Scoping Paper for. Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 'Europe in a changing world inclusive, innovative and reflective societies'

Transcription

1 Scoping Paper for Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 'Europe in a changing world inclusive, innovative and reflective societies' 1. Context Important Notice: Working Document This paper is a working document. It is sent to the Programme Committee for the Horizon 2020 Specific Programme for discussion in the context of the preparation of the Horizon 2020 Work Programme As such, information and descriptions of activities indicated in this document may not appear in the adopted Work Programme , and likewise, new elements may be introduced. The European Union is currently faced with manifold challenges within and beyond its borders. Internally, growing inequality undermines its potential to create prosperity and provide stability. Six million people lost their job during the crisis, eighty million people are at risk of poverty and fourteen million youth are not in education, employment or training. The innovation divide is evident, private investment in research and innovation is falling short of the target, while there is a growing brain drain mostly from regions strongly hit by the crisis and the austerity that followed. Externally, the Union s neighbourhood has become an area of high risk with an increasing number of open conflicts. Developments like the crisis in Ukraine and the increasing influence of radical Islam in the Middle East put the EU s reactive capacity to a test. They pose immediate threats to Europe s security and trigger immigration that puts pressure on its external borders. While this context demonstrates a need to reflect on the past to better understand the emergent instability and risks, it also provides the opportunity to actively contribute to shaping more inclusive, innovative and reflective societies that empower and protect all citizens in Europe. This requires the development of a long-term vision and pathways to support policy makers and private actors to deliver on it. Horizon 2020 has the scope and breadth to take on this task. New ideas and forms of innovation emerge in our societies and show promising means to do so. Modes of economic organisation relying on creativity and collaboration are driven by continuously increasing interconnections between all societal actors and have further been triggered as a response to the crisis. In many European cities and communities, citizens, together with public and private sectors, are co-creating the future through new solutions that have the potential to ensure sustainability, participatory governance, openness and transparency in public administration and social cohesion. Internally in the Union, this process could lead to more inclusive societies, through greater engagement of all the involved parties. On the other hand, for the Union's role in the world, external risks can be faced effectively, and the external opportunities can be better realised, if the European Union s foreign policy players possess insightful knowledge and are fully empowered to jointly address risks. This scoping paper draws largely from the report by the SC6 Advisory Group (AG) composed of 30 members with various professional backgrounds, whose work is gratefully 1 P a g e

2 acknowledged. Various workshops, consultations with stakeholders, including reports from expert reviewers and the ERA Progress Report also contributed to it. 1 The proposed Research and Innovation activities largely transcend the thematic choices included in WP , which focusses on Overcoming the crisis by analysing new strategies and governance structures for Europe (Call EURO) and integrating the young generation in a more innovative, inclusive and sustainable Europe (Call YOUNG). It also addresses new forms of innovation (Call INSO) and Europe s cultural heritage and identities (Call REFLECTIVE). Finally, emphasis is given to strengthening Europe s research and innovation capacities and to its impact on strategic regions of the world (Call INT). 2. Strategic orientations for Under the Work Programme the challenge Europe in a changing world inclusive, innovative and reflective societies will prioritise three complementary actions. The priorities proposed are well anchored in both current political and scientific agendas, addressing pressing societal problems that require immediate action. First, Europe is facing the need to find untapped sources of growth and employment, renewing the legitimacy of public policy-making, especially through greater citizens involvement, and of delivering better public services for all. These issues need to be understood and addressed in order for Europe to progress at socio-economic, political, educational and cultural levels, taking into account an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. To do so it is proposed to focus on co-creation for growth: engaging citizens, academia, public authorities, businesses and social entrepreneurs in processes that span from identifying problems to delivering solutions. The potential for innovation through co-creation in all sectors of society is widely recognized and the current socio-economic context provides for manifold opportunities to fully exploit it. Second, large disparities in human and social capacities are counterproductive to a sustainable and creative economy and participatory governance. They jeopardize economic growth while threatening the very foundations of democracy in Europe. For more inclusive societies to take shape in the medium term perspective, coherent visions will need to be devised on how to foster an economic framework that promotes fairness and sustainability in Europe as key policy objectives, while respecting the continent s diversity. 2 That is why reversing inequalities and promoting fairness is a second axis of priority. The rise in inequalities comprises hitherto unknown quantitative and qualitative dimensions: in the wake of the financial and economic crisis, highly increased levels of inequality (e.g. income and wealth concentration) can be detected alongside novel types of inequalities (e.g. debt inequality). These recent trends will need to be fully understood and effectively tackled through comprehensive Research and Innovation activities. 1 Among the stakeholder consultations, the following ones can be highlighted: epractice, Social Polis, INNOSERV workshops, consultation with CSAs supported under FP7 under the Networks of Incubators for social innovation (Benisi, Transition) and Networks of Public Procurers, recent public consultations and conferences (e.g. Innovation convention 2014, High Level egovernment Conference 2011 and 2013, Social Inequalities in Europe 2014, 'Digital Venice' in 2014, ERAC and ERA-related groups). 1 2 See Jean-Claude Juncker. A New Start for Europe: My Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change. Political Guidelines for the next European Commissioner. Strasbourg, 15 July P a g e

3 Third, the global environment in which the EU operates is constantly evolving. Recent developments show just how dynamically the strategic and geopolitical contexts are changing. Given the geographical proximity of many of these developments, they pose severe security threats to the EU, and represent intricate challenges, but also opportunities to its foresight, risk analysis and reactive capacities. In such turbulent times, greater emphasis should be placed on fostering new types of actions that allow for engaging together globally. Success in the three domains will imply adapting today s economic models. Indeed, understanding, enabling and applying co-creation will result in new economic and business models that are participatory and sustainable due to their ability to engage innovators from the whole of society and all economic sectors, turning the users to active co-creators of the new solutions. Co-creation will contribute also to building more open, transparent and efficient public administrations that mobilise partnerships with civil society and the public sector so that all resources and talents engage in innovative solutions. Moreover, companies, especially SMEs will benefit from co-creation by strengthening creativity and design. Understanding and addressing inequalities and promoting fairness will provide grounds for greater societal cohesion and growth potential, while deeper insights into the EU s global engagement can boost its potential for greater presence and impact on the global stage. Politically, co-creation has been highlighted as a priority for strengthening the innovation ecosystem of the Union in the Communication on Research and Innovation as sources of renewed growth. 3 The Strategic Agenda for the Union in Times of Change as set out in the June 2014 European Council conclusions emphasises jobs, growth and competitiveness, which are to be promoted inter alia by completing the digital single market and focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation. They also underline international risks and opportunities. Moreover, President Juncker prioritised jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change in his Political Guidelines. Scientifically, the co-creation call addresses three of the five thematic priorities ("big tickets") proposed by the AG 4, while the other two calls on inequalities and global engagement address the remaining two priorities. 3. Translation into calls The strategic orientations described in the previous sections translate into three calls. Together they support a resilient and agile Europe. They also draw on the consultation of multiple stakeholders and they largely transcend Research and Innovation activities financed under WP Call 'Co-creation for growth' This call has a wide scope and high impact. To address many of the challenges Europe is currently facing, it is essential that societal actors join forces. 3 COM (2014) 339 final 4 Promoting a collaborative, creative and sustainable economy", "Building an open, engaging and innovative public sector" and Understanding Europe The changing role of European culture and societies. 3 P a g e

4 Co-creation is the active flow of information and ideas among different sectors of society (academia, government at all levels, business, third sector and citizens) which allows for a better understanding of participation, engagement and empowerment when developing policy and programmes, creating and improving services and tackling systemic change within each dimension of society. Through engaging citizens to redesign and remake their cities and communities together with businesses, public authorities, universities and all stakeholders, co-creation can lead to citizen empowerment, jobs creation through innovation, more efficient and effective public administration and strengthening democracy through open government. Co-creation can increase the innovation capacity of all sectors, by increasing the sources for new ideas, and facilitating cross-fertilisation through knowledge and experience sharing. Through the coproduction of services with citizens and business, co-creation can reduce costs and build on design driven ideas and testing of new solutions. This call will address different dimensions of the challenge: understanding co-creation, enabling innovation through co-creation, supporting its application in different areas, and building ecosystems fostering co-creation. Enhancing and reaping the societal and economic potential of co-creation Co-creation builds on new forms of constructive interaction among key actors in modern societies, involving especially citizens, the market and the state. A key challenge consists in organizing the collaboration between these actors in order to share information, knowledge and other relevant resources. To be able to empower co-creation, understanding, comparing testing and piloting different actors predispositions, interests and interdependencies is of crucial importance. To scale up successful initiatives and to achieve real impact, businesses, public administrations and third sector (NGO, non-profits etc.) need to adopt appropriate architectures, organisational and process changes. New knowledge is needed on how co-creation takes place, starting from how citizens engage and the preconditions to facilitate the co-creation processes. It is necessary to understand if and how citizens are predisposed and interested in partaking in these processes, under which conditions they are and with what type of investment. It is also necessary to support testing and piloting of co-creation in different environments (cities, learning spaces etc.) to learn what succeeds and what fails and under what conditions. A crucial area for co-creation is education. New approaches and training systems should be developed, piloted and scaled up in order to provide skills for innovation and entrepreneurship (idea generation, problem solving, critical thinking, and cross-cultural communication), enabling younger people to better cope with the labour market of tomorrow. Furthermore, reforming learning processes through active engagement with the young, the teachers, the public and private sectors would help co-shaping future activities. There is a need to power innovation through co-creation within the public sector in order to unlock radical productivity improvements and efficiency gains, foster the creation of more public value and provide a better response to societal challenges. Opening the service delivery process and the policy-making to citizen participation could result in public services and 4 P a g e

5 policies that better address user expectations and needs. Open data and services could be used to co-create user-friendly, personalised and proactive public services that lower the administrative burden and improve the user experience. New, open and collaborative governance models are needed to better exploit the possibilities opened by technologies, human and social capital. It is therefore important to identify the enabling factors for the co-creation of a new generation of public services and policies and test and scale up new solutions. In order to achieve real impact, the roles of businesses and the third sector in co-creation need to be analysed and new approaches for scaling up socially led solutions and social innovations, including in social services, need to be tested and further supported. Research and innovation actions can help to identify the factors and conditions that enable and motivate businesses and third sector organizations to take part in co-creation processes and the barriers that prevent them. The three sectors can link up and use technological or non-technological solutions, including new co-design methods and processes in in all domains (public, social, private), as well as in a cross-border context, creating new jobs and new businesses while providing efficiency gains and cost savings for the public administration. Understanding the past, co-creating the future: cultural heritage, creativity and design One specific and important area in which co-creation has an immense potential in Europe relates to the continent s rich cultural heritage and its use. In contemporary societies, citizens and diverse communities claim an active role in defining, reinterpreting and managing culture and cultural heritage. To understand and promote processes of co-creation in this domain, trans-disciplinary research is needed for providing a comprehensive framework for the risk assessment, preservation and participatory management of cultural resources, based on a holistic, societal understanding of culture and cultural heritage. Cultural institutions (museums, archives, libraries, etc.) are cornerstones as content providers and experimentation labs of the digital revolution in culture and cultural heritage. Research and Innovation actions should therefore support new ways to further develop their role of cultural service providers (reaching out to local, national and international communities) and hubs of social innovation. In order to deepen the understanding of cultural expressions and support the innovative approaches that will generate new knowledge, to create added value for society from cultural heritage and respond to the need to communicate European culture in a multi-cultural society, new affordable and efficient ICT services must be made available. They will not only facilitate the analysis and interpretation of digital cultural resources, improve the accessibility of reference collections and support the integration of cultural heritage information from different locations, but also connect people to heritage, foster exchanges and co-operation among cultural institutions, academia, individuals and communities, stimulating their own creativity. ICT revolutionises the way cultural digital resources are created, disseminated, preserved and (re-)used. It empowers different types of users to engage with cultural digital resources, for example through web discovery interfaces representing a wealth of information from collections (archives, museums etc.) enabling their re-use and re-purposing according to users' needs and inputs. New heritage in our society is co-created through social media reporting and at the same time shaping events as they happen. Virtual Museums create a personalised, 5 P a g e

6 immersive, interactive way to enhance our understanding of cultural heritage, while attracting new and remote audiences. In addition design (of products, processes and services) and creativity will contribute to getting good ideas to market and to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth through increased competitiveness. Participative and evidence-based policy-making, including R&I policies and Science 2.0 Improved policy making requires an evidence base to support reforms by measuring the impact and outcomes of policies, including through comparative analyses and foresight. This will enable governments to better determine how and where to invest and support priority reforms to improve quality and efficiency of public spending. Empowering stakeholder groups in co-creation of public policy-making may lead to new forms of collaboration, such as mass collaboration over online platforms. This area contributes to growth through co-creation by improving the quality of policies; enabling policy-makers to better understand the vast amount of information and data collectively produced in modern societies. It will examine how evidence-based policymaking, experimentation methodologies, policy-modelling, big data, ICT-enabled public policy co-creation and monitoring could benefit from social sciences and humanities tools to develop a deep understanding of how public policy and services interact with citizens. It will further contribute to the testing of new solutions that can be founded on sound evidence. Research and Innovation policy will be informed through the actions in this area, such as benchmarking R&I systems performance and impact on economic growth and improvement of the economic analysis of R&I policies and systems in Europe, development of statistics, indicators, and applied economic models for policy-making. Furthermore, to identify and assess new R&I challenges, opportunities and evolutions and improve policy formulation and strategic planning, foresight and expert advice will be generated through co-creation processes and dedicated monitoring activities will be supported. One potentially important actor in co-creation processes is the academic world itself, where co-creation can contribute to the European Research Area and to developing Science 2.0. In the context of Science 2.0, the role of citizens as founders and 'agenda setters' for scientific research will be also addressed, as well as the challenges, implications and opportunities offered by open access to research data. New activities will cover actions enabling ERA leverage, further alignment of national research systems and mapping of the ERA that goes beyond the scope of joint programming initiatives, covering the entire spectrum of Horizon 2020's societal challenges and increasing the visibility and ownership of ERA. For the further implementation of ERA into new types of research and innovation policies it is of great importance that new players are involved to reflect society's needs. 3.2 Call 'Reversing inequalities' Inequalities are on the rise in the EU, as the European Council observed in its Strategic Agenda for the Union in Times of Change of June To reverse inequalities, research and innovation activities at the EU level are needed to comprehend the various novel and interwoven forms and expressions of inequalities and to develop ideas and actions to tackle 5 Reversing inequalities is a key objective of priority 2 A Union that empowers and protects all citizens, in: European Council (2014) Strategic Agenda for the Union in Times of Change. 26/27 June P a g e

7 their roots through innovative, cross-country and cross-disciplinary contributions. Such activities are broadly anchored in the Inclusive Societies pillar of Societal Challenge 6, but have also an immense potential for linkages with other components of Horizon 2020 (e.g. in the areas of health, climate change or energy). This call has the objective of understanding and explaining old and new forms of inequalities, while developing and testing innovative actions facilitating social, economic and political inclusion in a medium and long term perspective through action in the following areas. In view of recent trends, it is important to engage in research actions that allow for understanding and explaining contemporary forms, sources and impacts of inequalities in modern European societies and beyond. There is a clear need to re-think the conditions for and constraints on equality and to understand new kinds of inequalities under conditions of globalisation (e.g. relative poverty), with a special emphasis on the spatial, educationrelated, age and gender aspects of such inequalities. Moreover, the consequences of increased levels and diverse forms of inequalities need to be studied, notably with regard to democratic life and civic culture (e.g. social unrest, political apathy, extremism) as well as social participation (e.g. increased xenophobic behaviour and exclusive ideologies). European inequality trends should be compared to those prevalent in other parts of the world. Based on a sound understanding of inequality trends, policies and measures aimed at reversing various kinds of inequalities need to be examined. Different options for policies and measures (e.g. tax policy, public service innovation, welfare state reforms, employment policies) should be identified and their usefulness be compared. Specific emphasis should be given to the objective of reversing territorial inequalities and remedying spatial exclusion, the conditions enabling comprehensive urban policies, the mobile provision of social services and an equal access to ICT use. Moreover, the role and development of policy instruments, social and technological innovations that can break the pattern of education-related inequalities require attention, while also examining the impact of institutions and resistance to change. To develop and test out solutions to the rise of inequalities, multiple mechanisms of inclusive innovation need to be enabled and applied. Inclusive innovation involves the affordable access to goods and services for excluded populations. Research and innovation can help to identify the facilitating factors for a successful deployment of forms of inclusive innovation. In this context, the potential of inclusive ICT innovation to combat inequalities should equally be explored and piloted, notably through enabling more equal access to public or health services or facilitating e-learning. Furthermore, ICTs are changing people s lives in a pervasive manner. For that reason, ensuring responsible innovation in ICT-related R&I requires harnessing social sciences and humanities beyond the mere study of its ethical, legal and social implications in a proactive, affirmative manner. 3.3 Call 'Engaging together globally' Europe is increasingly confronted with the turbulence of global and regional changes. As the Specific Programme acknowledges in its part on Societal Challenge 6 6, Research and 6 Societal Challenge 6 Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies contains a section Europe s role as a global actor. 7 P a g e

8 Innovation have an important role to play in understanding and addressing these complex changes. By strengthening the knowledge base about EU global activity, they enable better anticipative capacities and enacting swift responses drawing on the entire set of available foreign policy tools. Its ultimate objective is thus to contribute to enhancing the EU s global presence and impact on the emerging 21 st century world order through research in a select number of domains. While the EU is externally engaged vis-à-vis many actors and in a vast array of policy fields, this call will concentrate on a set of highly pressing issues identified as priorities by the European Council in its Strategic Agenda for the Union in Times of Change of June Each of these themes has strong potential for linkages with other components of Horizon 2020, especially SC 7. To better anticipate and address challenges in key regions, it is essential to maximise the EU s clout in global affairs. Research activities will, on one hand, look into the best means of ensuring consistency between Member States and EU foreign policy goals and instruments, including a strategic use of the tools of EU external trade policy. To ensure EU presence world-wide, its engagement with strategic partners needs to be assessed with the aim of promoting stability, prosperity and democracy in its neighbourhood specifically, and of identifying opportunities for cooperation around issues of mutual concern more generally (e.g. energy, climate change). On the other hand, maximising its clout also presupposes understanding Europe in a global context and its historical and cultural legacy. This entails a thorough reflection about the evolving role of European values as compared to American, Asian or African values and how these values have historically shaped and can co-shape an emerging global discourse on the meaning and direction of economics, politics and policies, artistic practices and human life in general. Based on a thorough assessment of the EU s capacities, research will help develop EU security and defence cooperation by identifying the political, socio-economic, cultural and technological conditions that hinder effective cooperation, and pointing to possible solutions, synergies and consequences when it comes to developing the EU s civilian and military capabilities. Specific emphasis needs to be given to the Union s capacities for risk assessment and crisis management, including the contexts in which these need to be deployed, so as to enable it to live up to its full potential. A third important challenge lies in understanding global migration patterns and addressing migration to the EU. Research will help to understand the root causes of changing migratory patterns, and to identify policy options on how to address migration to the EU in a politically, socially and economically sustainable and humane manner. To support research on the EU s role as a global actor, it is also imperative to implement the Commission s strategy for international cooperation in Research and Innovation. It should be supported by strengthening: (i) communication, consultation and awareness raising to promote the position of Europe on the global scene, attract international partners to Horizon 2020 and enhance research exchanges and dialogue also as a support to EU external policies, 7 The Strategic Agenda notes that the following four objectives under the heading The Union as a strong global actor are to be key in the years ahead : (i) maximise the EU s clout; (ii) be a strong partner in our neighbourhood; (iii); engage our global strategic partners, and (iv) develop security and defence cooperation. The Agenda also stresses a better management of migration, including through better cooperation with third countries and a modern management of the EU s external borders 8 P a g e

9 e.g. through science diplomacy; and (ii) the innovation dimension of international cooperation and the EU s position on the global Research and Innovation scene through specific actions such as a pilot scheme to set up European Innovation Centres or a follow-up to the R2I (Research to Innovation) scheme. 9 P a g e