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Science Meets Regions final event

Final event of the Science meets Regions project (2021-2023), aiming to boost evidence-informed policymaking at local and regional level.

The closing event of the Science meets Regions project took place on 27 and 28 September 2023. This project started on an informal basis in 2016 and was later given more solid foundations through a Pilot Project and subsequent Preparatory Action proposed by the European Parliament and implemented by the JRC.

Over the past 5 years, hundreds of regional policymakers and thousands of stakeholders in European regions and cities have participated in one or more of these strands. As the Preparatory Action ends in 2023, the closing event looked back, took stock of what has been accomplished, but also looked forward, to discuss the outline of a possible continuation of Science meets Regions in a structural way.  

On day 1 of the event, the focus was on taking stock of the results of the various strands of activity and the regional projects that were set up, as well as looking forward to a possible continuation of the project in the future. Day 2 broadened the scope to related initiatives by the JRC in support of regional, local and national policymaking in EU member states.  

  • European official
  • Wednesday 27 September 2023, 09:30 - Thursday 28 September 2023, 13:00 (CEST)
  • Brussels, Belgium

Files

3 OCTOBER 2023
Science meets regions presentations - Day 1
3 OCTOBER 2023
Science meets regions presentations - Day 2

Programme

  1. 27 Sep 2023, 09:30 - 10:00 (CEST)
    High level opening plenary
    • Stephen Quest, JRC Director-General
    • Tanya Hristova, Chair of the Committee of the regions Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture
    • Teresa Riesgo, General Secretary of Innovation at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (representing the Spanish Presidency of the Council)
  2. 10:00 - 10:30 (CEST)
    Keynote speech: Advancing evidence for policy across levels of governance

    Stéphane Jacobzone, Senior Adviser, Public Management and Budgeting, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Public Governance

  3. 10:30 - 11:00 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  4. 11:00 - 12:30 (CEST)
    Parallel sessions I
    • Participatory methods: the innovation camp method (room: JDE 70)

    Paolo Martinez (FUTOUR) and Hans Kune (Educore)

    • Working with evidence: skills training for policymakers (room: JDE 51)

    ZOE institute for Future-Fit Economies

  5. 12:30 - 14:00 (CEST)
    Networking lunch
  6. 14:00 - 14:15 (CEST)
    Takeaways from parallel sessions I
  7. 14:15 - 15:45 (CEST)
    Parallel sessions II
    • Pairing schemes as a tool for evidence-informed policymaking: examples from the European Union, Member States and regional level (room: JDE 70)

    Tome Sandevski, Goethe Universityin collaboration with the Joint Research Centre Unit A.3 “Member states partnerships and international relations”

    • Citizens engagement: the BiodiverCities example (room: JDE 51)

    Anna Paola Quaglia, Unit S.2 “Science for democracy and evidence-informed policy making”, Joint Research Centre

  8. 15:45 - 16:15 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  9. 16:15 - 16:30 (CEST)
    Takeaways from parallel session II
  10. 16:30 - 17:30 (CEST)
    Which future for Science meets Regions?
    • Presentation of the final report on ‘Science meets Regions’

    Ben Bleasdale, Director, Discovery Decade project

    • Panel discussion
      • Salla Saastamoinen, Deputy Director-General, Joint Research Centre
      • Markku Markkula, Committee of the Regions member, Helsinki
      • Walter Eevers, Director of R&D, VITO (Belgium)
      • Michiel Scheffer, President of the EIC board
    • Questions & answers with the audience
  11. 17:30 - 18:30 (CEST)
    Cocktail
  12. 28 Sep 2023, 09:30 - 10:10 (CEST)
    Part I – Science for policy at national level

    9.30-09.50       Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC) white papers on Science for Policy

    • Presentation by Francisco Javier Moreno, JRC Board of Governors member for Spain
    • Questions & answers with the audience

    09.50-10.10      The Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project on science for policy in EU member states (OECD/JRC/REFORM)

    • Agnieszka Gadzina – Kolodziejska, JRC unit S.2 “Science for democracy and evidence-informed policy making”
    • Questions & answers with the audience
  13. 10:10 - 10:40 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  14. 10:40 - 13:00 (CEST)
    Part II – Boosting regional policies

    10.40-11.05     JRC tools and datasets for regional policymakers

    Lewis Dijkstra, unit B.3 “Territorial development”, Joint Research Centre

     

    11.05-11.40      New European Bauhaus

    (tbc), unit B.4 "New European Bauhaus", Joint Research Centre

     

    11.40-13.00     Partnerships for Regional Innovation – where next?

    Moderator: Xabier Goenaga, head of unit B.7 “Innovation policies and economic impact”, Joint Research Centre

     

    Presentation on the next steps of the European Parliament in regional innovation for the future

    Lina Gálvez Muñoz, Member of the European Parliament, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) (recorded statement)

    Panel discussion:

    • Anne Besnier, Vice-President of the Centre-Val de Loire region (France), in charge of higher education, research and innovation
    • Sergio Perez García, Navarra, Director-General external action, Government of Navarra (Spain)
    • David Gonzalez Martínez, Science and Innovation Coordinator Councillor Spanish Permanent Representation to the EU
    • Elina Bardram, Director, mission manager for the Horizon Europe adaptation to climate change mission
    • Pirita Lindhom, Director of the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN)
    • Bogdan Chelariu, President of the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA)
  15. 13:00 - 14:30 (CEST)
    Lunch
  16. 14:30 - 18:00 (CEST)
    Knowledge Exchange Platform

    For more information, please go to the KEP Event page.

    For registration to the afternoon KEP event, please follow this registration link.

Practical information

When
Wednesday 27 September 2023, 09:30 - Thursday 28 September 2023, 13:00 (CEST)
Where
Committee of the Regions
Rue Belliard 99/101, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Languages
English
Part of
Social media links

Description

Contacts

General contact

JRC Science Meets Regions team

Name
JRC Science Meets Regions team
Website
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/science-meets-regions
Email
JRC-INFO-SMRatec [dot] europa [dot] eu