A/HRC/20/26 B. Normative content and related obligations of States 25. The normative content of the right to benefit from scientific progress and its applications includes (a) access to the benefits of science by everyone, without discrimination; (b) opportunities for all to contribute to the scientific enterprise and freedom indispensable for scientific research; (c) participation of individuals and communities in decision-making; and (d) an enabling environment fostering the conservation, development and diffusion of science and technology. 1. Access by all without discrimination 26. The right to science connotes, first of all, a right of access: scientific knowledge, information and advances must be made accessible to all, as stated in article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Access must be to science as a whole, not only to specific scientific outcomes or applications. 27. The right to have access to scientific knowledge is pivotal for the realization of the right to science. At the juncture of the right to education and the right to information, it implies a right to science education, understood as a right to be introduced to and informed about main scientific discoveries and their applications, regardless of frontiers. It also entails education instilling a spirit of scientific inquiry. 22 Popularizing science outside schooling is also important. Interesting measures such as “science week”, the introduction of “science cafés” and the opening of science museums with specific educational approaches contribute to this objective.23 28. Access to scientific information for researchers is essential. Some States have taken steps to promote such access. In Spain and the United States of America, for example, researchers principally supported through public funds must make public a digital version of their research no later than 12 months after publication.24 Germany referred to the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, which may be signed by various stakeholders. The Special Rapporteur also notes with great interest the development of open-access journals and repositories, and the importance of mandatory open-access policies implemented by some universities and research institutions, which “incorporates local research into interoperable network of global knowledge, increases impact of local research, providing new contacts and research partnerships for authors, and removes professional isolation”.25 29. Another aspect is the right to have access to scientific applications and technologies. One core principle is that innovations essential for a life with dignity should be accessible to everyone, in particular marginalized populations. The potential implications of scientific advances likely to have a significant impact on human rights, such as electricity, information and communication technologies, nanotechnology and synthetic biology, need attention.26 22 23 24 25 26 Submission by Observatoire des droits et de la diversité culturels. See submissions by Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Guatemala, Japan, Mauritius and Spain . See also the submission from Georgia. See submission by EIFL – Knowledge without boundaries, in particular pp. 3-4. See for example Anita Gurumurthy, Parminder Jeet Singh, Gurumurthy Kasinathan, “Pro-poor access to ICTs – Exploring appropriate ownership models for ICTD initiative”, available from www.itforchange.net/Pro-poor, and Thomas Alured Faunce, “Nanotechnology in global medicine and 9