During his visit to the South Bohemian Region (April 4, 2024), the Minister of the Environment, Petr Hladík, ceremoniously opened a new hall with the production of heat pumps in Milevsko, he debated with students at the Fishery Vocational School in Třebon, discussed the placement of photovoltaics on heritage-protected buildings and together with the scientists from CzechGlobe he visited the measurement station, which captures the amount of CO2 in wetlands and evaluates the state of the landscape and soil.
On April 1, the new project of the European research infrastructure IRISCC (Integrated Research Infrastructure Services for Climate Change risks) focused on the risks caused by climate change was officially launched. The project, which is coordinated by Janne Rinne from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), integrates 14 research infrastructures and e-infrastructures and brings together 80 partners from all over Europe, including scientists from CzechGlobe and its infrastructure.
On January 30, 2024, a panel discussion on the EU Missions: rethinking governance and policymaking was held in Brussels. The event was organized by the independent think-tank Friends of Europe in collaboration with the consortium of the Horizon Europe SSH – CENTRE project (Social Sciences and Humanities for Climate, Energy and Transport Research Excellence).
The Missions represent a new concept within the Horizon Europe programme which is supposed to provide tangible solutions to the cross-cutting societal challenges of today with the aim of supporting the transformation of Europe into a greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient continent by advocating for a significant restructuring of governance and policy-making processes.
Insight into politics is one of the main activities of the SSH-CENTRE project, which brings together 13 partners from across Europe. The project directly engages stakeholders – researchers, policymakers, representatives of businesses, civil society, and citizens – in strengthening social innovations, promoting SSH-STEM collaboration (social sciences and humanities with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), and in transdisciplinary policy consultancy to accelerate the EU’s transition to carbon neutrality.
The success of the Missions requires a fundamental change in the functioning of governments and institutions and a redefinition of the relationship between businesses and governments. Whether such a change has been observed after three years of the programme was the subject of the panel discussion. Additionally, there was a dialogue on defining key monitoring indicators, increasing synergies with other programmes at EU level, exploring further prospects of the Missions, and directing investments into research and innovation.
The SSH-CENTRE project was represented in the panel discussion by Julia Leventon from CzechGlobe, who, among other things, deals with changes in decision-making and management processes towards sustainability and is also working on creating interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research to achieve sustainability goals. The other three panelists were representatives from DG Clima, DG Environment and the European Parliament.
The recording of the panel discussion can be viewed here.