European Research Area
European Research Area for a Sustainable
Development Strategy
222 Kb] – adopted [ 239 Kb] in June 2006 – assigns an important role [ 222 Kb] to research and development. Adopted only six month after the EU SDS, the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) paves the way for EU research to live up to the challenges of sustainable development.In line with the mirror effect between EU SDS and FP7, the need for research is highlighted in the following leading policy documents:
- Blue Book and Action Plan "Towards a future Maritime Policy for the Union: A European vision for the oceans and seas"
- Energy policy for Europe (part of the EU Energy Package)
- Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan
- Green Paper "Adapting to climate change in Europe – Options for EU action"
- Action Plan for Energy efficiency
- Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP)
- European Environment and Health Action Plan (2004-2010)
Member States and Associated Countries are also putting research at the service of sustainable development, although they do so in different ways and at different levels of intensity. These different approaches were discussed at a workshop [ 88 Kb] that took place in June 2007: Research for sustainable development – How to enhance connectivity. The participants agreed on a need to follow up on 1) reinforcing the synergies between national and European strategies for putting research at the service of sustainable development, 2) monitoring to what extent the sustainable potential of FP7 will be translated into reality and 3) improving the role of research in policy making introducing the idea of knowledge brokerage.
Click on the map below to learn about national contexts and experiences in research for sustainable development, to read first Member States progress reports on the EU SDS (including the area of research), and to link to national websites. A first synthesis [ 111 Kb] of national approaches in this field acknowledges – among other things – that inter- or transdisciplinarity is necessary for tackling relevant issues for sustainable development research, and that innovative ways for linking research to policy need to be experimented with, if we want to exploit the "untapped potential" of research.