ERA-LEARN has published its Annual Report on Public-Public Partnerships 2020. This report has been prepared by the ERA-LEARN project team using data provided by the P2P networks. In addition to providing an updated picture of the evolving P2P landscape, it highlights examples of good practice and achievements from networks during 2020 as they seek to address specific challenges during a difficult year and create wider impact within the community, in an increasingly collaborative manner.

Norway performs quite well in public R&I Partnerships and invests high amounts per researcher as compared to its peers. Public R&I Partnerships are seen as a way of achieving national goals, internationalising the profile of the national research community and strengthening the competitiveness of national industries. Norwegian researchers consider that partnerships are valuable instruments in filling existing gaps in many respects and should be retained and further supported in the future. Although scope for improvement is recognised, Norway welcomes the new approach to partnerships under Horizon Europe and is committed to continued participation.

Finnish researchers appreciate the low administrative burden in projects supported by public R&I Partnerships and they also value the smaller scale of the projects that enables true collaboration and trust building. Accordingly, Finnish Ministries and Funding Agencies mark the high value for Finnish researchers and businesses in terms of the opportunities partnerships offer for international collaboration as well as the benefits for policy learning and policy design. Yet, Finland does not fully exploit these opportunities. The complicated landscape and the administrative burden and diversity across the partnerships are serious impediments that need to be remedied. The efforts of the European Commission are much appreciated in this regard while Finland retains strong committment to European Partnerships.

On April 28th a webinar on Widening in Partnerships was organized by ERA-LEARN to present good practices related to enhancing participation of Widening and less performing countries in partnerships. During the webinar participants could also learn more about the ‘Openness and Transparency principle’ which promotes an inclusive approach in the design and governance of European Partnerships in the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. The slides presented in the webinar are available now on the ERA-LEARN website.

On April 22 and May 25, ERA-LEARN held two consecutive Workshops on Partnership globalisation.
App. 50 participants from candidate Partnerships and their policy level stakeholders discussed approaches, experiences and issues regarding the cooperation with global partners.
Presentations (only first workshop) and a draft policy brief summarizing recommendations from preceding interviews may be downloaded from the ERA-LEARN website.

The reporting requirements for ERA-NET Cofunds are defined in the Grant Agreement signed with the EC. The reporting towards the EC is done electronically via the Participant Portal. ERA-LEARN provides a section on its website to support the networks in their reporting activities.