Science & Policy
What’s on the EU's agenda?
April 2017
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
Strategy and Work Programme Coordination
Interinstitutional, International Relations & Outreach
SCIENCE & POLICY: WHAT'S ON THE EU'S AGENDA?
1 April 2017
The DG JRC's monthly briefing to the scientific community, N° 57
Table of Contents
1. Activities of the European Institutions
3
1.1 European Commission
3
1.2 Council
3
1.3 European Parliament
4
1.4 Committee of the Regions (CoR)
9
1.5 European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
10
1.6 International Relations
10
2. Conferences & Meetings
11
2.1 DG JRC Conferences and Meetings
11
2.2 Further European Conferences and Meetings
12
2.3 International Conferences
15
3. DG JRC News
18
February Highlights
18
Correspondence:
Strategy and Work Programme Coordination
Interinstitutional, International Relations & Outreach– DG JRC
European Commission, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11
Office: CDMA 05/155
[email protected]
Prepared by Elisebha Fabienne Platzer
2
1. Activities of the European Institutions
1.1 European Commission
Date
3 April
Event
College Meeting
Subject
Among others: Exchange of views to prepare the two discussion
documents, as a follow-up to the White Paper on the Future of
Europe, and concerning the social dimension of Europe and the
deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union by 2025
All meetings of the College of Commissioners
1.2 Council
Date
Event
Venue/Location
3 April
Agriculture and Fisheries Council
Luxembourg
3 April
Foreign Affairs Council
Luxembourg
3-4 April
Informal meeting of employment, social policy and health ministers
4-5 April
International ministerial meeting
6 April
Valletta, Malta
Brussels
Informal meeting of competitiveness ministers
Valletta, Malta
7-8 April
Informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers
Valletta, Malta
25 April
General Affairs Council
Luxembourg
25-26 April
Informal meeting of environment ministers
Valletta, Malta
26-27 April
Informal meeting of defence ministers
Valletta, Malta
3
27 April
28-29 April
29 April
General Affairs Council
Luxembourg
Informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers - Gymnich
Special European Council
Valletta, Malta
Brussels
All meetings of the Council
1.3 European Parliament
Plenary Sessions
Date
3-6 April
Event
EP Plenary
Subjects
Venue/Location
Among others: Negotiations with the United
Kingdom following its notification that it
intends to withdraw from the European Union;
European Solidarity Corps; trafficking in
human beings; palm oil and deforestation of
rainforests; fraudulent practices in the
Brazilian meat sector; characteristics for
fishing vessels; inquiry into emission
measurements in the automotive sector;
approval and market surveillance of motor
vehicles and their trailers, and of systems,
components and separate technical units
intended for such vehicles; state of play of the
second review of the economic adjustment
programme for Greece- Council and
Commission statements; medical devices;
addressing refugee and migrant movements:
the role of EU External Action; MFF revision;
hate speech, populism, and fake news on
social media-towards an EU response;
wholesale roaming markets; situation in
Venezuela-Commission statement; adequacy
of the protection afforded by the EU-US
privacy Shield-Commission statement; 2016
report on the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia; International Roma Day; Debates
on cases of breaches of human rights,
democracy
and
the
rule
of
law;
Recommendation to Council about the
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW);
Strasbourg
4
26-27 April
Among others: State of play in Turkey, in
particular with regard to the constitutional
referendum- statement by the Vice-President
of the Commission/High Representative of the
Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Decision adopted on the European Pillar of
Social Rights and related initiativesCommission statement; Structural Reform
Support Programme for 2017-2020; European
Year of Cultural Heritage; agreement between
the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway on
an EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021;
increase in Norwegian duties on agricultural
products/recent negotiations on the fish trade
protocol; implementation of the Mining Waste
Directive; management of fishing fleets in the
outermost regions; EU flagship initiative on the
garment sector; road transport in the EUCommission statement; Annual Report on the
financial activities of the European Investment
Bank; Annual Report on the control of the
financial activities of the European Investment
Bank for 2015; Annual report 2014 on
subsidiarity and proportionality
Brussels
Committee on Economic
and Monetary Affairs
Among others: European Central Bank Annual
Report for 2016; general budget of the
European Union for the financial year 2018 all sections; towards a pan-European covered
bonds framework;
Brussels
Committee on
Constitutional Affairs
Among others: Composition of the European
Parliament; legitimate measures to protect
whistle-blowers acting in the public interest
when disclosing the confidential information
of companies and public bodies
Brussels
Committee on Foreign
Affairs
Among others: Exchange of views on the
situation in Syria; exchange of views with
Igor Crndak, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Bosnia and Herzegovina; exchange of views
with Valentin Inzko, UN High Representative
for Bosnia and Herzegovina; European Fund
for Sustainable Development (EFSD) and
establishing the EFSD Guarantee and the
EFSD Guarantee Fund;
Brussels
EP Plenary
Committee Meetings
10 April
11 April
10-11 April
5
Among others: EU action for sustainability;
exchange of views with Mr Hans Bruyninckx,
Executive Director of the European
Environment Agency (EEA);
HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Hepatitis C;
Brussels
Committee on Transport
and Tourism
Among others: Digitising European industry;
safety rules and standards for passenger
ships; European Agenda for the collaborative
economy; promotion of Internet connectivity
in local communities; internet connectivity for
growth, competitiveness and cohesion:
European gigabit society and 5G;
Brussels
Committee on Civil
Liberties, Justice and
Home Affairs
Among others:
Establishment of 'Eurodac'
for the comparison of fingerprints for the
effective application of Regulation (EU) No
604/2013, for identifying an illegally staying
third-country national or stateless person and
on requests for the comparison with Eurodac
data by Member States' law enforcement
authorities and Europol for law enforcement
purposes (recast);
Report from the
Commission to the European Parliament and
the Council on the application of, and
delegation of power under, Regulation (EU)
98/2013 of the European Parliament and of
the Council on the marketing and use of
explosives
precursors;
Commission
Recommendation on making returns more
effective when implementing the Directive
2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council; Communication from the
Commission to the European Parliament and
the Council on a more effective return policy
in the European Union- A renewed Action
Plan;
Agreement on Operational and
Strategic Cooperation between the Kingdom
of Denmark and Europol;
Brussels
Subcommittee on Human
Rights
Among others: Hearing on child marriages;
addressing human rights violations in the
context of war crimes, and crimes against
humanity, including genocide; corruption and
human rights in third countries; exchange of
views with Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Special
Representative for Human Rights;
Brussels
Committee on the
10-11 April
Environment, Public Health
and Food Safety
10-11 April
11-12 April
11-12 April
6
11-12 April
11-12 April
11-12 April
11-12 April
Subcommittee on Security
and Defence
Among others: With the Council and
Commission and EEAS: The future of
conventional arms control in Europe; a Space
Strategy for Europe; mission support platform:
a first step towards a Shared Services Centre?
The war in Syria and the situation following
the recent chemical attack in Idlib province;
Private Security Companies; review of EU's
crisis management structures and civilmilitary coordination;
Brussels
Committee on Employment
and Social Affairs
Among others: Social protection and the
Commission proposal on coordination of
social security systems;
establishing a
common framework for European statistics
relating to persons and households, based on
data at individual level collected from
samples; control of spending and monitoring
of EU Youth Guarantee schemes costeffectiveness;
Brussels
Committee on Agriculture
and Rural Development
Among others: Exchange of views with the
Executive Director of the European Food and
Safety Authority (EFSA), Dr Bernhard Url, on
recent and current EFSA activities relevant for
the agricultural sector; 'The consequences of
climate change policies for EU agriculture.
Follow-up to the COP21- UN Paris Climate
Change Conference'; Presentation by Phil
Wynn Owen, Member of the European Court
of Auditors, of Special Report No 31/2016:
Spending at least one euro in every five from
the EU budget on climate action: ambitious
work underway, but at serious risk of falling
short; organic production and labelling of
organic products; integrated farm statistics;
Brussels
Committee on Legal
Affairs
Among others: Three-dimensional printing, a
challenge in the fields of intellectual property
rights and civil liability; online platforms and
the Digital Single Market;
cross-border
exchange between the Union and third
countries of accessible format copies of
certain works and other subject-matter
protected by copyright and related rights for
the benefit of persons who are blind, visually
impaired or otherwise print disabled;
Brussels
7
Committee on Women's
Rights and Gender Equality
Among others:
The EU accession to the
Council of Europe Convention on preventing
and combating violence against women and
domestic violence
Brussels
11-12 April
Committee on Budgetary
Control
Among others:
The implementation of the
European Fund for Strategic Investments;
extension of the duration of the European
Fund for Strategic Investments as well as the
introduction of technical enhancements for
that Fund and the European Investment
Advisory Hub; European Fund for Sustainable
Development (EFSD) and establishing the
EFSD Guarantee and the EFSD Guarantee
Fund; ECA Special Report 5/2017 (Discharge
2016): Youth employment- have EU policies
made a difference? An assessment of the
Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment
Initiative; new funding arrangements between
the EU and the World Bank and its effects on
the EU Budget
Brussels
24-25 April
Committee on Regional
Development
11-12 April
24-25 April
24-25 April
Agenda to be consulted on website
Brussels
Committee on Budgets
Among
others:
Union
Resettlement
Framework; Mobilisation of the European
Globalisation Adjustment Fund following an
application from Finland- EGF/2016/008
FI/Nokia Network Systems; Monitoring Group
on the
implementation of
selected
instruments in Heading 4 'Global Europe';
2017 Budget; building policy
Brussels
Committee on Industry,
Research and Energy
Among others: Joint meeting of ITRE and
IMCO on "Online Platforms and the Digital
Single Market: Opportunities and Challenges
for Europe"; rules on the exercise of copyright
and related rights applicable to certain online
transmissions of broadcasting organisations
and retransmissions of television and radio
programmes; risk-preparedness in the
electricity sector; European Union Agency for
the Cooperation of Energy Regulators;
a
Space Strategy for Europe; assessment of
Horizon 2020 implementation in view of its
interim evaluation and the Framework
Programme 9 proposal; ITRE Priorities in
2018 Budget; common rules for the internal
market in electricity; exchange of views with
Energy Community
Brussels
8
24-25 April
24-25 April
24-26 April
Committee on the Internal
Market and Consumer
Protection
Among others:
Online Platforms and the
Digital Single Market; copyright in the Digital
Single Market;
exchange of views with
Commissioner Andrus ANSIP, responsible for
Digital Single Market; exchange of views with
Elżbieta
Bieńkowska,
Commissioner
responsible for Internal Market, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and SMEs; exchange of
views with Commissioner Věra Jourová,
responsible for Justice, consumers, gender
equality
Brussels
Committee on Culture and
Education
Among others: Coordination of certain
provisions laid down by law, regulation or
administrative action in Member States
concerning the provision of audio-visual
media services in view of changing market
realities; exchange of views on Euronews;
academic further and distance education as
part of the European lifelong learning
strategy;
Brussels
Committee on
Development
Among others: Joint event between the
European Parliament and Commissioner
Neven Mimica in occasion of the 4th
Anniversary of the Rana Plaza Tragedy
Brussels
All European Parliament Committee Meetings
1.4 Committee of the Regions (CoR)
Date
Event
Venue/Location
11 April
ECI DAY 2017: I participate!
Brussels
20 April
Don't Waste Our Future
Brussels
21 April
Developing entrepreneurship in insular areas: Challenges, opportunities and
policy responses
Brussels
25 April
Open Day 2017 - Organisational meeting
Brussels
25 April
Climate governance and finance: local authorities take up the reins
Brussels
9
25 April
28-29 April
2 May
9-12 October
Citizens' Dialogue in Oulu
Oulu, Finland
XVII General Assembly of the Conference of Atlantic Arc Cities. An Atlantic
and urban view of the future of Europe
Viana do Castelo,
Portugal
The Future of Industry in Europe - Challenges and Instruments for Local
and Regional Authorities
Brussels
15th European Week of Regions and Cities
Brussels
Further Events of the Committee of the Regions
1.5 European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Date
11 April
Event
ECI DAY 2017: I participate!
Venue/Location
Brussels
EU development partnerships and the challenge posed by international tax
28 April
28 April
4 May
Brussels
agreements
Interim evaluation of Horizon 2020
Brussels
Implementation of legal migration legislation
Brussels
Further events of the European Economic and Social Committee
1.6 International Relations
Date
Event
Venue/Location
8-9 May
EU-Latin America dialogue on raw materials
Buenos Aires,
Argentina
29-30
Africa-EU Summit
Abidjan, Côte
10
November
d’Ivoire (tbc)
2. Conferences & Meetings
2.1 DG JRC Conferences and Meetings
Date
Event
Organiser
Venue/Location
20 April
New narratives of Energy and Sustainability: Debunking
myths and interrogating the universality of global and local
integrations
DG JRC
Brussels
3 May
Scientific support to policy making: socio-ecological systems
approach for a socially and environmentally sustainable
growth
DG JRC, OECD,
WIFO
Paris, France
3 May
Science meets Regions
DG JRC
Bilbao, Spain
10 May
3rd meeting on the implementation of the Practical
Arrangements between the IAEA and the EC on Cooperation
on Nuclear Security Technical Issue
DG JRC, IAEA
Vienna, Austria
11 May
Launch of the EASAC report on Sustainable Forests
DG JRC
Brussels
16 May
DG JRC Lunchtime Science Lecture by Govinda Upadhyay
DG JRC
Brussels
16-19
May
1st International JRC Summer School on Alternative
Approaches for Risk assessment
DG JRC
Ispra, Italy
DG JRC, EC
Stresa, Italy
4-9 June
14th International Workshop on Separation Phenomena in
Liquids and Gases (SPLG 2017)
11
3-7 July
Geospatial Technologies for Sustainable Water Management
Central European
University- Inservice ICT Training
for Environmental
Professionals
(ISEPEI), United
Nations Office for
Outer Space
Affairs, DG JRC
Budapest,
Hungary
DG JRC, ESA
SvalbardSpitsbergen,
Norway
DG JRC, OECD
Seville, Spain
4-15
International Summerschool on GNSS 2017
September
27-29
CONCORDi 2017: Innovation and Industrial Dynamics:
September Challenges for the next decade
Further upcoming DG JRC Events
Further upcoming events in the EU Newsroom Calendar
2.2 Further European Conferences and Meetings
3-4 April
European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)
stakeholders’ day 2017
EC
Helsinki, Finland
4-6 April
European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)
Maintenance Review Board (MRB) workshop
EC
Cologne,
Germany
11 April
Public hearing on the capital markets union
(CMU) mid-term review
EC
Brussels
12 April
Stakeholder forum on the European
Solidarity Corps
EC
Brussels
19 April
BLUEMED – A basin of research and
innovation for sustainable growth
Maltese Presidency of the Council of
the EU
Sliema, Malta
Europa Forum Lech. Europe in challenging
times: How can the data economy stimulate
growth and jobs in Europe?
EC
Lech am Arlberg,
Austria
Noise in Europe
EC
Brussels
19-21
April
24 April
12
24 April
Workshop: Towards principles and guidance
on eID interoperability for online platforms
EC
Brussels
24 April
Annual convention for inclusive growth
2017
EC
Brussels
24 April
Copernicus for Cultural Heritage Workshop
EC
Brussels
25 April
How best to attract talented researchers
EC
Ohrid,
Macedonia
25 April
Opportunities and challenges of 5G in the
EU
EP
Brussels
26 April
Citizens' Dialogue in Brussels with
Commissioner Pierre Moscovici
EC
Brussels
Interreg Annual Meeting 2017
EC
Malta
EC, Ministry of Industry and Trade of
the Czech Republic, UN Environment
Finance Initiative
Prague, Czech
Republic
EC
Sofia, Bulgaria
Maltese Presidency of the Council of
the EU
Valletta, Malta
EP
Brussels
EC, ACER, ENTSO-E and ENTSOG
Brussels
EC, Maltese Presidency of the Council
Valletta, Malta
EU
Brussels,
Strasbourg,
Luxembourg, all
Member states
26-28
April
27 April
27-28
April
29 April
Till 30
April
3-4 May
4 May
6 May
Financing energy efficiency in Central
Europe
REACH 2018 and beyond
EU - South Dialogue
Public Consultation on Robotics and
Artificial Intelligence
Conference on European network codes
Ministerial Conference on Strengthening
Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation Through
Research and Innovation
Europe Day
13
8 May
High level conference on sustainable
tourism and EMAS awards 2017
EC, Malta Competition and Consumer
Affairs Authority (MCCAA)
Valletta, Malta
11 May
Spotlight on Blockchain: a new generation of
digital services
EP
Brussels
11-12
May
2nd Forum of the EU Strategy for the
Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR)
EC, EUSAIR
Ioannina, Greece
12 May
Stakeholders conference on the Digital
Competence Framework for citizens
(DigComp) and the Entrepreneurship
Competence Framework (EntreComp)
EC
Brussels
16-18
May
5th International meeting of the National
Focal Points of the EU CBRN Risk Mitigation
Centres of Excellence
EC
Brussels
European Platform on preparedness
for nuclear and radiological
emergency response and recovery
(NERIS)
Lisbon, Portugal
EC, Government of the United
Kingdom, Borough of Poole
Poole, United
Kingdom
17-19
May
17th EAN Workshop
18 May
European Maritime Day 2017
EC,
23-24
May
Workshop on the role of Science/
Technology Parks and Incubators in
Innovation Ecosystems
International Association of Science
and Technology Parks and Areas of
Innovation (IASP), Thessaloniki
Technology Park, i4g Incubators, AREA
Science Park
Thessaloniki,
Greece
Fourth European Nuclear Safety Regulators
28-29
June
Group (ENSREG) Conference on Nuclear
EC, ENSREG
Brussels
EC
Budapest,
Hungary
Safety
16
October
INNOVEIT 2017: EIT's Innovation Forum
14
2.3 International Conferences
Date
Event
Organiser
Venue/Location
27
March-7
April
7th Review meeting of the Contracting
Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety
(CNS)
IAEA
Vienna, Austria
31
March-7
April
The Arctic Science Summit Week
ASSW
Prague, Czech
Republic
23-28
April
European Geosciences Union (EGU) General
Assembly 2017
EGU
Vienna, Austria
24-27
April
International Conference on Arctic Science:
Bringing Knowledge to Action
Artic Council
Reston, Virginia,
USA
25-27
April
Building Expertise for Innovation: Innovation
Decision Support Using Structured Expert
Judgement
Aalto University
Helsinki, Finland
25-27
April
25th International Conference on Modelling,
Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment
Program (AMAP)
Cadiz, Spain
W20
Berlin, Germany
Kaunas University of Technology
(KTU)
Kaunas,
Lithuania
Food Protection and Defense
Institute
Minneapolis, USA
SETAC
Brussels
26 April
W20 Dialogue Forum with Women in
Business, Science and Society
27 April
Technorama 2017
3 May
The Food Defense Conference 2017
7-11 May
Society of Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry (SETAC) Europe Annual Meeting in
2017
8-11 May
Global Food Innovation Summit: Seeds &
Chips
Seeds&Chips
Milan, Italy
8-12 May
Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis
and Sampling
WHO, FAO
Budapest,
Hungary
15
11 May
European Migration Network (EMN) annual
conference: Moving policy forward, keeping
research relevant'
11 May
10th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting
14-15
May
Belt and Road Forum
15-17
May
Euroheat & Power Congress
15-18
May
The Second International Conference on
National Urban Policy
15-19
May
EMN
Luxembourg
Arctic Council
Fairbanks, USA
Government of the Republic of China
Beijing, China
The Association for Decentralised
Energy, Scottish Renewables,
Scottish Development International
Glasgow, United
Kingdom
OECD
Paris, France
7th Annual Conference and General Meeting
of the Global Young Academy (GYA)
GYA
Aviemore, United
Kingdom
19-20
May
Meeting of G20 Health Ministers
G20
Berlin, Germany
22-26
May
The 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk
Reduction
UNISDR
Cancun, Mexico
25-26
May
European Academies' Science Advisory
Council (EASAC) Meeting
EASAC
Tallinn, Estonia
26-27
May
G7 Summit
G7
Taormina, Italy
29-30
May
5th European Women Rectors Conference
European Women Rectors
Association (EWORA)
Brussels
UN
New York, USA
5-9 June
The Ocean Conference: United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal 14
Conference
6-7 June
Second Mission Innovation (MI-2) High Level
Meeting
Government of the Republic of China
Beijing, China
6-8 June
Clean Energy Ministerial 8 (CEM8)
Government of the Republic of China
Beijing, China
6-8 June
United Nations Statistical Commission’s
Expert Group Meeting on international trade
and economic globalization statistics
Eurostat, United Nations Statistical
Commission
Luxembourg
Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, The Research Council of
Trondheim
18-23
STARMUS IV Festival
16
June
Norway
Norway
26 June7 July
European University Institute (EUI) Migration
Summer School: Thinking beyond the crisis
EUI
Florence, Italy
27-29
June
Summer Davos: Annual Meeting of the New
Champions-Technological Innovation and
Sustainable Development
World Economic Forum
Dalian, China
IMISCOE
Rotterdam, the
Netherlands
G20
Hamburg,
Germany
Central European University- Inservice ICT Training for
Environmental Professionals
(ISEPEI), United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)
Budapest,
Hungary
Royal Scientific Society of Jordan
Dead Sea,
Jordan
28-30
June
7-8 July
24-28
July
International Migration, Integration and
Social Cohesion (IMISCOE) Annual
Conference: Migrations, Diversity and the City
G20 Summit of Heads of State and
Government
Innovations in Disaster Risk Reduction
7-11
World Science Forum 2017
November
17
3. DG JRC News
2015
2015
February
Open
DG JRC Annual Report
Overview of the scientific process of the EU Agencies
network for scientific advice (EU-ANSA)
DG JRC Newsletter March 2017
The EU is recruiting researchers - Call for expressions
of interest
Call for Expression of Interest to participate to JRC's
Open
Institutional History Project (iHiP): Arts-booklet,
Story-telling and Exhibition initiatives
March Highlights
Workshop on Investment Vehicles and Financial Instruments supporting
Technology Transfer and Innovation
The JRC organised a workshop that focused on financial instruments as support to innovation and tech transfer
projects in the Western Balkans countries and, in general, in the Danube region. The event took place on the 1st and
2nd March in Belgrade (Serbia). The objectives of the workshop were to identify existing financial instruments that
support innovation and technology transfer activities in the region, explore where the evident gaps exist and explore
ways to address currently unmet demand using synergistic solutions. The workshop also aimed to strengthen and
cement an emerging community of practice on these issues that should help to maximize the impact of innovation
on regional development. This was one of the first follow-up activities of the Macro-Regional Innovation Week that
was held in Trieste, 26-30 September 2016
1-2 March
6 March
Voluntary Guidelines for Soil Sustainable Management
DG JRC scientist and Chair of the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) Luca Montanarella gave a
presentation as part of the Lunchtime Conference External Cooperation Infopoint on Voluntary Guidelines for Soil
Sustainable Management- Why is it important? How can we promote them in the EU cooperation activities and
inside the EU? Soils are an essential and non-renewable natural resource hosting goods and services which are vital
to ecosystems and human life. As a major storehouse for carbon, they also have a fundamental role in regulating
climate. However, one third of global soils are moderately or highly degraded. The objective of this conference was
to present the Voluntary Guidelines for Soil Sustainable Management (VGSSM), adopted by the 4th Global Soil
Partnership (GSP) Plenary Assembly (Rome, 25 May 2016) and endorsed by the FAO Council. How to implement
these Voluntary Guidelines in the context of EU cooperation and development activities and other EU policies were
also discussed.
18
Synergies between European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) &
Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Funding: The Stairway to Excellence
(S2E)
Within the context of Smart Specialisation (S3), the 2017 Conference on Synergies between Horizon 2020 and ESIF
was intended to raise awareness among relevant stakeholders of (1) the progress in exploiting the synergies
between Horizon 2020 and ESIF and (2) practical bottlenecks emerging when implementing the available tools for
synergies between funds. This event provided the opportunity to present the achievements of the project, lessons
learnt and to discuss challenges ahead with regional and national managing authorities who are involved in the
managing funds in order to exchange ideas and good practices. This conference was a summary of what the S2E
has done so far and an entry point to a new phase of the project.
8 March
9 March
IPR, Technology Transfer & Open Science: Challenges and opportunities
The delicate interplay between ensuring protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and fostering knowledge
circulation was at the core of the workshop 'IPR, Technology Transfer & Open Science: Challenges and opportunities'.
The event, jointly organized by JRC and DG Research and Innovation, took place on 9th March in Brussels. Starting
from the idea that Open Science does not mean 'free science', the participants will discuss the approaches to
striking a good balance between protected data and open access to information.
9 March
Academic Citizenship: What is a rightful place for society in science?
Over the past two decades we have been witnessing in the European context a growing concern about how societal
actors might perceive research and innovation and the degree to which they support both. This has come hand in
hand with a rising call for researchers themselves to become more responsive (and thus responsible) towards
society and engage in a more direct manner with citizens, their concerns, values and knowledges– i.e. we could
describe this as a call for researchers to develop a stronger sense of “academic citizenship.” At the same time, we
also observe major restructuring in the research system itself which is often captured through labels such as new
public management or academic capitalism. This talk wanted to address the uneasy relation between these two
expectations towards contemporary research(ers) and explore the potential tensions that emerge. It will be asked
how in recent policy debates on science-technology-society issues, the rightful place of society in science is
conceptualized and how engaging with society in science can be practiced under contemporary conditions of
research.
9-10 March
Disaster Risk Management: Science for Policy and Operations
The second scientific seminar of the Knowledge Centre for Disaster Risk Management: Science for Policy and
Operations took place in Rome (Italy) and gathered around hundred inter-disciplinary experts on disaster
management, early detection, forecasting, warning and risk assessment of natural and man-made disasters, in both
the fields of civil protection and humanitarian aid. The target audience included scientists, practitioners and policymakers at national, regional and international levels, as well as first responders, and private sector representatives.
Final IESI Conference on 'ICT-Enabled Social Innovation to support the
implementation of the EU Social Investment Package'
This project explored over a three-year period the nature and impact of ICT-enabled social innovation initiatives
promoting social investment in the European Union. The Conference discussed the results of the IESI research
project and in particular the findings of the IESI Consolidated Mapping and thematic analyses; and the proposed
theoretical and methodological approach underpinning the framework to assess the social and economic impacts of
ICT-enabled social innovation initiatives promoting social investment (i-FRAME2.0). The event also served to shape
policy recommendations and outlined future research directions.
14-15 March
15 March
Launching event study: Smart Specialisation in Latin America
The DG JRC presented the main findings of the research study: "Smart Specialisation in Latin America" which has
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been conducted to analyse how policy makers and other territorial actors in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile and
Argentina are designing and implementing the Smart Specialisation concept. The event also served as an
opportunity to establish active synergies between practitioners of smart specialization in the European Union and
Latin America. It took place at DG JRC headquarters in Brussels on the occasion of the EU-CELAC Joint Initiative for
Research and Innovation, Senior Officials Meeting (JIRI SOM), which was held this year in Brussels the day before.
Presentation of the “JRC-EASAC report on the management of Spent Nuclear
Fuel and its Waste”
To support the implementation of the Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom on the responsible and safe management
of spent fuel and radioactive waste, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the European Academies Science Advisory
Council (EASAC) have published a joint report on the “Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and its Waste” in 2014.
The report aims to help policy makers further develop their national programmes for the future management of
spent nuclear fuel and the waste generated by fuel treatment. In a concise but comprehensive way, it describes the
options for spent fuel management. The event was aimed to trigger dialogue with policy makers, supporting the
national decision on policy options regarding nuclear spent fuel and radioactive waste management in line with the
Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom.
15 March
16-17 March
Protection of critical infrastructures
The European Union has provided significant funding for research projects dealing with the impact of extreme
events on critical infrastructures. Following the recommendation of the European Commission, the projects have
established a technical dialogue. As several projects ended recently or will be concluded in the coming months, it is
timely to disseminate their results, collect feedback from stakeholders and put forward common recommendations.
The Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre organized a workshop that brought together representatives of
FP7 and H2020 research projects funded under the safety, security and environment subjects, the European
Commission and stakeholders from European associations and Member States. Representatives of 20 projects that
focus on geo-hazards, cascade effects and extreme weather presented how their results can be used in practice,
collected feedback from stakeholders and proposed common recommendations for the follow-up of the projects as
well as for the implementation of European policies in the areas of disaster risk reduction, critical infrastructure
protection and societal resilience.
20-22 March
Soil Erosion modelling workshop
This workshop, which was held on the JRC-Ispra site, addressed issues regarding how local/regional modelling
results can be upscaled (or applied) to the European scale. The workshop also served as a follow-up of recent JRC
modelling developments and published maps on soil erosion by water and wind. The workshop focused on how
various project or local/regional modelling applications can improve “know-how” at the European scale. Emphasis
was also given to management practices that can reduce soil erosion. The organizers invited pan-European projects
(e.g. RECARE) to show the best management practices to reduce erosion and to demonstrate their research work in
study sites. Scientists dealing at the small scale were invited to present the possibilities and limitations of upscaling
their results. Scientists operating at the large scale were invited to consider how their modelling/ mapping can be
validated with small scale data.
Synergies: Sustainable Growth in Marine and Maritime Sectors of Slovenia in
the Northern Adriatic - Bluemed meeting on micro-regional level
In the context of the Bluemed initiative the Ministry of Education Science and Sport (MIZŠ) and the Marine Biology
Station of the National Institute of Biology (NIB MBP) of Slovenia, together with the Slovenian Academy of Sciences
and Arts (SAZU), the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC),
organized an event aimed at creating synergies between different European, regional and national policies and
instruments in the field of marine and coastal areas, as well as to present the JRC-EASAC report "Marine
sustainability in an age of changing oceans and seas".
21-22 March
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The role and implementation of next generation sequencing technologies in
the coordinated action plan against antimicrobial resistance
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission organized a workshop to discuss the potential impacts
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies could have, specifically, on the current international action plans
against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), as well as to understand the next steps for their development and
implementation in this context.
21-22 March
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