"European Research Infrastructures for a smarter future" Conference

Opening Session
Welcome
Blaženka Divjak - Minister for Science and Education, Croatia
Introduction to the agenda
Croatian Presidency

Research Infrastructures and the European strategic agendas – Green Deal and Energy Transition
Setting the scene
Barbara Weitgruber – Director General for Scientific Research and International Relations at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research

Panel Discussion
Moderator: Inmaculada Figueroa – Vice Deputy Director General for the Internationalisation of Science and Innovation, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain, ESFRI Vice-Chair

Speakers:
Christos Arvanitidis – CEO, LIFEWATCH-ERIC
Sverre Quale – Director, ECCSEL ERIC
Tonci Tadic – Head of Croatian fusion unit, Ruđer Bošković Institute
Jana Kolar – Executive Director, CERIC-ERIC

The European Green Deal

The European Green Deal is the most ambitious package of measures that should enable European citizens and businesses to benefit from sustainable green transition. The measures proposed cover a number of topics: clean energy; sustainable industry; building and renovating; sustainable mobility; biodiversity; from farm to fork; eliminating pollution. The Green Deal is also an integral part of the Commission’s strategy to implement the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As part of the Green Deal, the Commission will refocus its policies to put the SDGs at the heart of the EU’s policymaking and action.

The Energy Union

In 2015, the Commission published its Communication “A Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy” which aimed at fundamentally changing Europe’s energy system. The Commission, in its fourth report on the State of the Energy Union published in 2019, recognizes the results achieved (i.e. ambitious targets for 2030 in renewable energy and energy efficiency, a regulatory framework and a vision for the policies required, promoting the creation of European value chains in emerging sectors like batteries and hydrogen) and the way forward.

The role of Research Infrastructures

In this context, Research Infrastructures are key in driving the necessary transitions toward a greener and innovative society by providing new technologies, sustainable solutions and disruptive innovation. A number of RIs have been supporting the European objectives in the fields related to the Green Deal and the Energy transition. Solar, wind, nuclear and marine energy, technological advancements in the energy storage sector and innovative studies on biological diversity and ecosystem functioning are some of the main areas in which European RIs have contributed so far. However, In order to increment the contribution of RIs in the future, there is a need for more integration between the RIs scientific agendas and European broader policies.
Moreover, now, RIs investment priorities are set mainly in the science sector, and the alignment with other sectorial policies remains indirect. The lack of integration of RIs into other sectoral policies represents a missed opportunity to fully exploit the potential of RIs in providing science-driven solutions to global challenges.

ESFRI, in its White Paper, acknowledges the strategic importance of further strengthening the coherence between European, national and regional priorities and policies for Research Infrastructures development. Furthermore, ESFRI invites the EC and the MS/AC to maximise synergies and interplay between regional funds, national funds and European programmes, hence including RIs’ investments in a wider framework of funding decisions. 

Guiding Question 
How can RIs help (also in terms of services and data provided) in the implementation of the European Green Deal and the Energy Union?

Lunch Break

Making Science Happen – a new ambition for Research Infrastructures
ESFRI White Paper presentation
Jan Hrusak – ESFRI Chair

Panel Discussion
Moderator: Johannes Klumpers - Head of Unit ‘Research and industrial infrastructures’, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission

Speakers:
Giorgio Rossi – Università degli Studi di Milano Statale, EOSC Governing Board Member
David Bohmert – Secretary General, CESAER
Sandrine Dixson-Declève – Co-President of the Club of Rome, Chair of the Expert group on the economic and societal impact of research and innovation
John Womersley - Director General at European Spallation Source ERIC, Chair of the ERIC Forum

In April 2020, ESFRI published its White Paper ‘Making Science Happen – a new ambition for Research Infrastructures in the European Research Area’. This is the result of a 15-month reflection on the state of development of the European Research Infrastructure landscape and the ways to strengthen its relevance and impact on achieving broader societal goals.

The White Paper concludes that the organisation of the RI landscape needs optimisation to address the overall objectives of the new European Research Area. ESFRI considers that the following is needed for a stronger Europe:

1. Reinforce the position of Research Infrastructures as an essential pillar of the European Research Area, forming a healthy, sustainable and integrated Research Infrastructure ecosystem that strives for scientific excellence with impact and provides transnational services, supporting education and skills development.
2. Enhance the role of Research Infrastructures as truly strategic investments across borders of sectorial domains, contributing to European strategic agendas and enabling European research and innovation to address pressing and complex societal challenges.
3. Develop and exploit the potential of European Research Infrastructures as knowledge and innovation hubs, integrated into local communities, forming the basis of European competitiveness, with regional impact and with global outreach. 
4. Further strengthen the coherence between European, national and regional priorities and policies for Research Infrastructure development and funding. 
5. Exploit the potential of Research Infrastructures as major promoters of Open Science providing FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and quality certified Open Data, supporting their contribution to the success and impact of the European Open Science Cloud and so strengthening their capacity to serve their users. 
6. Better use the potential of the ESFRI to contribute to the development of coherent Research Infrastructure policy and investment in Europe, ensuring its appropriate capacity to that end.

This represents a vision of a fully consolidated European ecosystem of Research Infrastructures, offering cross-disciplinary services and enabling their users to both pursue the greatest of scientific challenges and generate new knowledge facilitating science-led economic, social and environmental transitions, improving the everyday life of European citizens. Achieving this vision requires an integrated approach bringing together research, innovation and education, exploiting the opportunities of advanced data science, underpinned by smart, coherent policies. 

Guiding Question
What needs to be done by different actors to further consolidate the European Research Infrastructure ecosystem and increase its broader impact, as outlined in the ESFRI White Paper? 

European Research Infrastructures for a smarter future – policy panel
Moderator: Jean-Eric Paquet – Director General, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission

Speakers: 
Tome Antičić – State Secretary for Science and Education, Croatia
Dietrich Nelle – Deputy Head of Directorate-General 1 “Policy Issues and Strategies; Coordination”, Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany
Jose Paulo Esperanca – Vice-President, Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal
Jure Gašparič- State Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Slovenia
Václav Velčovský – Deputy Minister for EU Affairs and European Structural and Investment Funds, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Czech Republic

The European Research Area (ERA) was launched by the European Commission in 2000, with the idea of developing attractive opportunities for researchers within Europe. It aimed to address the problem of fragmentation of the efforts carried out at European level, to mobilise resources and create a movement towards coherence of research policies in Europe. 

As the quality of research infrastructures is decisive for our capacity to deliver scientific breakthroughs and to foster innovation, one of the key initial objectives was to develop a European approach to research infrastructure policy as a key element of the emerging European Research Area. This led to the establishment of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) in 2002. Since then, its work has radically transformed the availability of state-of-the-art facilities for researchers by making common investments easier at regional, national and European levels, reinforcing Europe’s global leadership in this field.

Given the broad agreement on the need to rapidly address the societal challenges facing Europe and the world, science has an important mission to lead and prepare the necessary economic, social and environmental transitions. The renewal of the European Research Area will be key to this mission. 

Within the framework of ESFRI, the Commission, Member States and Associated Countries as well as the scientific community have reflected together on how to foster the further development of a European research infrastructure system capable of effectively supporting the enabling role of research and innovation for achieving Europe’s wider policy goals. 

As a result of this reflection, the ESFRI White Paper suggests that the following is needed for a stronger Europe:

1. Reinforce the position of Research Infrastructures as an essential pillar of the European Research Area, forming a healthy, sustainable and integrated Research Infrastructure ecosystem that strives for scientific excellence with impact and provides transnational services, supporting education and skills development.
2. Enhance the role of Research Infrastructures as truly strategic investments across borders of sectorial domains, contributing to European strategic agendas and enabling European research and innovation to address pressing and complex societal challenges.
3. Develop and exploit the potential of European Research Infrastructures as knowledge and innovation hubs, integrated into local communities, forming the basis of European competitiveness, with regional impact and with global outreach. 
4. Further strengthen the coherence between European, national and regional priorities and policies for Research Infrastructure development and funding. 
5. Exploit the potential of Research Infrastructures as major promoters of Open Science providing FAIR (data which meet principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability) and quality certified Open Data, supporting their contribution to the success and impact of the European Open Science Cloud and so strengthening their capacity to serve their users. 
6. Better use the potential of the ESFRI to contribute to the development of coherent Research Infrastructure policy and investment in Europe, ensuring its appropriate capacity to that end.

Guiding Questions
•    What are the most important directions for the development of Research Infrastructures in Europe? 
•     How can the renewed European Research Area reinforce the global leadership of European Research Infrastructures in pursuit of solutions for the most pressing societal challenges?