"To Strengthen the Ethical Aspects of Knowledge in Society"

Science and knowledge, two major assets of humankind, face new challenges in the 21^st century alongside the old and unanswered ones, including those related to peace, justice, quality of life and sustainable development.

To promote the quality of dialogue about the new roles and challenges of knowledge in global society, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has established the World Science Forum - Budapest, a world conference series on science, knowledge and society. The first World Science Forum - Budapest on Knowledge and Society took place in Budapest, Hungary, on 8-10 November 2003. The participants of the first World Science Forum - Budapest have unanimously decided to organize the next Forum on and around the World Science Day in 2005.

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in partnership with UNESCO and ICSU, will organize the next World Science Forum - Budapest on 10-12 November 2005. The Forum at this time will focus on Knowledge, Ethics and Responsibility and it will tackle the ethical aspects of knowledge and the responsibility of scientists and decision makers in the global society of the 21^st century.

We trust that the Forum at this will also raise fundamental questions and hopefully it will generate an important message for Humankind.

World Science Forum Budapest Secretariat: budapest@sciforum.hu