Efforts to promote sustainable development must tap into technologies developed locally, driven by community needs and priorities.

Management of marine resources for sustainable development needs local capacity for science, particularly in the Pacific region.

A new intergovernmental panel would not be the best way of tackling the multifaceted challenges of sustainable development.

An OECD report outlines good practice for effective international research collaboration — but success can never be guaranteed.

Even focused research will not deliver agricultural progress unless donors also help join up links in the development chain.

Harmonising 'science for development' funding would make science aid more effective, benefiting both donors and recipients.

Using science for diplomatic purposes has obvious attractions and several benefits. But there are limits to what it can achieve.

Delay in the implementation of Africa's plan of action for science and technology suggests commitment to act does not yet go deep enough.

Europe's recent bid to attract more skilled workers underlines developing countries' need for greater – not less – investment in their intellectual capital.

China's efforts to build an innovation-based economy require a less hierarchical approach to organising its research system.

Almost unnoticed, Nepal is developing simple and cheap technologies that make the best of local resources and don't damage the environment.

If Africa is to build a sustainable science and technology infrastructure, it needs more than just enthusiastic promises from heads of state.

Disagreement on how to create collaborative centres of excellence in Africa could weaken the continent's efforts for scientific revival.

The new head of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, must balance both political and scientific pressures if she is to succeed at improving global health efforts.

Building an effective and accountable way to fund science and technology across Africa is a major challenge facing the region’s leaders and scientific communities. You are invited to join the debate.

A combination of factors appears to be pushing the risk-benefit balance back into nuclear's favour as an energy option for developing countries. SciDev.Net readers are invited to comment.

There is a need to link up the thousands of communications technology initiatives littered across the developing world, but is another UN technocracy the right answer?

Next January, the heads of member states of the African Union will meet to discuss science and technology in what will be a unique opportunity to support the continent's scientific renaissance.

A new commission set up by China to monitor scientific malpractice should look beyond the acts of individuals to the way that the country's science is run.

At the heart of the devastation caused by the Indian Ocean tsunamis lies a failure to communicate scientific information adequately to either decision-makers or the community. Important lessons are to be learnt about the need for professional skills.