Science: Joining forces to find solutions
The climate crisis, growing inequality, the digital revolution: Business and society are on the brink of profound change. In order to overcome these enormous challenges and create a sustainable world, scientific progress is vital. Innovations are not just solutions to problems, as they also contribute to the prosperity and well-being of both individuals and society as a whole.
Expanding cooperations
One important factor in generating innovation and driving progress is that science and business work closely together. The interplay between basic application-oriented research in universities and research and development in companies is crucial to accelerating the implementation of new insights and developments. This allows new ideas to be brought to market quickly and made available to people.
“Close cooperation with industry is essential for strong, practical science and its perception by the public. If joint successes and innovations are given greater prominence, this will hopefully help to shake off any lethargy, make factual knowledge and education more attractive, and give fresh impetus to progress. And in this way, we can also effectively counter the increasing skepticism about science.”
On the other hand, scientific progress is now taking place more slowly instead of faster. For example, science has increasingly tended to follow familiar paths and optimize existing knowledge, which makes disruptive breakthroughs rare. In the future, we will therefore need more freedom to pursue unconventional ideas and to be able to afford the necessary detours and sometimes even wrong turns.
More acceptance for science
What we also need is greater openness to technology and less risk aversion throughout society. This means both anchoring science more firmly in society as well as increasing its acceptance. There is a high (18 percent) to medium (54 percent) level of trust in research among the population around the world. However, skepticism towards science is on the rise again.
Scientific consensus – for example, on topics such as climate change or the theory of evolution – is often rejected. The rise in “fake news” and conspiracy theories increasingly discredits fact-based, science-oriented thinking and actions. Business can and must contribute to preserving society’s trust in science and helping it to gain more public resonance.
Fostering a spirit of innovation
As a research-based chemical company, Covestro aims to develop innovative products, technologies, and solutions that contribute to meeting the multi-faceted challenges of our time. The company is involved in broad-based research collaborations around the world, pursuing strategic partnerships with renowned universities, and promoting young academics.
Internally, Covestro relies on an innovative corporate culture and encourages the innovative spirit of all employees. The company’s culture is based on three central values: Everyone in the company always strives to be curious, courageous, and colorful.