Webinar “100 climate-neutral cities by 2030 – by and for the citizens” – summary

As a part of a joint initiative of the PolSCA Office and the office of the National Center for Research and Development in Brussels – Business Science Poland – on June 21 an online meeting was held on one of the areas of European missions implemented under Horizon Europe. The Climate Neutral and Smart Cities mission will support new ideas, research and innovation that will help cities undergo systemic transformation to become climate neutral.

Webinar: Mission 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030 – by and for the citizens

On behalf of the organizers – the Polish Science Contact Agency PolSCA of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the NCBR Office in Brussels – Business & Science Poland – are pleased to invite you to participate in the webinar entitled ‘Mission 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030 – by and for the citizens’, which will be held online on June 21, 2021 from 11:00 am. to 1:15 pm.

Cities cover 3% of the earth’s surface, but generate about 72% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, cities are growing rapidly, with an estimated 85% of Europeans living in cities by 2050. The mission “100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030 – By and For Citizens” will support new ideas, research and innovation that will help cities to make the system transition towards climate neutrality.

The report prepared by the Mission Board is a proposal of actions that should be taken in order to achieve the goal of 100 climate neutral cities within 10 years. Among the many threads that appear in the report, two topics for discussion were selected: integrated urban planning and citizen’s engagement, without which – as the report shows – the mission cannot be successful.

The meeting will be attended by: Ms. Rosalinde van der Vlies from the European Commission, who will talk about the main assumptions and goals of the Mission, professor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, Chair of the Mission Board for Climate Neutral and Smart Cities, and excellent speakers – experts in the field of urban issues, who will participate in two discussion panels. The Polish Academy of Sciences will be represented by Cezary Mazurek, Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center affiliated to the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and prof. Bożena Degórska from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences. There will be a question and answer session with speakers at the end of the meeting.

We invite everyone interested in the topic of European missions to take part in this event, the agenda of which can be found under this link.

Registration link is available here.

‘Science for EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy’ – the event summary

One year after the adoption of the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and just one day before the International Day of Biodiversity (22^nd May) the Polish Science Contact Agency in Brussels, a liaison office of the Polish Academy of Sciences, held the webinar ‘Science for EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy”. The event gathered in one virtual space many inspiring speakers and about 160 attendees coming from all corners of Europe and beyond! Among the on-line participants there was a huge representation of R&I institutions such as research centres and universities. Some of attendees were linked to various institutions of funding agencies, ministries, national parks etc. The event brought also attention of a broad representatives of national, regional and local stakeholders, incl. NGOs, enterprises and local authorities. All speakers’ presentations, event-related documents (strategies and reports) as well as video recording of the event are available on the event website.

Culture Heritage in Digital Age – webinar summary

The webinar ‘Cultural Heritage in Digital Age’, held virtually on 21st April 2021, served as a platform to present and discuss opportunities and challenges that lay ahead of Europe in fostering the involvement of researchers, innovators and other relevant actors in the process of digitisation of cultural heritage. A particular attention was paid to current policies and instruments, developed under Horizon Europe, Creative Europe or other programmes such as Digital Europe programme, Erasmus+, Next Generation EU, and their potential to preserve and enhance cultural heritage with advanced technologies. Also, it showcased some European funded research projects and other relevant initiatives on the digitisation of Europe’s cultural heritage. This online event was a unique chance to get up-to-date, first-hand information from various experts in this field, representing European Commission, European networks, universities, research centres and libraries. If you interested in main conclusions coming from the webinar, please read through the webinar summary and/or watch the video recording – both are available below.

Webinar ‘Science for EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy’

Polish Science Contact Agency ‘PolSCA’ of the Polish Academy of Sciences is pleased to invite you for the event ‘Science for EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy’ to be held online on 21st May 2021 at 11:00 AM (CEST).

The main aim of the online seminar will be to bring together a broad range of actors involved in the biodiversity preservation – on both policy level and academia – to review the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 in general and to empower research and innovation actions in the field of biological diversity. We aim to create the space for dialogue around EU biodiversity conservation and for strengthening cooperation between decision makers, researchers and practitioners. The participants of the event will be given a chance to collect information on how scientists could benefit from Horizon Europe to provide impactful contribution to biodiversity protection.

The 2^nd session will be focused on the forest-related research, and will bring us a balanced overview of funding opportunities and lessons learnt gained from the past and ongoing scientific projects.

The event is opened to everyone interested in biodiversity protection and forest-related R&I actions, so do not hesitate to distribute this invitation further. Only registered participants will be provided with all connection details prior to the event. We look forward to seeing you online soon!

Please visit the event website to learn more about the meeting, its agenda and speakers as well as to receive access to documents related to the event topic.

When: Friday, 21st May 2021, 11:00 AM – 14.00 PM

How: WEBEX

Registration: through the link.

Registration deadline: Wednesday, 19^th May 2021 (EOB)

Webinar ‘Science for EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy’

Polish Science Contact Agency ‘PolSCA’ of the Polish Academy of Sciences is pleased to invite you for the online seminar ‘Science for EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy’ wchich will take place on May 21, 2021! The event is opened to everyone interested in biodiversity protection and forest-related R&I actions.

Webinar ‘The Mission Starfish 2030: Let’s restore our water resources and oceans’

As part of a joint initiative of the PolSCA Office and the representative office of the National Center for Research and Development (NCBR) in Brussels – Business Science Poland – on 10^th May, an online meeting was held on one of the areas of European missions implemented under Horizon Europe. The Mission Starfish 2030 will support new ideas, research and innovation in the field of the protection of the aquatic environment.

Webinar: Mission STARFISH 2030: Restoring our water resources and oceans

On behalf of the organizers – the Polish Science Contact Agency PolSCA of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the NCBR Office in Brussels – Business & Science Poland – we cordially invite you to participate in the webinar entitled ‘Mission Starfish 2030: Let’s restore our water resources and oceans’, which will take place on May 10, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

Ocean, sea, coastal and inland waters constitute one system which covers approx. 71% of the Earth’s surface. The European Mission Starfish 2030 under Horizon Europe will support new ideas, research and innovation to develop and scale up solutions that can change the way we care for our blue environment.

The report prepared by the Starfish 2030 Mission Council is a proposal of actions that should be taken to improve the situation of the aquatic environment, and a tool to raise awareness of their importance among citizens. Inspired by the shape of a starfish, the mission will be devoted to five overarching goals, including stopping pollution and regenerating nature.

The meeting will be attended by: a representative of the European Commission, who will talk about the main assumptions and goals of the Starfish 2030 Mission, Ms. Klara Ramm, member of the Starfish 2030 Mission Council, and excellent speakers – experts in the field of water policy and water protection, who will participate in two discussion panels on regeneration of marine and aquatic ecosystems and containment of pollution. On the side of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the speakers will be: prof. Paweł Rowiński, Vice-president of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and prof. Jan M. Węsławski, Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. There will be a question and answer session with speakers at the end of the meeting.

We invite everyone interested in the topic of European missions to take part in this event, the agenda of which can be found here.

Registration link is available here.

Training for managers of European research projects “V4 Training”

On April 26-28, another edition of the training for managers of European research projects “V4 Training” took place, which was organized by PolSCA together with the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research (CZELO), the National Office for Research, Development and Innovation in Hungary (NRDIO) and the Slovak Liaison Office for Research and Development (SLORD).

The second virtual edition of the event was attended by 36 experts dealing with projects financed from European funds, who came from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In addition, the training was also attended – through the IGLO network – by representatives of R&D organizations in Lithuania, Estonia, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. Among Polish participants, we hosted seven female leaders from the following centers:

• Julia GOŚCIAŃSKA-ŁOWIŃSKA, director of the Łukasiewicz-Industrial Institute of Agricultural Machines in Poznań
• Katarzyna KOPAŃCZYK, director of the Department of International Research Programs at the University of Life Sciences in Wrocław
• Anna LEŚNODORSKA, Head of the TCS AH Executive Office at the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow
• Joanna PRZEDRZYMIRSKA, deputy director for organization and development at the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Sopot
• Izabela RASZCZYK, director of administrative matters at the International Center for Research on Anticancer Vaccines at the University of Gdańsk
• Agnieszka TADRZAK, Director’s Plenipotentiary for Research and Development Funding at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw
• Monika SKOWRON, legal advisor at the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences A. Krupkowski in Krakow

During the three-day training “V4 Training”, the following topics were discussed: new elements introduced to the Horizon Europe framework program, innovation ecosystems of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), and the comitology procedure in the EU European Union, preparation of Work Programs or Open Science policy. The issue of best practices was also discussed, incl. in the areas of communication, dissemination and valorisation of project results. In addition, the director of the PolSCA Office – Dr. Tomasz Poprawka – discussed the subject of awareness of stakeholders such as R&D organizations with the participants of the training. on the example of associations and networking organizations.

The PolSCA office hosted the second day of the training, which was devoted to investing in scientists and their networking, mainly based on the instruments of Horizon Europe. The first meeting on attracting and developing talents was led by Ewa Kocińska-Lange from NCBR / Business Science Poland together with Marcela Groholova from the Research Executive Agency, Marie Curie Actions. Then, Ewa Kocińska-Lange spoke again about supporting international cooperation through the Horizon Europe program, this time with Katalin Alföldi from COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). Finally, Anne Pépin from DG Research and Innovation presented the topic of Gender Equality Plans.

These issues were raised again by the same panellists during interactive sessions in the form of exchanging experiences, in which participants of previous V4 Training also took part. From Poland, they were Anna Pawlus, coordinator of the research group at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and Anna Stachowiak-Szrejbrowska, head of the Grant Application Support Section at the Adam Mickiewicz University.

We invite you to participate in the next edition of “V4 Training”, which – also in the online version – will take place in the second half of November 2021!

PolSCA webinar series on Horizon Europe :: pillar II – clusters, missions and partnerships

The Polish Science Contact Agency (PolSCA) of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Brussels is hosting a second meeting within “Webinar series on Horizon Europe”. Main goal of theses online meetings is to strengthen the knowledge about the next EU framework programme for research and innovation – Horizon Europe (HE) among representatives of the scientific community of the Polish Academy of Sciences . These activities are carried out in synergy with the PASIFIC programme, where the PolSCA Office is involved in building and strengthening an informal support network dedicated to scientists and research managers of PAS Institutes in the context of the Horizon Europe.

The main focus of the 2^nd webinar within the series will be on Pillar II of Horizon Europe “Global challenges and European industrial competitiveness”, its overall construction and logic of intervention. During the event, participants will be provided with a rather general introduction regarding 6 thematic clusters. The strategic planning process shall be explained, with its results to be set out in a multiannual strategic plan for preparing the content of the work programmes. The current state-of-play will be provided regarding research & innovation Missions. Participants will also be given an overview of a renewed landscape of HE Partnerships, with an insight into Polish national-level preparatory actions.

The webinar is by invitation only and it is addressed to the academic and research support staff of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It will be held on Friday, April 23, 2021 at 13.30 am in the online formula. The language of the meeting is English.

The detailed agenda of the meeting is available here.