Experimental local action for EU missions: knowledge institutions as focal points of transdisciplinary research and innovation activities with European outreach

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Research outputs are taken up in the context of an EU Mission and contribute to the achievement of the Mission’s objectives.
• Universities, other higher education institutions and research institutes – including those not participating in the actions – develop their roles as designers and managers of transdisciplinary[1] research and innovation projects, knowledge transfer hubs and enablers of just transitions in the context of the EU Missions.
• The strategies of universities, other higher education institutions and research institutes to contribute to EU Missions developed along the axes of ‘research and innovation’, ‘education, training and skills’ and ‘public engagement and societal impact’.

The EU Missions on cancer, climate adaptation, climate neutral cities, oceans and soil pursue objectives agreed between Member States and the European Commission in the context of the European Green Deal and health policies. Sustainably managing common-pool resources and the provision of public goods (here taken together ‘the Commons’) are an important dimension in the EU Missions. Unlike technology development or scientific progress, for societal transitions and missions that relate to environmental and social Commons, scholars consider small-scale multistakeholder activities within a local or regional innovation ecosystem to be crucial for the non-technological innovation processes[2].

Such innovation ecosystems for transformative change include non-commercial stakeholders like civil society and administrations.

Such intensive transdisciplinary interactions are required, for example, for effective spatial planning and community action for increasing resilience to climate change, or for better services of prevention, early detection and care for cancer in vulnerable groups of society. To be effective such transdisciplinary research and innovation actions need a strong scientific lead in its design and operations in order to draw scientifically sound conclusions. The experience gathered and conclusions drawn must be taken up locally to create impact, for example in training courses, in by-laws for land management or in targeted support to entrepreneurship. The topic acknowledges the potential of local and regional collaborative, transdisciplinary action in research and innovation for the EU Missions and the value of sharing of data, innovative approaches, and experience in designing and managing local transdisciplinary research and innovation actions with other regions engaging in the Missions.

Higher education institutions, universities and research institutes are key players for these actions. They already provide diverse services to stakeholders in their local region, including: lifelong learning courses and applied research that take account of the specific needs and opportunities of businesses and industries; research activities in the social sciences and humanities investigate cultural preferences; start-up ecosystems build around them, complemented by citizens’ science; and science outreach activities engage citizens of all ages. At the same time, students and researchers participate in international networks and transfer knowledge to and from the region.

For these reasons, universities, other higher education institutions and research institutes receive recognition and trust from public administration and public services, civil society, education, the private sector and other diverse stakeholders in their home region for their role as impartial, competent and knowledge-based actors for the co-creation of fair and inclusive innovation processes. This puts them in a good position to undertake collaborative, transdisciplinary research and innovation activities in their local context and enables them to play multiple, important roles in the realisation of the objectives of the Green Deal and the EU Missions.

Proposals should therefore support transdisciplinary research and innovation activities by one or more higher education institution(s), university(-ies) or research institute(s) together with regional stakeholders in support of the objectives of one of the EU Missions.

The proposal should aim to implement, for the benefit of a specific location or region in an EU Member States or countries associated to Horizon Europe, a research and innovation action that:

The action provides the opportunity to integrate as partners in the project non-local entities that contribute to the project with special knowledge or capacities otherwise absent in the region. To increase the European added value, projects have to foresee activities active engagement in the learning environments created by the relevant Mission platforms[3]. This should be reflected in the projects’ communication and dissemination activities and is considered an integral part of the expected impact of the project.

Activities should aim to have tangible local or regional impact for one of the EU Missions, arising from the full integration of different academic disciplines in interaction with local stakeholders in the activities on the ground, for example in moderated or supervised experimentation and citizens’ science activities in communities, in living labs or in regulatory testbeds.

Insights created from these experimental activities should be taken up locally by stakeholders, for example in teaching and training activities, or in specific funding schemes for deployment and replication of innovations implemented by philanthropic funders, or commercial or development banks. Methods and results of the projects should be propagated in the wider Mission context to academic and non-academic stakeholders.

Financial support to third parties may be provided, for example to cover the costs of experimental actions conducted by civil organisations or neighbourhoods, or for a local start-up support centre to provide seed funding for an innovative commercial activity that directly supports the objectives of the Mission. In order to achieve a close interaction of the regional and European dimension in the EU Missions, cooperation with relevant Horizon Europe National Contact Points is encouraged.

[1] The term ‘transdisciplinary research’ is used in the sense of ‘an approach that integrates knowledge across academic disciplines and involves collaboration with non-academic stakeholders to address societal challenges.’ (Utrecht University, ‘Transdisciplinary field guide’). For a wider ranging discussion, see Lawrence M et.al; (2022) Characteristics, potentials, and challenges of transdisciplinary research. One Earth Volume 5, Issue 1, pp. 44-61, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.12.010.

[2] For an overview on the relevant theories and developments see: Mariana Mazzucato (04 Dec 2023): Governing the economics of the common good: from correcting market failures to shaping collective goals, Journal of Economic Policy Reform, DOI: 10.1080/17487870.2023.2280969

Climate Mission: Climate ADAPT (https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/mission); Cities Mission: Net Zero Cities (https://netzerocities.eu); Ocean & waters Mission: Mission Ocean and Waters service portal | Research and Innovation (europa.eu) Soil Mission: Mission Soil Platform (https://mission-soil-platform.ec.europa.eu/home); CancerMission – ECHoS - Cancer Missions Hubs (cancermissionhubs.eu)

[3] Climate Mission: Climate ADAPT (https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/mission); Cities Mission: Net Zero Cities (https://netzerocities.eu); Ocean & waters Mission: Mission Ocean and Waters service portal | Research and Innovation (europa.eu) Soil Mission: Mission Soil Platform (https://mission-soil-platform.ec.europa.eu/home); CancerMission – ECHoS - Cancer Missions Hubs (cancermissionhubs.eu)

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