sustainability of our environment, natural resources, and universal health care system
  • A science enterprise that is excellent, creative, productive and training talent for future needs and opportunities
  • Changing geography of knowledge production and knowledge consumption
  • Convergence , interdisciplinary science, the role of social sciences and the arts
  • Big science: role in knowledge production; role of roadmaps
  • Citizen science: engaging citizens in knowledge production
  • Funding mechanisms: new realities, new directions
  • New STI institutions and mechanisms of community engagement
  • Technology foresight
  • The impact agenda: measuring what difference science makes; creating the conditions for impact
  • Balancing accountability and productivity
  • The role of cities, provinces and territories
  • Knowledge for policy development
    • Science and politics: interdependencies and tensions
    • The science – policy interface in a federal system: federal, provincial & territorial interactions
    • Decision making in a complex and contested sphere
    • Lessons from the coal face: case studies of evidence-based decision making
  • Knowledge for innovation
    • The innovation ecosystem: system thinking; system analysis
    • SMEs growth and scale up and designing effective supply chain
    • Technology intensive multinationals: incentives to build vs attract
    • Procurement and regulation: catalysts or barriers to innovation?
  • Knowledge to meet global challenges
    • Accessing STI insights and knowledge from the international community
    • How science can help in a de-globalization era
    • The role of science in positioning Canada in the international community
  • Risk communication and social license
  • Social media and science communication in public engagement
  • Public perception of science and scientists
  • Science culture and public engagement in science
  • Science and social innovation in the age of post everything