ساختار و عملكرد انجمن هاي علمي ايران

THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF SCIENTIFIC ASSOSIATIONS IN IRAN

Many researchers and scholars believe that it would not be possible to run societies and states in the twenty-first century unless through the participation of three main pillars namely: state (government), private sector and civil society. Civil society is the main factor and indication of the development of modern societies. In other word, civil society is the main element that fills the gap between official and non-governmental sections and the real, objective realization of peopleʹs participation in the development process of each and every society. With respect to the vast and fast changes occurring in the international arena, the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are granted a unique status in the national and international decision making procedures so that due to the expansion of communication technology and therefore facilitating contacts among governments, NGOs have been showing significant growth and development both at national and international levels. As a result, their scope of activities and influence stretches form political, cultural, economic and social issues to humanitarian affairs. They have also enjoyed the position of being consultative bodies, developing recommendations, and even influencing official state negotiations. Scientific associations are among civil society institutions that play a vital role in producing knowledge and achieving scientific development. In fact, academic associations form the foundation and basic infrastructure for many independent institutes that have come to existence as requirements of the modern world, democracy and cultural interactions among mankind. These organizations mostly appear to go beyond political, racial, ethnic, religious, gender and similar boundaries and therefore establish a suitable forum for sharing thoughts, promoting the culture of dialogue for the sake of strengthening civil societies featuring rationalism, commitment, mutual understanding, freedom and justice. The most outstanding characteristics of academic associations could be identified as their independence from governments in financial and manpower resources, prompt actions, high decision making ability, limited bureaucracy and flexible mechanism, all of which results in their significant efficiency in both national and international levels.