The world is facing a number of severe and world-wide challenges, like the climate change, water scarcity, pandemics, financial crisis and others still unknown are to come. These have to be met in world-encompassing co-operation. How should Europe take its share of such border-unlimited challenges? Can Europe turn such Grand Challenges to opportunities for its citizens, its industry and its society as a whole?
The conference “New Worlds-New Solutions” was held in Lund on July 7th to 8th and was thereby the starting point of the Swedish EU Presidency for discussions focussing on the value of research and innovation for the future of Europe and in meeting foreseen and still unknown grand challenges. The Swedish Government invited researchers, politicians, business people and officials to the discussions. About 350 participants took part in the conference. At the end of the conference, the Lund Declaration, as a result of the preparation of the conference, was given to the Swedish Minister for Higher Education and Research, Tobias Krantz.
The Lund Declaration
The main theme of the Lund Declaration is that the European Union and its Member States should unify the work on the world-encompassing challenges and turn these to opportunities. In summary, the main messages in the Lund Declaration to meet grand challenge scenarios are:
- European research must focus on the Grand Challenges of our time moving beyond current rigid thematic approaches. This calls for a new deal among European institutions and Member States, in which European and national instruments are well aligned and cooperation builds on transparency and trust.
- Identifying and responding to Grand Challenges should involve stakeholders from both public and private sectors in transparent processes taking into account the global dimension.
- The Lund conference has started a new phase in a process on how to respond to the Grand Challenges. It calls upon the Council and the European Parliament to take this process forward in partnership with the Commission.
The spring’s preparation of the conference, including four preparatory workshops held over Europe, has been the task of VR, the Swedish Research Council (main organizer) together with the three other research financiers FAS, the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, Formas, the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning and VINNOVA, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems.
The Lund Declaration" now calls on the actors to identify more clearly the major challenges facing the world, areas where there is an urgent need for more research and innovation. Download the Lund Declaration
.
Research and Innovation are crucial in meeting Grand Challenges
In summary of the preparatory workshops during the spring and of the conference “New Worlds – New Solutions”, the main message is that Europe must create a more responsive and agile priority setting framework in order to quickly react to the emerging needs of citizens, societies and businesses, but still keep the long term perspective.
That the priority setting should be on research and innovation as tools for a competitive Europe and for the life-value priorities of its citizens was ground-setting of the discussions.
- Research is absolutely instrumental when Europe turns severe challenges into opportunities and motivation for change. In that, excellence in research, and a large degree of freedom for the research community to define and tackle research problems, is a necessary condition to cope with future challenges. However, while research of highest standards is an absolute necessity for Europe to meet the future, Europe needs to simultaneously develop the knowledge-triangle (education - research - innovation) in all dimensions in order to tackle the grand challenges of the world and to turn these to opportunities. Such a holistic approach is crucial in making possible that ideas and knowledge can flow easily between the different key actors, such as universities, large firms, SMEs, research institutes and public organisations in Europe and thereby taking full advantage of a knowledge based society, says Lena Gustafsson, acting Director General, VINNOVA, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems.
The Grand Challenges will generate the most rapidly growing global private and public demand in the future. Focusing on Grand Challenges and investing in tackling them, with research and innovation system development, would generate key driving forces for lead market formations.
Göran Marklund, Acting Deputy Director General, VINNOVA, adds:
- This would generate global business opportunities and stimulate entrepreneurship, business growth, and job-creation in Europe. Being at the global fronts within these emerging growth markets will be of fundamental importance to the future competitiveness of the European industry and a future prosperous Europe, which will improve the conditions for the well-being of our citizens. By investing in new solutions related to the Grand Challenges Europe would share the responsibility for a sustainable development of our globe.
Even though the objectives of the ERA are mainly European, the Grand Challenges are global and competition is international. Climate change knows no borders. The networks of the terrorists are global. Emerging economies, such as China and India, benefit from a combination of rapidly increasing human capital, R&D expenditures and dynamic markets. In order to secure a future Europe which is competitive and capable of contributing to solving global challenges every action to stimulate research and innovation has to be built on international involvement, cooperation and attractiveness.
Lena Gustafsson concludes:
- It is therefore obvious that when responding to the grand challenges, Europe must offer a maximum of openness to and involvement of the world outside of Europe.
The fruitful discussions during the preparatory workshops and during the conference led to several creative suggestions to solutions of how Europe should govern its future work on research and innovation. These are briefly summarized in an Addendum to the Lund Declaration.
The Lund Declaration - Addendum
Specific policy proposals in the Lund Declaration – Addendum are summarized under the following headings:
- Prioritizing of Research and Innovation to meet Grand Challenges and build public trust - a new and holistic governance structure to approach research and innovation should be developed.
- Transformation of the European knowledge production system through major university reforms - a university reform is urgently needed in EU to promote top class research at selected universities and to simultaneously develop incentives for interdisciplinary research and to cooperate with the whole of the society.
- Radical new solutions require more risk-taking in research and innovation – to secure excellence in research and lay the ground for incentives for worldwide competitiveness and responsiveness in meeting the Grand Challenges with radically new innovative solutions need long-term (financial) investments in all knowledge triangle dimensions.
- Demand for innovation-based new solutions need to be stimulated through lead market policies – different incentives and tools must be developed or improved in order to become driving forces for world-wide competitiveness of an innovative Europe.
- Global strategies in all research and innovation policies are necessary – Europe needs to strategically develop international relations and co-operations by strengthen links and alliances to the ERA and to the European innovation system.
- World class research infrastructures are needed for excellence and attractiveness - excellent research infrastructures are needed to meet Grand Challenges with innovations, through cooperation between MS and the public and private stakeholders, to facilitate transdisciplinary research and innovation.
Download the Addendum to the Lund Declaration
Buisness shocks – as opportunity
During the second day of the conference “New Worlds – New Solutions”, July 8, four separate sessions were held. One of these were arranged by VINNOVA under the title:
”Business shocks – as opportunity - How can a future ERA support and stimulate research, innovation and sustainable economic growth in Europe?"
To view the full programme and download the presentations please see the specific "New Worlds- New Solutions" page.
