The Social Sciences, Humanities and foresight programme: evolution and future perspectives

1
The Social Sciences, Humanities and foresight
programme evolution and future perspectives

• The Directorate for Research in Social Sciences,
  Humanities and Foresight of DG Research, European
  Commission

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The early steps

• EU Research policy was first included in the
  Single European Act in 1986.
•  The Community shall have the objective of
  strengthening the scientific and technological
  bases of Community industry and encouraging it to
  become more competitive at international level,
  while promoting all the research activities
  deemed necessary by virtue of other chapters of
  this Treaty.

• Therefore the RTD policy, as defined by the
  Treaty, contains a socio-economic dimension.
• Research programmes existed before 1986 but did
  not include research on SSH as such.
• Only FAST promoted foresight by exploring
  emerging domains (like ICTs or biotechnologies).
  Other research programmes supported mobility in
  the SSH disciplines.

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How were SSH included into the FP?

• In 1994, FP4 created a proper domain of SSH
  called  targeted socio economic research 
  (TSER).
• Under FP4 and FP5, foresight is taken over by the
  JRC (IPTS in Sevilla), but also reappears as a
  new activity under FP6.

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Issues addressed under FP4

• Targeted socio-economic research
• Scientific and technology policy options.
• Education and training.
• Social exclusion and social integration.

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Issues addressed under FP5

• Analysing structural, demographic and social
  changes, including the phenomena of xenophobia,
  racism and migration in Europe.
• Analysing the relationship between technological
  development, employment and society.
• Analysing the changing role of European
  institutions, systems of governance and
  citizenship in the process of European
  integration.
• Validating new development models, fostering
  growth, employment, social and economic cohesion
  and the quality of life.

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Issues addressed under FP6

• Knowledge-based society and social cohesion
• Generation, use and distribution of knowledge
• Developing the Lisbon societal objectives
• Variety of paths towards knowledge society

• Citizenship, democracy and new forms of
  governance
• Implication of EU integration/enlargement
• Multi-level governance
• resolution of conflicts, peace, justice
• citizenship and cultural identities

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Issues addressed under FP6 (Continued)

• Foresight
• Is meant to help strengthen the bases of the
  European Research Area
• Studies, analyses, methodology, preparation of
  medium and long term scenarios

• Other SSH elements
• Infrastructures
• Research and innovation
• Mobility (Marie Curie)
• Science and society
• Integration of SSH in other research
  priorities (e.g. environment, health, transport)

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Evolution of SSH budget since 1994

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Quantitative evolution of SSH EU research

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The various disciplines in RTD consortia in FP4
and FP5
Other marginal disciplines included
philosophy, womens studies, cultural studies,
architecture, church history, law, communication,
linguistics and technology policy
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The particular nature of EU SSH research

• Issue oriented.
• Multidisciplinary.
• Significant comparative element.
• Policy relevant in the middle to longer-term as
  projects last up to 5 years.
• Policy relevant not only at EU level but also at
  national and regional levels.

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The rationale of the new FP7

• Broad continuity with FP6
• Simplification is very important
• Some key novelties
• Longer period (2007-2013)
• From 17,5 to 75,8 Billions Eur
• The European Research Council
• Joint Technological Platforms

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Specific Programmes
Cooperation Collaborative research
Ideas Frontier Research
People Human Potential
Capacities Research Capacity

JRC (non-nuclear)
JRC (nuclear)
Euratom
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Cooperation Collaborative research

• 9 themes
• Health
• Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology
• Information and Communication Technologies
• Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new
  Production Technologies
• Energy
• Environment (including Climate Change)
• Transport (including Aeronautics)
• Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities
• Security and Space

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8. Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities
Growth, employment and competitiveness in a
knowledge society
Combining economic, social and environmental
objectives in a European perspective
Major trends in society and their implications
Europe in the world
The citizen in the European Union
Socio-economic and scientific indicators
Foresight activities
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What is new for SSH under FP7

• Broad strategic research agenda
• Addresses challenges in medium and long term
  perspective (2013 and beyond)
• Greater role for culture and humanities
• A more systematic approach to SSH infrastructures
• Leaves a space for researchers to address
  challenges facing Europe not mentioned in the
  research programme
• Stresses international dimension of SSH
• Better integration of several formerly separate
  activities (coordination of national policies,
  international cooperation)

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Growth, employment and competitiveness in a
knowledge society

• The changing role of knowledge, including
  different types of knowledge and competences,
  education, lifelong learning and intangible
  investment
• Economic structures, structural change and
  productivity issues
• Institutional and policy questions, including
  macro-economic policy, labour markets,
  institutional contexts, policy coherence and
  coordination.

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Combining economic, social and environmental
objectives in a European perspective

• How European socio-economic models and those
  outside Europe have fared in combining these
  objectives.
• Economic cohesion between regions and regional
  development in an enlarged EU, as well as social
  cohesion and its relation to social problems such
  as poverty, housing, crime, delinquency and drugs.

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Major trends in society and their implications

• Demographic change including ageing, births and
  migration
• Lifestyles, families, work, consumption, health
  and quality of life
• Cultural interactions in an international
  perspective including traditions from different
  societies, diversity of populations,
  discrimination, racism

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Europe in the world

• Changing interactions and interdependencies (in
  areas like trade, finance, investment, migration,
  media, religions) between world regions and their
  implications for those regions, especially for
  the EU
• Causes and resolution of conflicts relation
  between security and poverty, crime,
  environmental degradation and resources scarcity
  terrorism security-related policies and
  perceptions of insecurity

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The citizen in the European Union

• In the context of the future development of the
  EU, addressing the following issues
• Active participation by the peoples of Europe,
  European public sphere and media and democracy
  governance, citizenship and rights
• European diversities and commonalities in
  cultures, institutions, history, languages, arts,
  religions and values

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Socio-economic and scientific indicators

• The use of indicators in policy, their
  implementation and monitoring
• How evidence-based policy might be better
  supported by indicators and methods, for policy
  coordination and regulation
• Use of indicators for evaluation of research
  programmes, including impact assessment

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Foresight activities

• Foresight on key challenges and opportunities for
  the EU (e.g. ageing, migration)
• Focussed thematic foresight in emerging research
  domains and cross-cutting domains
• Foresight on research systems, key actors and
  policies in the EU
• Mutual learning and cooperation between national
  and/or regional foresight, within the EU and
  internationally

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Which instruments?

• Pursuit of ERA is still a major objective of the
  programme.
• Instruments should be adapted to purpose of each
  activity.
•  Huge  instruments like Networks of Excellence
  are not the solution per se  but should be used
  if they really help the development of the ERA.

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Conclusions

• FP7 SSH programme is ambitious in its scope
  (research domains types of activities)
• Budget proposal for SSH likely to be reduced from
  792 to 607 M. euros.
• Work programme and first call expected by end of
  2006.

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