Science Flash For You - Ireland

“Science meets Regions”, which aims at advancing evidence for policy at local and regional level, is endorsed by the European Parliament and implemented by the JRC in close consultation with the Committee of the Regions. Its participatory events put together policymakers and scientists at regional and local level to promote a culture of evidence-informed policymaking and design solutions for the challenges of our time, in line with the policy priorities of the European Commission.

She said that the aggression is an attack on elementary values of freedom, democracy and self-determination, on which cultural expression, academic and scientific freedom and scientific cooperation are based. The Commissioner announced the decision not to engage into further cooperation projects with Russian entities.

At the beginning of March, the European Commission suspended cooperation with Russia on research and innovation. The Commission will not conclude any new contracts nor any new agreements with Russian organisations under the Horizon Europe programme. Furthermore, the Commission is suspending payments to Russian entities under existing contracts.

The JRC is working to contribute to the Commission’s support to the Ukrainian scientific community. It has been providing support to the relevant Commission’s services, including the Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen, in several work strands on Ukraine such as crisis coordination and humanitarian assistance, energy, CBRN threats, economic impact, sanctions, cyber preparedness/hybrid threats, support in public opinion and democratic challenges.

The report also refers to the relation between GDP, income and employment to define remote regions. Greece leads the list of economically declining countries, in both GDP and income, followed by some regions in the north of Ireland, central and southern Italy and eastern Croatia.

Remote areas make up almost half of the EU territory and serve as home for 37 million people. They are often susceptible to become what the JRC report defines “lonely places”, suffering from insufficient local services, accessibility, or connectivity. The designation captures the position and connection of places from demographic, economic, social and infrastructural points of view. The report spots 1200 localities all over Europe as “lonely places”, where depopulation, bad virtual connections, low variety of services even within towns, or mobility poverty for disadvantaged groups may be present.

The INNO4DIV initiative aims to strengthen the educational needs of teachers for inclusive education in a context of diversity. It addresses the lack of teachers’ intercultural competence (IC) in a context of increasing diversity in classrooms. The related report highlights 21 innovative good practices, which successfully addressed the existing barriers for teacher´s IC development. This is especially important for allowing teachers to contribute to the construction of the EU social identity, being EU a melting pot of cultures. In the INNOD4DIV project “cultural diversity” is understood in terms of human diversity and not as a representation of migrants, ethnic minority, or other minority groups.

The 2021 wildfire season was the second-worst in the European Union since 2000, when the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) records began. Damages in 2021 were only surpassed by those in 2017, when over 1 million hectares (ha) burned in the EU. Of the total burnt area in 2021, half a million hectares, 20% occurred on ‘Natura 2000’ protected sites, in particular in Italy and Spain. The 2022 fire season started with a prolonged drought in southern Europe, and the resulting conditions have already caused numerous premature fire outbreaks.

The JRC provides a pivotal contribution to wildfire disaster risk reduction in Europe and globally through the development and operation of EFFIS. In August, a Pan-European wildfire risk assessment was published with the aim to conciliate previous approaches used by different countries, making a comparable assessment across countries and regions in Europe possible. This harmonised method will support the EU and its Member States protect lives and their natural environment by enhancing planning and coordination of prevention, preparedness and cross-border firefighting actions.

The recent JRC study “Bioeconomy strategy development in EU regions” maps the progress of EU regions in the sector. The report falls under the activity of the European Commission’s Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy, which is run by the JRC, in the context of the implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy. The findings show that 194 regions in the EU have, or are working towards, a strategic framework related to the bioeconomy.

Regional bioeconomy strategies are crucial for improving livelihoods in rural and coastal areas, managing natural resources sustainably and making the most of the geographic, climatic, economic and political specificities of the EU regions thereby contributing to the green and fair transition envisaged by the European Green Deal.