“Missions provide a massive opportunity to increase the impact of European research and innovation, grasp the public imagination and make real progress on complex challenges.”
Pr. Mariana Mazzucato
Why & What
The European Missions are one of the Horizon Europe Programme novelties. They have been build from the “Mazzucato Report” which in 2018 drafted strategic recommendations on mission-oriented research and innovation in the EU, to guide the future European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.
The European Missions propose a new approach to co-generate innovative and transversal solutions and initiatives by identifying major and most pressing contemporary societal challenges to be solved by 2030.
Missions are based on citizen participation and involvement to create broad support and narrow their perceived distance to the EU.
From a research and innovation perspective it is a clear opportunity to reduce policy fragmentation and strengthen public engagement through the involvement of regional and local innovation ecosystems.
Missions formulate clear goals, objectives and timeline, that is easy to communicate and capture the imagination of people. The final aim is to provide concrete, transformational and systemic responses.
Criteria for selecting Missions
Based on the Horizon Europe Regulation, art. 7, Missions should:
Have EU-added value contributing to cover areas of common European relevance and to reach Union priorities and commitments,
Encourage active participation of stakeholders from public and private sectors,
Be targeted, measurable, time-bound and have a clear budget frame,
Be centered on ambitious, excellence-based and impact-driven,
Have realistic R&I goals and clear mobilization of the resources to deliver impactful outcomes,
Stimulate activity across disciplines to benefit and encourage synergies between cross-sectoral and cross-actor innovation.
State of Play
EU Missions will support Europe’s transformation into a greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient continent.
It is expected that European Missions will be addressed within the Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness pillar.
Five Missions Areas are inserted in the proposal for the Strategic Program of Horizon Europe:
Cancer
It aims to improve the lives of more than 3 million people through prevention and cure, as well as support individuals and their families affected by cancer to have longer and better lives.
Adaptation to Climate Change
This Mission will support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030 and enable large-scale transformations of 75 demonstrators.
Ocean Seas and Waters
It supports actions that address the water system as a whole, with measurable and quantifiable goals for restoring ecosystems and biodiversity, zero pollution, decarbonisation emissions reductions.
Climate Neutral & Smart Cities
This Mission will support 100 European cities in their systemic transformation towards climate neutrality by 2030.
Soil Health & Food
It aims to accelerate Europe's trajectory towards sustainable soil management and restoration as part of a wider, green transition in rural and urban areas by creating 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.
How to get involved
Citizens’ engagement is a key element and one of the major challenge for the European Missions and their implementation. The Missions are a unique means of contributing to awake of participatory democracy, in the context of R&I.
Civil society involvement should encompass:
The definition of the Mission itself, which include a co-design step based to a global challenge widely supported by the population;
The implementation of the Mission, where the social innovation plays a decisive role;
The inclusion of citizens as final users within the daily life use of proposed innovations, which is assessing the matchmaking between the offer (i.e. the solution) and the demand (i.e. the society).
Several citizens’ engagement activities are conducted by each European Mission and further will appear. Some examples are given by the EC initiative, such as the EU Climate Pact, EU4Ocean and NetZeroCities.
Others are reported within EU funded project, as REGILIENCE, ARSINOE, PHOENIX and more.
Sources
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