KEY MESSAGES FROM THE LUND MEETING
Making a vision for RD4SD operational in times of crises
Lund, Sweden, 9-11 January 2013
In his evening lecture Lennart Olsson (Director of LUCSUS, Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies) addressed “The emerging field of Sustainability Science” and raised many points that came back in the discussions during the meeting. Lennart pointed out that sustainability science is an explicitly normative endeavor that is closer to the social sciences, in particular because considerations of justice and fairness are very important. It is a field rather than a discipline. Sustainability challenges are special: they are either experienced by citizens or have been identified by scientists and not yet been experienced by citizens. Approaches to deal with these challenges are both eclectic and participatory. Practicing sustainability science within a University also brings many challenges. While there are advantages in establishing this field outside of the faculty system, this also introduces vulnerabilities that have to be dealt with.
What are the implications of the on-going financial crises for the vision of “what kind of science for what kind of world” developed in the VISION RD4SD project?
Responses to financial crises are driven by the dominant political discourses – there are clear differences in the responses between different countries, with some countries cutting science budgets while others believe that investment in research, development and innovation will provide solutions to the crisis.
A combination of present budget cuts and long-established lack of R&D expertise leads to a downward spiral that is difficult to break. Is RD4SD an area of opportunity to break the downward trend in countries of Southern Europe? Would a top-down (i.e. from the EU level) approach to drive national strategies on RD4SD be a robust solution? Would an investment in SMEs break the downward spiral (as suggested, for example, for Portugal)?
There is a great opportunity, especially for countries in Southern Europe, to point to the value of RD4SD in addressing societal challenges such as climatic change and supporting transitions towards a sustainable energy system, a green/blue circular economy and EU 2020 targets. This is something that should be discussed further in the next VISION RD4SD workshop.
Further the panel discussion highlighted the very different models and styles in science governance in the Netherlands as compared to Germany and the possibilities of ‘governing’ major changes, such as the Energy Transition in Germany. Is that possible in a situation where business is strongly in the lead for governing science, as it is in the Netherlands? This discussion demonstrated interesting links to the possible roles and functions of a European Competence Centre and its work and something also to be looked at in parts of the Resource Book.
In summary, the present difficulties in science funding and governance in countries of Southern Europe also bears elements of opportunity for larger change. These opportunities could be explored further during the remaining months of the VISION RD4SD project.
In an interactive session during the Lund Meeting a concise version of the Vision was produced:
The improvement of Quality of Life lies at the core of policies dealing with science and innovation. In the year 2025 Europe is a catalyst and a world frontrunner of global cooperation towards this aim. In an era of growing complexity, in which there is an increasing ambition to live in a more secure, democratised and open world, there is an urgent demand for transformative but informed practices supported by good governance. New forms of organizing and implementing science are based on novel ways of societal collaboration and transdisciplinary knowledge integration and understanding. Implementing this vision requires a systemic approach in science and policy, and especially, new criteria and procedures for assessing scientific excellence. At its best Research and Development for Sustainable Development (RD4SD) will support decisive changes in individual behaviours and collective values and policies to transform our economy towards a sustainable one focused on addressing today’s and future societal challenges and meeting responsibly the needs of all humankind.
The VISION RD4SD dialogues have shown the need for a set of principles to guide decisions on what is needed to ensure that R&D contribute to sustainable development. These principles should complement the vision and give advice on how it can be implemented. A set of draft principles was discussed at the Lund Meeting. A revised list will be discussed further at the next meeting. As a result of the Lund discussions there are eight principles together with a preface. The eight principles cover:
- Agenda Setting;
- Co-design, co-production, co-delivery and co-interpretation;
- Flexible and adaptive programme management;
- Evaluation;
- Systemic approaches;
- Communication, empowerment and engagement;
- Career opportunities and recognition;
- Capacity building.
To support RD4SD, the European RD4SD Platform consolidates and integrates existing experiences, frameworks and approaches of RD4SD. This consolidation/integration especially fulfils the need for a reliable framework and set of tested procedures of RD4SD that can be referred to during programme development, management and evaluation. It also strengthens the RD4SD community of practice in Europe and provides a platform for continued learning, improvement and capacity building of researchers, policy-makers and social agents at large. The platform provides and builds transformative competences (e.g., the systemic, leadership, ethical, problem/need-focused competences) for harnessing RD4SD. It acts as a repository for examples of good practice, evaluation procedures and criteria and as a “helpdesk” on how to do research that supports sustainable development. The European RD4SD Platform will become the main interfacing instrument to reframe the role of R&D towards sustainability (from burden for more conventional research approaches to a major source of investments and economic opportunities). This consolidation path would widen up the group of participants, including funding agencies interested in transformative change in the face of global challenges, and involve the science communities as well as actors from policy, business, and civil society.
The needed functions could be performed either via a dedicated new institution or through integration into existing organisations/networks. This will be a focus of discussion at the Athens Roadmap Workshop (May 2013), when the ad hoc study on a possible European Competence Centre (or RD4SD Platform) is available.
The interactive web-based ‘resource tool’ is a product of the VISIONS RD4SD project that will have a lifetime well beyond the length of the project, potentially within the context of the European RD4SD Platform. It is designed to be used primarily by research funders and programme managers. Designed as an interactive, “living” information system, it contains examples of and links to good practice in RD4SD programme development and funding procedures. The priority is to provide practical help for the further development of RD4SD funding. Various mechanisms for attracting people to use and contribute to the resource tool have been discussed. Important next steps include:
- Raise interest of funders and involve them in the further development;
- Identify a host for the longer term;
- Finish and test the prototype and integrate feedback;
- Develop a gripping name for the tool.
Testing and further discussions will be on the agenda of the Roadmap Workshop in Athens (May 2013).
After a presentation on recent developments at the EU level, the discussion focussed on concrete steps in the near future. The programming for Horizon 2020 is now being discussed between the European Parliament and European Council. Talking to persons in the European Parliament, and in particular to the ITRE Committee, could clarify what are the best opportunities to introduce RD4SD perspectives. Once Horizon 2020 starts, it will be important to spread the ideas generated in the VISION RD4SD project to the members of the new programme committees and relevant decision-makers in the Commission. For this it will be necessary to produce concrete outputs (Vision, Principles, examples, Guidelines on how to implement RD4SD) and present them in meetings with different target groups. A further step within Horizon 2020 would be to develop an ERA-Net to test the VISION RD4SD ideas in practice. At the same time, engagement in the JPIs, established by national science funding bodies, should be pursued. It would be useful to provide them, for example, with the Principles for RD4SD, the Vision and the Resource Tool.
The organizational model of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Technology could be of interest for the development of a European Competence Centre for RD4SD. The chances of developing a “sustainability KIC” are low, but worth exploring. In any case many of the concrete outputs of the project (listed above) should be disseminated to existing KICs. Engagement in KICs would be an effective way to inject some of the VISION RD4SD ideas. A meeting with the EIT Director in order to exchange information would be a useful first step.
There could still be opportunities to inject VISION RD4SD ideas into the negotiations for the next phase of the Cohesion Funds. For this it is necessary to consult with the national-level negotiators. It would be useful to provide them, for example, with the Principles for RD4SD and the Vision. In the longer term, there could be a role for the proposed European Competence Centre/Platform for RD4SD in providing a sustainability orientation during the implementation of Cohesion Fund Policies.
Finally, for the strategy at the European level, it will be important to invite key persons (from EIT, KICs, ERA-NETs, etc) to the VISION RD4SD Final Conference (Iceland, September 2013).
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Key results Roadmaps 2 Workshop (
Roadmaps 2 workshop participants (
