Following the Swedish Presidency Conference ‘New Worlds - New Solutions, Research and Innovation as a Basis for Developing Europe in a Global Context' on 7-8 July 2009 in Lund, Sweden, a declaration was issued that laid out the vision that will shape the future FP8. It urges European research to move beyond its current rigid thematic approach" and focus more on the major challenges of our time, such as climate change, energy security, ageing, food supplies, global pandemics, health inequality and sustainability, and on areas where research is urgently needed.
The 400 participants in Lund including researchers and policy makers argued in favour of less territorial thinking in the research community and more cross-faculty and cross-border cooperation, which according to the Lund declaration will require restructuring to align national research funding with the European Commission's research budget, but also the reinforcement the knowledge triangle.
LUND DECLARATION July 2009
The Lund Declaration EUROPE MUST FOCUS ON THE GRAND CHALLENGES OF OUR TIME.
The global community is facing Grand Challenges. The European Knowledge Society must tackle these through the best analysis, powerful actions and increased resources. Challenges must turn into sustainable solutions in areas such as global warming, tightening supplies of energy, water and food, ageing societies, public health, pandemics and security. It must tackle the overarching challenge of turning Europe into an eco-efficient economy. To respond effectively, the European Research Area must develop processes for the identification of Grand Challenges, which gain political support and gradually move away from current thematic approaches, towards a structure where research priorities are based on these Grand Challenges. Responses to Grand Challenges should take the form of broad areas of issue-oriented research in relevant fields. Processes to ensure quality, relevance and trust will be of crucial importance for Europe´s ability to meet contemporary and future Grand Challenges and use knowledge as a tool to turn problems into opportunities and progress. Such processes have to be articulated in the context of Research, Education and Innovation communities, and be based on the understanding of the interaction between " bottom-up" and "top-down" initiated research. The development of such processes is a matter of urgency. The identification of the Grand Challenges must engage the major stakeholders including the European Institutions, business, public services, NGOs and the research community as well as interaction with major international partners. Meeting the challenges should involve public-private partnerships, including SMEs, with their potential to develop excellent and sustained problem-solving capacity. It will require Member States to develop more pro-active strategies on research priorities at regional, national and Community level. The Framework Programme for Research must also respond to these demands. Therefore the Commission and the Member States together should, based on a broad consultation process, agree on the most appropriate and efficient division of labour when designing future programmes. Meeting the Grand Challenges also requires the following:
Meeting the Grand Challenges will be a prerequisite for continued economic growth and for improved chances to tackle key issues. It will involve women and men on equal terms in the development of society and cut across social, religious, generational and cultural obstacles bringing about new possibilities and increase the well-being and quality of life for all. Europe's leadership in meeting the global challenges will make it an attractive partner in global cooperation for sustainable development. |
