NXPO hosted a meeting on 21 February 2020 to discuss research and innovation in social sciences, humanities and arts. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Suvit Maesincee, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation and attended by university lecturers, professors and experts in social sciences, humanities and arts from across the country.
Due to the merge of higher education and science ministries, the new Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, MHESI, now has the mandate of both social sciences and science & technology. Integration of disciplines are needed as the country is aiming for sustainable development in both economic and social aspects.
The meeting focused on three challenging issues the Thai society is facing, namely social inequality, social discord and accessible innovation, and how to turn the knowledge of social sciences, humanities and arts generated by the academic community into actions and solutions to these challenges. The ultimate goal of science and technology development is to improve the quality of life and serve the society, and this goal can only be achieved with the development of social sciences in tandem.
A lot of interesting ideas were suggested during the meeting such as i) new education system for the young generation, ii) promotion of kindness and understanding of Thai origin, iii) utilizing creativity in the process of identifying problems and taking actions. Minister Suvit stressed that we should be working towards sustainable and inclusive growth. To achieve this growth, a platform to connect knowledge from various disciplines needs to be developed and utilized by the academia and policy makers.
