Partnership Stakeholder Forum results
The first Partnership Stakeholder Forum organised by ERA-LEARN and the European Commission on 15-16 November 2022 is now behind us, but many insightful lessons and conclusions shared during these two days are now available to be acted upon. Overall, the review of the first year of the partnerships has been quite promising in light of achieving the twin green and digital transitions and increase Europe’s resilience.
European Partnerships are a perfect instrument to implement and adapt to changes and are important to further advance the development of the ERA. Partnerships benefit from linking to the regional and local levels when it comes to the deployment of research results and the path towards innovation. Synergies have to be exploited not only among partnerships but also with other instruments such as Horizon Europe Clusters and Missions as well as national innovation and investment programmes. Accessing other funds such as European Cohesion Funds is key in this regard, as is creating stronger links with the private sector towards market deployment. Good examples already exist that are worth spreading.
Experience shows that there are several challenges to tackle to fully exploit the potential of the partnership instrument. The set-up of partnerships and their smooth implementation needs adequate time and the ambition should be high as well as realistic. The challenges faced due to the pandemic made it inevitable to shift funds from certain topics to others especially in the health area to immediately respond to urgent needs. This led to disruption in parts of some partnerships’ programming; yet it also showed that partnerships can be flexible when the needs arises to adapt and respond to crises. We must avoid that European Partnerships become too big and complex to react and adapt to urgent needs.
To be effective, partnerships need to be embedded in the national and European policy contexts, and the strategic planning of their members, be they Member States/Associated Countries, European Institutions, or research and innovation actors. It will be the role of the Partnership Knowledge Hub to put the Partnerships on the right track to implement the criteria framework but keep their flexibility. The lessons learnt in this first year amidst the pandemic that brought additional challenges for partnerships are valuable for the future and should be spread not only in the partnership community but also among the ministries, funding agencies and stakeholders involved.
The event provided a venue for networking, broadening engagement, sharing of experiences and discussing policy and practical dimensions of the partnerships. This was the first opportunity for the partnership community to come together after an interruption of 2,5 years due to the pandemic and was much appreciated. It brought together more than 250 on site participants and more than 250 watched the live – streaming sessions.
For more details please have a look at our Summary Results of the 1st European Partnership Stakeholder Forum. Video recordings and slides are also available. A detailed forum report will be published on the ERA-LEARN website in January 2023.