Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 Infoweek including high-level policy events
date: 14/11/2017 - 17/11/2017
venue: Brussels
Organiser: REA and European Commission DG RTD and DG AGRI
Contact: Organising team
The Research Executive Agency (REA), the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) of the European Commission co-organised an Info Week on Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge 2 (SC2) ‘Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy’, which took place in Brussels on 14-17 November 2017.
The usual Societal Challenge 2 Info Day on the new Horizon 2020 Work Programme for 2018-2020 and the related brokerage event organised by BIOHORIZON formed the first part of the week. The second part consisted of three high-level policy events presenting the latest evolutions in the broader EU policy context related to Societal challenge 2 activities and how it relates with activities under Horizon 2020.
The event also featured a Bioeconomy village highlighting first-class Horizon 2020 projects and initiatives on bioeconomy.
The infoweek at a glance
The final programme mentions the rooms in which the different sessions took place. Presentations can be found on each individual event's page.
The week was structured as follows:
Part I: Funding opportunities and how to benefit
14 November- H2020 SC2 Info day on Societal Challenge 2 calls for 2018
The event targeted potential applicants to the calls for proposals under the Horizon 2020 SC2 ‘Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy’. The new €1,3bn of funding opportunities under Work Programme for 2018-2020 were presented in the morning, whereas in-depth info sessions on various calls open in 2018 were held in the afternoon.
More information - Recording by room: DE GASPERI - MANSHOLT - JENKINS
15 November - H2020 SC2 Brokerage event on calls 2018
Following the Info Day, a corresponding brokerage event was organised by the EU-funded BioHorizon project. The purpose of the event was to support potential applicants in finding potential partners for future applications under the upcoming SC2 calls for proposals.
More information and registration by 27/09. - Recording by Room: DE GASPERI - MANSHOLT - JENKINS
Part II: The broader EU policy context
16 November - Bioeconomy policy day
The European Commission presented its review of the European Bioeconomy Strategy and Action Plan, documented as a Staff Working Document, and discuss its findings with stakeholders and policy makers. Furthermore, the European Bioeconomy Stakeholders Panel presented and discussed its Bioeconomy Manifesto, setting out a societal agenda for bioeconomy development. These discussions reflected both on the experiences gained over the past four years with Bioeconomy Strategy and Action Plan, and on the possible need for new actions. Separate parallel sessions followed immediately after the plenary session chaired by 9 relevant Directorates Generals, the co-signatories of the Bioeconomy Strategy.
More information - Recording by Room: DE GASPERI - MANSHOLT - JENKINS
17 November - Digitising agriculture and food value chains
In this event, participants learnt about the broad framework of the digital agenda for Europe, the opportunities it brings for farming and food value chains and how the ambitious investments foreseen through Horizon 2020 can help achieve broader EU policy goals. They were able to attend specific dissemination sessions showcasing interesting projects in farm and food digitisation. This event gathered representatives of the farming and food sectors, digital technology providers, as well as scientists and national and regional policy makers to discuss and exchange views on how to best take advantage of existing initiatives.
More information - Recording by room: DE GASPERI - MANSHOLT - JENKINS
17 November - Blue Growth and Research and Innovation
In this Blue Growth event, discussions revolved around the wide coverage of Blue Growth's cross-sectorial and interdisciplinary approach to marine, maritime and aquatic research and innovation and its relevance to EU policies and to the blue economy. It featured examples of impactful EU projects and their uptake by different stakeholders including policy makers, as well as synergies with other major programmes and initiatives that contribute to the blue economy in Europe and beyond.
More information - Recording by room: JENKINS