The EU on a mission: rethinking governance and policymaking

Past event IN PERSON & LIVESTREAM

Climate, Energy & Natural Resources
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Friends of Europe The EU on a mission: rethinking governance and policymaking 2024

What happened

“Underneath populism, there’s a sense of real disenchantment, whether from globalisation, technological change, even European unity […] There’s a real opportunity to use [missions] […] to get citizens across Europe to realise that policy actually matters,” said Professor Mariana Mazzucato, a special advisor to the then European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, in July 2019.

One of the ways the EU has sought to provide concrete solutions to the cross-cutting societal challenges of our time is by introducing ‘missions’, a novelty of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme. EU missions intend to support Europe’s transformation into a greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient continent by advocating for a drastic restructuring of governance and policymaking.

To achieve success, the missions require a fundamental change in the functioning of governments and institutions, and a redefinition of the relationship between businesses and governments. Three years into the programme, have we seen such a transformation?

In 2024, it will be crucial to define clear indicators for monitoring, increase synergies with the other programmes at the EU level and focus Research and Innovation investment on interdisciplinarity to integrate points of view from social science and humanities.

This event took place in Brussels and will also be available to a wider audience via livestream. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook, and join the #SSHCENTRE discussion!

This Policy Insight is part of the SSH CENTRE (Social Sciences and Humanities for Climate, Energy and Transport Research Excellence) project.

This project, supported by 13 leading organisations from across Europe, engages directly with stakeholders including researchers, policymakers, business representatives as well as civil society and citizens to strengthen social innovation, SSH-STEM collaboration and transdisciplinary policy advice, to accelerate the EU’s transition to carbon neutrality.


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PHOTO CREDIT: Maykova Galina/Shutterstock

Schedule

Schedule

Registration and sandwich lunch
The EU on a mission: rethinking governance and policymaking
Expand The EU on a mission: rethinking governance and policymaking

Questions include:

  • Has work on the missions successfully brought technical and social disciplines together to work in a cross-cutting manner? How have the research outcomes from the work on the missions supported policymakers and innovators in addressing these critical challenges?
  • To what extent are the missions kinetic? Can they align with societal challenges and policy developments to foster the innovation necessary to address emerging issues?
  • Fundamentally, is the mission approach a suitable framework to address these challenges?
End of event
Speakers

Speakers

Bardram Elina
Elina Bardram

Director for ‘Adaptation & Resilience, Communication, and Civil Society Relations’ at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA)

Show more information on Elina Bardram

In addition to her current role of Director for ‘Adaptation & Resilience, Communication, and Civil Society Relations’, Elina Bardram is also the Mission Manager for the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. She joined DG CLIMA over a decade ago and has held different senior and middle management functions in the area of international relations, including as Head of the EU Delegation to the UNFCCC negotiations. Previously, Bardram also worked in the Strategy Directorate of the External Relations Directorate-General.

Photo credits: © European Union / Nuno Rodrigues

Child Patrick
Patrick Child

European Commission Deputy Director-General for the Environment (DG ENV) and Mission Manager for the European Union Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities

Show more information on Patrick Child

Patrick Child is currently Deputy Director-General at the European Commission’s Directorate General for the Environment and assumes responsibility for the EU’s zero pollution strategy, chemicals legislation, urban agenda, research and innovation for the environment and communication. He is also the Mission manager for the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, which aims to reach 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030. Previously, Child was Deputy Director-General in DG Research and Innovation (R&I). As a member of the Board of DG R&I, his focus was on research and innovation in clean energy and climate technologies as well as the R&I dimension of the post-COVID recovery and resilience strategy and Horizon Europe mission on cancer. With a background in the UK Finance Ministry, Child joined the European Commission in the 1990s, where he started in the Directorate‑General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

Julia Leventon
Julia Leventon

Professor of sustainability science and Head of Department at the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Global Change Research Institute

Show more information on Julia Leventon

A professor of sustainability science, Julia Leventon currently heads the Department of Social Dimensions of Global Change at the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. She is an environmental social scientist whose work focuses on societal transformations for sustainability. Leventon has contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) on this topic and is currently serving as a coordinating lead author to the Transformative Change assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Her research portfolio is largely funded by the European Commission and includes work on changing decision-making and governance processes towards sustainability, and on creating interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research to meet sustainability goals.

Olbrycht Jan
Jan Olbrycht

Vice-Chairman of the Group of the European People’s Party, Member of CONT Committee and President of the URBAN Intergroup at the European Parliament

Show more information on Jan Olbrycht

A long-standing Member of the European Parliament, Jan Olbrycht currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Group of the European People’s Party. He is also a full member of the Committee on Budgetary Control; a substitute member of the Committee on Regional Development and the Committee on Budgets; a co-rapporteur on the Multiannual Financial Framework; as well as a member of the parliamentary working group on the scrutiny of the recovery and resilience facility. Olbrycht is a participant and supporter of regional and local policy, and the co-founder, member and chairman of the URBAN Intergroup in the European Parliament as well as a co-chairman of the European People’s Party working group on Intercultural and Religious Dialogue. Previously, he served as Mayor of Cieszyn, and held various positions at the regional, national and European levels.

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