The Social Sciences, Humanities and foresight

programme: evolution and future perspectives

The Directorate for Research in Social Sciences, Humanities and Foresight of DG

Research, European Commission

The early steps

• EU Research policy was first included in the Single European Act in 1986.

« The Community shall have the objective of strengthening the scientific and technological bases of Community industry and encouraging it to become more competitive at international level, while promoting all the research activities deemed necessary by virtue of other chapters of this Treaty”.

• Therefore the RTD policy, as defined by the Treaty, contains a socio-economic dimension.

• Research programmes existed before 1986 but did not include research on SSH as such.

• Only FAST promoted foresight by exploring emerging domains (like ICTs or biotechnologies). Other research programmes supported mobility in the SSH disciplines.

How were SSH included into the FP?

• In 1994, FP4 created a proper domain of SSH called « targeted socio economic research » (TSER).

• Under FP4 and FP5, foresight is taken over by the JRC (IPTS in Sevilla), but also reappears as a new activity under FP6.

Issues addressed under FP4

Targeted socio-economic research

• Scientific and technology policy options.

• Education and training.

• Social exclusion and social integration.

Issues addressed under FP5

• Analysing structural, demographic and social changes, including the phenomena of xenophobia, racism and migration in Europe.

• Analysing the relationship between technological development, employment and society.

• Analysing the changing role of European institutions, systems of governance and citizenship in the process of European integration.

• Validating new development models, fostering growth, employment, social and economic cohesion and the

quality of life.

Issues addressed under FP6

• Knowledge-based society and social cohesion

* Generation, use and distribution of knowledge* Developing the Lisbon societal objectives* Variety of paths towards knowledge society

• Citizenship, democracy and new forms of governance

* Implication of EU integration/enlargement* Multi-level governance* resolution of conflicts, peace, justice* citizenship and cultural identities

Issues addressed under FP6 (Continued)

• Foresight

* Is meant to help strengthen the bases of the European Research Area

* Studies, analyses, methodology, preparation of medium and long term scenarios

• Other SSH elements

* Infrastructures

* Research and innovation

* Mobility (Marie Curie)

* Science and society

* Integration of SSH in other research priorities (e.g. environment, health, transport…)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

FP4 FP5 FP6 FP7

SSH in FP (M€) M€ per year

Evolution of SSH budget since 1994Evolution of SSH budget since 1994

Quantitative evolution of SSH EU researchQuantitative evolution of SSH EU research

FP4 FP5 FP6

Nb of projects 162 185 141

Nb of research teams

1206 1507 2350

Ratio teams per project

7,4 8,2 16,7

Average budget / proj. (M€)

0,710 0,886 1,780

Nb of countries 35 39 50

The various disciplines

in RTD consortia in FP4 and FP5 “Disciplines”

Sociology

Economics

Political Science (including public policy)

Statistics

Management/Business

Education

Psychology

Geography

History

Anthropology

Urban/Regional Planning

Demography

* Other marginal disciplines included philosophy, women´s studies, cultural studies, architecture, church history, law, communication, linguistics and technology policy

The particular nature of EU SSH research

• Issue oriented.

• Multidisciplinary.

• Significant comparative element.

• Policy relevant in the middle to longer-term as projects last up to 5 years.

• Policy relevant not only at EU level but also at national and regional levels.

The rationale of the new FP7

• Broad continuity with FP6

• Simplification is very important

• Some key novelties

* Longer period (2007-2013)

* From 17,5 to 75,8 Billions Eur

* The European Research Council

* Joint Technological Platforms

Specific Programmes

Cooperation – Collaborative researchCooperation – Collaborative research

People – Human PotentialPeople – Human Potential

JRC (nuclear)JRC (nuclear)

Ideas – Frontier ResearchIdeas – Frontier Research

Capacities – Research CapacityCapacities – Research Capacity

JRC (non-nuclear)JRC (non-nuclear)

EuratomEuratom

+

9 themes1. Health

2. Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology

3. Information and Communication Technologies

4. Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies

5. Energy

6. Environment (including Climate Change)

7. Transport (including Aeronautics)

8. Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities

9. Security and Space

Cooperation – Collaborative researchCooperation – Collaborative research

8. Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities

8. Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities

Growth, employment and competitiveness in a knowledge societyGrowth, employment and competitiveness in a knowledge society

Combining economic, social and environmental objectives in a European perspective

Combining economic, social and environmental objectives in a European perspective

Major trends in society and their implicationsMajor trends in society and their implications

Europe in the worldEurope in the world

The citizen in the European UnionThe citizen in the European Union

Socio-economic and scientific indicatorsSocio-economic and scientific indicators

Foresight activitiesForesight activities

What is new for SSH under FP7

• Broad strategic research agenda• Addresses challenges in medium and long term

perspective (2013 and beyond)• Greater role for culture and humanities• A more systematic approach to SSH infrastructures• Leaves a space for researchers to address challenges

facing Europe not mentioned in the research programme• Stresses international dimension of SSH• Better integration of several formerly separate activities

(coordination of national policies, international cooperation)

• The changing role of knowledge, including different types of knowledge and competences, education, lifelong learning and intangible investment

• Economic structures, structural change and productivity issues

• Institutional and policy questions, including macro-economic policy, labour markets, institutional contexts, policy coherence and coordination.

Growth, employment and competitivenessin a knowledge society

Growth, employment and competitivenessin a knowledge society

• How European socio-economic models and those outside Europe have fared in combining these objectives.

• Economic cohesion between regions and regional development in an enlarged EU, as well as social cohesion and its relation to social problems such as poverty, housing, crime, delinquency and drugs.

Combining economic, socialand environmental objectives

in a European perspective

Combining economic, socialand environmental objectives

in a European perspective

• Demographic change including ageing, births and migration

• Lifestyles, families, work, consumption, health and quality of life

• Cultural interactions in an international perspective including traditions from different societies, diversity of populations, discrimination, racism…

Major trends in society and their implications

Major trends in society and their implications

• Changing interactions and interdependencies (in areas like trade, finance, investment, migration, media, religions) between world regions and their implications for those regions, especially for the EU

• Causes and resolution of conflicts; relation between security and poverty, crime, environmental degradation and resources scarcity; terrorism; security-related policies and perceptions of insecurity

Europe in the worldEurope in the world

In the context of the future development of the EU, addressing the following issues

• Active participation by the peoples of Europe, European public sphere and media and democracy; governance, citizenship and rights

• European diversities and commonalities in cultures, institutions, history, languages, arts, religions and values

The citizen in the European UnionThe citizen in the European Union

• The use of indicators in policy, their implementation and monitoring

• How evidence-based policy might be better supported by indicators and methods, for policy coordination and regulation

• Use of indicators for evaluation of research programmes, including impact assessment

Socio-economic and scientific indicatorsSocio-economic and scientific indicators

• Foresight on key challenges and opportunities for the EU (e.g. ageing, migration…)

• Focussed thematic foresight in emerging research domains and cross-cutting domains

• Foresight on research systems, key actors and policies in the EU

• Mutual learning and cooperation between national and/or regional foresight, within the EU and internationally

Foresight activitiesForesight activities

Which instruments?

• Pursuit of ERA is still a major objective of the programme.

• Instruments should be adapted to purpose of each activity.

• « Huge » instruments like Networks of Excellence are not the solution per se  but should be used if they really help the development of the ERA.

Conclusions

25

• FP7 SSH programme is ambitious in its scope (research domains + types of activities)

• Budget proposal for SSH likely to be reduced from 792 to 607 M. euros.

• Work programme and first call expected by end of 2006.