The Milan Declaration, which was developed during the FEBS (Federation of European Biochemical Societies) 60th Anniversary celebration in Milan on June 29, 2024, stresses the vital role of science in fostering sustainable development, ethical collaboration, and societal progress. The declaration has already been endorsed by 55 Nobel Prize winners, highlighting the broad support it has garnered from the global scientific community.
Through this declaration, NVBMB affirms its commitment to uniting scientists and citizens in harnessing science’s transformative power for a more prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable future. The NVBMB calls on all members to sign the declaration individually and to share this important message within their networks.

For more information and to sign the declaration, please visit: https://www.febs.org/milan-declaration-science/

The declaration outlines several key points:

1. Global Scientific Collaboration: It calls for seamless and genuine global scientific collaboration, free from bias and prejudice, to address various global challenges.
2. Strengthening Science Ethically and Financially: There is an increasing urgency to ethically and financially strengthen science, reaffirming dedication to enduring values such as peace, freedom, security, human dignity, sustainable development, environmental protection, scientific and technological progress, and the fight against social exclusion and discrimination.
3. Science as a Framework for Breakthroughs: Science provides the necessary framework for breakthroughs not only in basic research but also in medicine and health care, ecological conservation, sustainable food production, advancements in technology, digital transformation, and digitalization, thereby driving economic growth and societal well-being.
4. Addressing Pressing Challenges: By using scientific advancements, we can address pressing challenges such as health and socioeconomic disparities, understanding of healthy aging, demographic problems and safety at work, disease and new diseases, environmental sustainability, pollution, food security and biosafety, and sustainability of natural resources.
5. Fostering Self-Sufficiency and Prosperity: Science plays a crucial role in advancing knowledge, technologies, and innovation, fostering self-sufficiency, self-sustainability, and worldwide prosperity through scientific research, mobility of researchers and professionals, knowledge diffusion, and networking, ultimately contributing to a brighter future by nurturing diversity, culture, creativity, and a more inclusive global society.

The declaration urges global leaders and policymakers to:

• Unite in fostering and enhancing science as a cornerstone of global collaboration and strengthening civil society’s engagement and trust in science.
• Increase investments in excellence in science, researchers’ mobility, diversity, and inclusion.
• Facilitate dialogue between scientific disciplines, encourage the emergence of new scientific fields, and attract young people to science.
• Promote widespread support for freedom of scientific inquiry, collaboration, openness, equity, ethics, and science communication.

The declaration has been endorsed by numerous individuals and organizations, including 55 Nobel Laureates, highlighting its broad support within the scientific community. 

For more information on the activities of the NVBMB, see: https://nvbmb.kncv.nl