Reaction to Mouloud's comment about the distinction between natural and social sciences --- Dear Mouloud, I am graduated (BSc and MSc) in Biological Sciences, and thus I am "naturally inclined" to observe and think about the general knowledge domain from the standpoint of the "natural sciences", but I have always been attracted by the social and human sciences too. I think that most experts from both fields/sectors of knowledge (natural and social sciences) agree that it is very hard to precisely distinguish each field/sector from the other. This is the case, for example of UNESCO, the organization where I work. Within its five thematic sectors, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO established two thematic/program sectors within the broad knowledge domain of Sciences (the "S" letter of its acronym): Natural Sciences (SC); and Social and Human Sciences (SHS). I am part of the team of the Natural Sciences sector, but I frequently deal with several topics and/or target areas/groups that are mainly covered by SHS (such as "youth"). Furthermore, SC and SHS tend to work together for some events and project activities, such as the Management of Social Transformation program (MOST), which integrates some SC and SHS topics/areas/target groups. If you would like to know more about these UNESCO sectors/programs, here are the links to the home pages of SC (https://en.unesco.org/themes/science-sustainable-future) and SHS (https://en.unesco.org/themes/learning-live-together). I will also further comment on the distinction between natural and social sciences in another HT entry.

Source author: Massimiliano Lombardo m.lombardo@unesco.org