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Thematic Priority Setting for EU, Caribbean & Central America in

Research Innovation- Santo Domingo

Authors: MENON Network; EUCARINET

Caribbean partners

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Copyright notice:

Copyright © APRE.

EUCARINET (Strengthening sustainable scientific cooperation between Europe and the Caribbean) is a project co-funded

by the European Commission in its 7th Framework Programme under the Grant Agreement no 244510 running from 1st

April. 2010 to 30th March 2014.

The information contained in this document reflects only the author's views and the Community is not liable for any use

that may be made of the information contained therein.

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Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 5

2. Methodology of the expert priority dialogue ........................................................................................................ 5

3. Thematic priority setting sessions: major conclusions .................................................................................... 6

3.1Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) .......................................................................................................... 6

3.2. Health ....................................................................................................................................................................... 9

3.3: Environment ........................................................................................................................................................ 14

4. Discussion on Caribbean needs and challenges: main conclusions ......................................................... 17

4.1 Specific needs of the Caribbean in terms of S&T development ............................................................ 17

4.2 Existing capacities that could be transferred ............................................................................................. 18

4.3 Input for EUCARINET ........................................................................................................................................ 20

Annexes .............................................................................................................................................................................. 21

Annex 1 – Agenda of the event. .............................................................................................................................. 22

“Thematic priority setting for EU, Caribbean & Central America in ............................................................................... 22

Research and innovation” ................................................................................................................................................ 22

Day 2: Special topics, NCP operation ............................................................................................................................... 27

Annex 2 – Concept Note ............................................................................................................................................ 28

Thematic priority setting for EU, Caribbean & Central America in ................................................................................ 29

Research and innovation ................................................................................................................................................. 29

Annex 3 – Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................... 31

Annex 4 – Agenda of the Caribbean Session ...................................................................................................... 32

Annex 5 – List of participants ................................................................................................................................. 33

Annex 6 – Thematic concept notes ........................................................................................................................ 36

Extracts of European policies and Documents ................................................................................................ 36

for the FP7 ENVIRONMENT (incl. climate change) theme ......................................................................... 36

Extracts of European policies and Documents ................................................................................................ 41

for the FP7 HEALTH theme ...................................................................................................................................... 41

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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EUCARINET Expert Meeting Report March 7-9th 2011

EUCARINET - ENLACE Experts Meeting Report

“Thematic priority setting for EU, Caribbean & Central America

in Research Innovation”

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

March 7-9th 2011

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1. Introduction

With the support of the European Commission, the EUCARINET and the ENLACE Inconet projects organized on March

7th to 9th 2011 their first joint expert workshop “Thematic priority setting for priority setting discussions” in the

Dominican Republic, bringing together high-level expertise and knowledge from the Caribbean, Central American (CAC)

and Europe.

The event aimed to:

a) Identify research lines and scientific priorities of common interest and benefit

b) Discuss challenges for EU-Caribbean and EU-CA cooperation that can guide the work of EUCARINET and ENLACE

in the next years.

This report presents the main outcomes of the event, with a focus on the Caribbean specificities and related S&T

challenges. A similar report will be drafted by the ENLACE project on the Central American issues. The wide geographic

and thematic coverage of this first joint workshop provided important information on the S&T related needs, strengths,

opportunities and threats. These outputs will be further fine-tuned during the EUCARINET project activities.

The presentations given at the event are available on the www.eucarinet.eu website.

2. Methodology of the expert priority dialogue

The workshop consisted of 3 major parts:

1. An information introductory plenary session

2. A set of three thematic sessions related to the FP 7 themes a) Knowledge Based Bio-Economy – “KBBE”, b)

Health and c) Environment

3. A discussion session on the specific needs and opportunities in research and innovation for the Caribbean

region.

In the Plenary session, a number of introductory speeches were given by Julio Amado Castaños Guzmán, Dean of

Universidad Iberoamericana of Dominican Republic (UNIBE), Ligia Amada Melo de Cardona, Minister of High Education

Science and Technology of Dominican Republic, Diassina Di Maggio, Director of the Agency for the Promotion of

European Research and coordinator of EUCARINET & ENLACE EU Projects of Italy, Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, INCO

National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas from Greece and María Angeles Macías García

from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, coordinator of the EULARINET EU Project.

Subsequently, an overview of the international dimension of the European Research Framework Programme was given

by Paul Vossen from the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, while Cesar Carmona-Moreno from the EC

Joint Research Centre Environment and Sustainability Institute presented the JRC activities in the LAC area (Brussels).

Finally, three presentations focused on the research priorities of the event. Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) was

presented by Elisabetta Balzi, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation, Biotechnologies,

Agriculture, Food; Health by Indridi Benediktsson, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation,

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Health; and Environment by Nikos Christoforides European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation, Climate change and

natural hazards (Brussels).

The thematic priority setting sessions were organized around presentations by Caribbean and Central American experts,

and allowed the appreciation of bottom-up research strands and cooperation ideas. The experts were invited to present

the following information:

- Description of the research line(s) they identified as priority;

- The related knowledge gaps;

- Relevance according to FP7;

- Potential for regional/global collaboration;

- Justification and mutual interest for EU collaboration

These presentations offered the basis for discussions between the CAC and EU experts and were onwards reported back

by the rapporteurs in a further plenary session, to allow all participants to get an understanding of the outcomes of the

thematic sessions.

In the Caribbean discussion session, Caribbean experts dealt with the results of the thematic sessions from a specific

Caribbean perspective and debated a few general issues that should tackled to improve EU-Caribbean cooperation in

S&T. This session also allowed to share the first EUCARINET project deliverables with research leaders from the region

and to validate the first findings of the project.

3. Thematic priority setting sessions: major conclusions

3.1Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE)

Expert name Expert role

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Pena Caribbean Scientific Expert

Bernarda A Castillo De La Cruz Caribbean Scientific Expert

Mark Lancelot BYNOE Caribbean Scientific Expert

Nadine ZAKHIA-ROZIS EU Expert

Eduardo J TRIGO Rapporteur

In general, there was convergence of points of view about the topics of importance for potential cooperation, reflecting,

as was to be expected, the strengths and weaknesses of each region. The experts agreed that the greatest potential for

future cooperation are mostly related to the exploitation of advances in the area of biotechnology for the better use of

the CAC’s region great biodiversity resources for better food and energy, and to meet the challenges posted by the

impacts of climate change. In these areas – termed either in relation to the sustainable use of biodiversity resources in

general or for particular food or energy products – there was agreement that the mutual interest and the potential value

added is clear and present, and further refinement should follow.

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The following research lines were identified under the umbrella of better management of natural resources and

biodiversity of the CAC region:

Biotechnology (use of microorganisms and use of enzymes for food & nonfood applications, agricultural waste

treatments; biorefining & bioenergy) ; Research on biodiversity to “optimize ecological services”. The meeting

emphasized that although biodiversity has very concrete applications – and they are discussed below under

other headings – there is a need of a holistic approach taking biodiversity in its broadest sense and also look at

the role of biodiversity research in the optimization of the management of natural resources, emphasizing

efforts to cover from their characterization to value adding for specific applications.

Food chain value: processing, food quality and safety (e.g. mycotoxins), social dimension of food and consumer

requirements, functional food for health; Use of microorganisms, for food and non-food use. The use of

biotechnological tools for improving food and non-food products and production processes was amply

discussed and there was agreement that cooperative work in different enabling technologies is a topic that

should be given a high priority.

As indicated above, the links between biodiversity and food was discussed extensively as one of the areas of

greatest mutual interest potential.

Within this general framework the following specific areas

o Development of functional foods for improved nutrition and health on the basis of existing biodiversity

resources.

o Biotechnology applications for novel and/or improvement of traditional food processing techniques.

o Food quality and safety assurance (e.g. mycotoxins control on processed foods)

o Societal aspects of food, including the acceptance of novel food by the users and other consumers

requirements

Optimization of the use of biomass for energy and industrial uses

The experts agreed that looking into biomass, as a generic resource for energy production –both large and

small scale – was another area of mutual interest. Within this orientation the following specific topics there

identified

o Biofuels production from conventional and non-conventional sources, including novel regional

biodiversity resources and agricultural and agro industrial waste, particularly from the sugar-cane

industry.

o Sharing of the European experience with the bio refinery concept and its potential for rural

development efforts.

Other issues

In the context of the discussion of above specific issues, other aspects were raised during the session which could

eventually represent areas of mutual interest and potential valued added through bi-regional cooperation. These

include the following:

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o Water resources management, including seawater resources, and specially related to the relative

scarcity of land resources vis a vis water resources which is a particular characteristic of the region.–

Fisheries: aquaculture and marine culture targeting non seafood production

o The possibility of exploiting the long experience and particular capacities that the CAC region has in

the management of natural risks.

o Fisheries;

o Importance of innovation (public-private partnerships; conceptualization and adaptation of generic

methods and tools departing from specific context and case studies);

o The importance of identifying the CAC strengths and as such the niches where CAC research forces

should position itself in the EU landscape.

Cross cutting issues

Together with the above areas where research lines of mutual interest may, eventually, be identified, a number of cross

cutting issues, some of which affect the capacity to cooperate were also singled out. These areas include:

o Capacity building, including institutional and technical/financial aspects

The CAC region is a very diverse one, and although, as indicated above, there are some centers of excellence, the most

common situation is one of weaknesses, which makes capacity building efforts a needed strategy and high priority. In

this sense, however, it was acknowledged that FP7 instruments were not the most appropriate to these objectives, as

they do not contemplate instruments to this end. Bilateral or regional mechanisms linked to DEVCO should be explored

to attend to these weaknesses. (e.g. exchange of scientists, PhD students, training) and the importance of the Marie

Curie fellowships to this purpose)

o Human resources, including the mobility of researchers

Directly related to the above discussion on capacity building needs, the need to strengthen the human resources base in

the CAC region, including the setting up of effective mechanisms for the mobility of researchers, both within the region

and between CAC and issue, came up as another aspect that would need to be attended. The region has been making

important progress in this area in recent times, but their national research systems are still in need of further

strengthening. In this sense it was recognized that the Peoples program within FP7 could offer great opportunities and

both ENLACE and EUCARINET should consider special activities aimed at facilitating the CAC countries participation in

relevant instruments and calls.

o Weaknesses in the relationship between academy and SMEs/industry

Just as most of the other regions of the developing world, the CAC countries have low levels of interactions between the

academic and the industrial world, particularly at the level of the small and medium enterprise level, where many of the

basic capacities for interacting with local and international sources of new knowledge and technologies are lacking. The

experts identified this as a major limitation for increasing the effectiveness of research efforts and an area where

specific actions could be of great potential benefit.

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o Access to knowledge through regional models and databases - Need for better knowledge management (access

to information, sharing of regional models and databases, technology transfer);

Given the small relative size of the economies of the CAC countries, the development of regional models – for example

in the area of climate change where global models are difficult to interpret given their level of aggregation – and data

bases or common access to all countries, represents an alternative that should be explored. This kind of resources could

represent a very effective way for supporting national activities that today confront important limitations for their

development.

Knowledge transfer from EU to third countries (CAC).

Although joint and collaborative research opportunities were the main focus of the discussion during the session, the

issue of how to improve knowledge and technology transfer from the EU to the CAC countries also came up as a major

aspect that cannot be overlooked, particularly considering the leadership role that Europe plays in a number of scientific

fields and technology areas. It was recognized, however, that – as was the case with capacity building – actions

regarding these aspects should be explored within the context of DEVCO programs and instruments, as the FP7 is not an

effective framework to address the issues involved.

3.2. Health

Expert name Expert role

Eddy Nelson Perez - Then Caribbean Scientific Expert

Anselm J.M. Hennis Caribbean Scientific Expert

Emilie Juliette SMITH-RAVIN Caribbean Scientific Expert

Dr Vincent LACOSTE EU Expert

Dr Benjamin Berthout Rapporteur

Up front, an important restriction concerning the status of this report should be stated. It reflects the opinions of those

individuals that were invited, but the coverage may not be complete and important research themes may have been

missed. Thus, no definitive list of research topics is presented below, and we also did not discuss the ranking order in

terms of priority. The way to go forward seems to get input from other experts, research bodies, governments etc on

this pilot listing of candidate Health research themes.

Five research sub-themes were identified during the session, presented below.

o Infectious diseases. The Neglected Tropical Diseases constitute a group of ailments of high relevance in CA.

These diseases, which include a number of parasitic and infectious entities, have the peculiarity of affecting the

poorest people of the region. Since the social inequities in CA have grown over the last decades, due to the

dominant political projects which do not prioritize large investments in social issues, such as health, a growing

proportion of the population in CA I lives in poverty. In this context, neglected tropical diseases affect poor

people who are often excluded from the provision of health services. The incidence of these diseases, together

with their diagnosis and clinical manifestations, the implementation of preventive and therapeutic approaches,

and the analysis of accessibility of populations to health services (diagnostics, treatment and prevention) are

issues that demand urgent research efforts in CA. Although the epidemiological profile of CA has changed in the

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last decades and degenerative/chronic diseases now occupy a prominent position, infectious diseases continue

to be a serious problem, especially in impoverished regions of CA, affected by natural disasters, malnutrition and

poor housing and education. In this context, diarrheas and respiratory illness take a heavy toll. The particular

aspects associated with infectious diseases in the region need to be investigated in order to identify their

specific features and to find solutions to these problems.

HIV, TB, malaria: HIV seems to be more present in the Caribbean region whereas Malaria is for

the Central American Region. Tuberculosis also came up as a common and recurrent infectious

disease. Global health problems that need further research: anti-microbial drug resistance (new

antibiotics), HIV-AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (big three), emerging epidemics (pathogen

discovery, surveillance), neglected diseases. HIV-TB-malaria actions, but it is important to

emphasize that the biology is not identical in different parts of the world: we find other HIV-1

subtypes in CAR and CA versus Africa and Europe, and both the malaria parasite and the insect

vector are different in America versus Africa. The importance of explain to EU people the real

stakes of such diseases: i.e., safer tourism Biology aspect: HIV-TB-Mal are not always the same

(HIV subtypes, Plasmodium falciparum/vivax) Impact on therapy, resistance, future vaccine trials

Neglected infectious diseases other than HIV-TB-malaria form another major health problem

that was already analyzed in much detail for Latin America and the Caribbean in a thematic

workshop, for which the results were published (PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases October

2010, vol. 4, e780). The topics were prioritized not just based on the burden of disease, but

rather on the research perspective for future improvements. Arthropod vector-borne diseases

(e.g. Leishmaniasis): poverty-related, linked to environmental changes (overlap environment),

affordable diagnostics, innovation drug development, epidemiological surveillance, therapeutic

strategies for chronic carriers, vector control tools based on strong expertise in medical

entomology, basic vector biology studies essential (which vectors are implicated in a specific

disease!)

Soil-transmitted helminths (e.g. Hookworm): can be reduced with exciting tools, but research on

drug resistance, chronic infection and impact on other diseases and vaccination efficiency.

Endemic mycosis caused by several (fungal) pathogens (e.g. Candidiasis), diagnosis,

epidemiology (determinants of infection), new drugs, interaction with other pathologies.

Viral diseases (non-anthropod borne): new and re-emerging viral diseases (Mexican flu,

Hispanola polio recombinant), zoonoses, HTLV-I, Hantavirus.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) other than HIV-AIDS (Chlamydiasis, HPV): Early diagnosis,

treatment and drug resistance.

Infectious diseases such as Dengue shall also be included. It is a priority health problem in

Panama, and probably in other CA and CAR countries. Genotyping would be helpful for

monitoring and providing the right treatments to the patients according to the epidemiologist of

our region.

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EU relevance: Global health, emerging epidemics, neglected diseases, tourism with improved safety.

Chronic and degenerative diseases, such as cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer. Epidemiology of

cardio/hypertension/diabetes/cancer (prostate, colorectal) to search for predictive factors High incidence and

steadily increasing prevention measures Link with international and regional registries. Chronic and

degenerative diseases are now the major cause of ill health in the developing world, with diseases such as type

2 diabetes set to disproportionately affect populations of CA and CAR. While rates of cardiovascular disease are

decreasing in many European countries, they are rising in CAR and CA. The importance of the impact of these

diseases has been recognized by the CAR Heads of Government who will be leading a UN High Level Meeting to

tackle chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) later this year. CNCDs are diseases of development and not

only adversely affect national development but in turn the global economy. Any European developmental

strategies must therefore include specific aims to reduce the burden of chronic and degenerative disease.

CNCDs are common cross-cutting issues throughout CAR and CA as the major cause of ill health and death.

High surveillance in small island as each cancer/stroke case is documented > robust overview Risk

factors, mechanisms, health economics Previous international support (Wellcome project), UK-

interactions. Several other cases have EU relevance: ageing, translational research, gender. The

Caribbean perspective is affecting only a EU-minority population but this can build a consortium

focusing on specific start sites and later roll out to other countries in the region. A survey on a small CAR

island like Barbados would allow one to document each case such that a robust overview can be

generated. The building of a multi-national consortium should be considered to gain regional

momentum. This should start with a few experienced laboratories and subsequently roll out to other

countries in the region.

Genetic population studies are needed in CA to establish the foundational information for many

diseases that have a genetic component. For example, for some cancers (Breast, Prostate, Stomach,

Colon and Lymphoma). Collection of this information will set the stage for the classification of genetic

variants unique to Central America and reveal possible population differences in our indigenous

populations that may allow improved treatment of these diseases and contribute to our understanding

of the molecular role played by the protein products encoded in the responsible genes

EU relevance: New insights gained for the CA/CAR population are of direct relevance for minority populations within

the EU. Other issues: ageing, translational research, gender.

Health inequalities, health determinants. Latin America is considered the region showing the highest inequity in

the distribution of wealth and in the provision of social services. A large percentage of the population in LA lives

under the poverty line. The incidence of some diseases and the provision of health services constitute two key

areas in which these inequities become more evident. When the health indexes in CA are described in general

terms in each country, such inequities are overlooked. However, when specific social and ethnic groups, as well

as women and children, and immigrant populations are analyzed separately, these inequities become clearly

evident. The study of such inequities in the incidence of diseases and in the provision of health services

represents a highly relevant subject that will provide valuable information for decision makers and other

groups of people, The implementation of health intervention programs aimed at reducing such inequities

greatly depend on research on this area of public health in LA.

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Haiti was taken as a study case in the Caribbean due to Bateyes populations (Haitian migrant workers,

sugar cane plantations, isolated rural) and to serious health problems such as parasitic diseases,

Diarrhea (only 30% vaccination rate in children) and 5% HIV-positive (1% on average for DR). The idea

was to study the impact of community intervention programs by means of visits of trained community

workers to the households to raise HIV awareness, the success of pediatric immunization campaigns etc.

A robust research plan should be designed that focuses on ethical issues, solid statistics and definition of

an appropriate control group. Community interventions are needed: visits of trained community

workers to households, raise HIV awareness, pediatric immunization campaigns etc. The EU has funded

similar community intervention studies in the past, mostly in Africa. Many populations in DR and similar

immigrant problems are seen so it will be important to focus on the ethical issues: i.e., control group

definition, statistics > robust plan that cover groups not benefitting from health service. Research on

health systems should provide comparative basis for informed policy decision on health. Studies on

countries with extreme situation, even very different from those present in Europe, can constitute a

useful benchmarking.

EU relevance: No direct relevance, but the EU has funded similar community intervention studies in the past, mostly

in Africa.

Communicable diseases linked to natural disasters. The incidence of tropical cyclones, hurricanes (a timely

topic in the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake-tsunami), seems to increase and weather-related disasters

are three times as high as in the 1980s. Emergency environmental health programs needed to assess the

impact on communicable diseases: Leptospirosis, dengue, cholera (link to group 1), but the program can easily

be broadened: injury, stress, impact on food supply, psychology. Partners from the Caribbean and Europe

would be required, regionally and possibly worldwide as poverty can increase vulnerability.

EU relevance: Broader than Health theme: Environment, climate change. Global initiative may be required, in which a

CAR/CA consortium participates.

Genetic diseases, diagnostics. Aimed at strengthening the capacities for diagnosis of genetic diseases with

molecular methods, based on Caribbean relevance (predictive value for therapy, carrier status, prenatal

newborn screening) and EU relevance (help solve the lack of standardization diagnostics, disease definition,

perhaps link possible to EU rare diseases initiative). Technology transfer / training professionals / involvement

SME are important issues, research component is at least as important (new mutations > new mechanisms). A

research theme should be developed based on this infrastructural machine boost, e.g. discovery of novel

disease-causing gene mutations. While probably genetic diseases are not among the most relevant in CA and

CAR countries, the development of centers for genetic analysis based on molecular methods can greatly

support treatment of many different diseases, from cancer to HIV. Anyway I agree this seems more a

technology transfer than a research oriented issue.

There is a definite need for the transfer of technology related to diagnostic testing to laboratories in Central America.

This need not only has a link to themes like lack of standardization of diagnostics, disease definition, EU rare initiative,

but also it has direct relevance with the point 1.1 HIGH-THROUGHPUT RESEARCH (page 10) of the FP7 health document.

Among others aspects, this point focuses on new technologies for genotyping and phenotyping. It also has a direct

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relevance with the point 1.2 DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS AND MONITORING (Page. 12). A center for genetic diagnosis will

promote the development of new and improved tools and technologies for genotyping, because the already

standardized methods are not always applicable for all populations. Currently, for example, Center Gendiagnostik in

Panama is creating a new strategy for genotyping patients with G6PD deficiency using a modified SNaPshot method. It is

a part of a research project, and when the validated molecular test is available, a fast, efficient, and effective diagnostic

tool will become available for diagnosis of this condition allowing for more effective clinical management of patients in

Panama and Central America. Similar research involving other genetic diseases and cancer could yield similar beneficial

results for Central America. However, there would need to be a commitment by programs like the FP7 to assist with the

training of professionals in Central America who will conduct this research, and the transfer of the technology needed to

support it.

Expanding not only to genetic diseases, but also to infectious diseases in order to use the same instrumentation,

equipment and reagents to apply clinical molecular genetic diagnostic and testing to a wide range of health problems is

important. In fact, the center in Panama is conducting genetic diagnosis for several sexually transmitted infectious

diseases, which include Chlamydia trachomatis and HPV (related to project1).

Related with genetic diseases a new research line discussed with the Center for Humangenetik in Regensburg last year in

October.

1. Autosomal recessive (consanguineous families)

1.1 Congenital brain malformations, in particular neuronal migration disorders (lissencephaly): e.g. pedigrees with

autosomal recessive inheritance like Walker-Warburg syndrome.

1.2 Neurodegerative disorders, in particular hereditary autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia (HSP, pure or

complicated).

Neurogenetic diseases are important in our region (Central America) and some of the population groups represented

mostly by Amerindians practice endogamic marriage which greatly alters the frequencies of these diseases.

EU relevance: No direct relevance, some link to themes like lack of standardization of diagnostics, disease definition,

EU rare diseases initiative

General remarks on health:

Examples can be taken from the Neglected Infectious Diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean Research Priorities

(Peru 2009):

Not based simply on burden of disease (DALYs), but research perspective

Others can benefit from existing tools (improved public health delivery, sanitation)

Groups of diseases instead of specific ones (co-infections common)

Arthropod vector-borne diseases (Leishmaniasis): poverty-related, linked to environmental changes (overlap

environment), affordable diagnostics, innovation drug development, epidemiological surveillance, therapeutic

strategies for chronic carriers, vector control tools

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Soil-transmitted helminths (Hookworm): can be reduced with exciting tools, but research on drug resistance,

chronic infection and impact on other diseases and vaccination efficiency

Endemic mycosis caused by several (fungal) pathogens (Candidiasis), diagnosis, epidemiology (determinants of

infection), new drugs, interaction with other pathologies

Viral diseases (non-anthropod borne): new and re-emerging viral diseases

flu, Hispanola polio recombinant), zoonoses, HTLV-I, Hantavirus

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) other than HIV-AIDS (Chlamydiasis,): Early diagnosis, treatment and drug

resistance1

Given that all countries in CA and CAR are comparatively small in terms of population, it would be a great

advance if they would join their efforts in particular for what pertains to data collection.

Biotechnology Incubators (SME): cross-fertilization academic-industry, public-private partnerships PLoS

Focus on well-established regional institutes, build networks. Yet also focus on weaker, but complementary

partners, capacity building such as:

Natural Products (forests, marine, new antibiotics)

Clinical/Epidemiological Research

Medical Entomology: basic vector biology, but also which vectors are implicated in a specific disease.

Surveillance, control tools (success Chagas disease)

New Technology, eg Genomics: deep sequencing, multiple strains, improved epidemiology, diagnostics,

drug resistance testing

3.3: Environment

Expert name Expert role

Professor Andrew Lawrence Caribbean Scientific Expert

Ulric TROTZ Caribbean Scientific Expert

Dale WEBBER Caribbean Scientific Expert

Raúl Pérez de los Reyes Caribbean Scientific Expert

Coen Ritsema EU Expert

Veronica Violante Francesca COLOMBO Rapporteur

From the scientific point of view, the CAC experts stressed how future research activities should help to fill specific

knowledge gaps, common to almost all countries presents in the debate:

Inventories and baseline data are often missing, with consequent difficulties in implementing monitoring

systems

Integrated planning prior to management interventions, with consequent problems of land degradation and

unsustainable use of natural resources

Set-up and implementation of model simulation tools to forecast environmental impacts is missing

Concerning the transfer and the share of the scientific knowledge within and outside the CAC research community

the experts remarked the following issues:

1 Based on Research Strengths in Latin America and the Caribbean (Neglected Tropical Diseases October 2010, vol 4, e780)

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Research results are often fragmented within CAC region, and the exchange of experiences and good practices

between different research actors working in affine fields lacks

Local communities affected by environmental issues have scarce awareness of the problematic

The capacity building towards policy makers and the implementation of environmental policies often results

weak and ineffective.

An effort was made by the participants during the discussion in order to priories the scientific needs and to translate

their research priorities into possible projects ideas to be integrated into the structure of the FP7 Environment

Theme Work Program.

Four research lines were identified regarding main CAC specificities:

1. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (coral reef and protected areas, tourism, wetlands resilience –

mangrove – development of management plan and policies). Marine resources represent an important

environmental and economic component for both Caribbean and Central American Countries.

Oceanography expertise is needed and a long-term strategy for collecting data is missing. The estimation

of the impacts deriving from pressure factors like tourism and fisheries is of priority importance in terms

of:

o Resilience of marine protected areas

o Economic loss of ecosystems

2. Biodiversity Hotspots and Forest management Forests ecosystems in CAC region represent hotspots of

biodiversity. The importance for these hotspots should be enhanced in terms of added value and

ecosystem services, and their role in carbon sequestration. Enhance the added value of forest

ecosystem; awareness of the local communities and their participation in management of BD through

the conservation of traditional knowledge.

3. Integrated watershed management (resilience of agro-ecosystems related to climate change, with

particular reference to land and water degradation; conservationist agricultural practices; cost efficient

technologies for solid and liquid waste treatment; modeling of pollutant and contamination behavior). A

research line should deal with the monitoring of land and water status, with particular emphasis on the

effects of intensive agriculture under climate change conditions. In particular, concerning chemical

pollution, the behavior of specific contaminants (such us oil spills) and their impact on environment

status and human health are actually unknown.

4. Enhance marine and terrestrial biodiversity added value (drugs for human health, microorganism for soil

and water bioremediation). Adaptation to climate change effects , Climate change and international

security. Marine resources represent an important environmental and economic component for both

Caribbean and Central American Countries.

General remarks on environment:

The most urgent common priority for both Central America and Caribbean researcher is the implementation of an

Integrated watershed management approach with a special focus on water resources. The integrated management of

cross boarder watersheds should be also considered with particular attention.

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The research activities should focus on:

- Resilience of agro-ecosystems to climate change, with particular reference to land and water degradation

- Identification of socio-economical factors determining degradation phenomena

- Land evaluation of the of areas interested by the research

- Development of modeling of pollutant and contamination behavior

The research line should explore the potential benefits of the introduction/enhancement of:

- Conservationist low-impact agricultural practices.

- Cost efficient technologies for solid and liquid waste treatment

- Climate change adaptation should be integrated into national policies, strategies, programmes.

Budgets related to agriculture, forestry and fisheries should become a major priority;

- There is a strong correlation between El Niño phenomenon, droughts in Southeast Asia and floods in western Latin

America. In a recent study, periodic warming of the central Pacific was linked to an increase in Atlantic hurricanes (July

2009; Ref. 827). The emerging effects of El Niño on the global climate vary and might be altered by global warming;

- It is to be noted that many issues raised during the discussions are transversal to the three themes discussed (energy,

drugs, food security and bioremediation)

- Technology /knowledge transfer is perceived as a starting point for regional cooperation by – adapting scientific

themes of research to the Caribbean local needs;

- There is a lack of available data and data bases to be shared at regional level and used for environmental management,

specifically coastal management.

In addition resilience of coastal zones and agro ecosystems were outlined regarding climate changes.

EU knowledge transfer and capacity building in the implementation of environmental technology applied in

bioremediation of contaminated soils would be needed. One of the main outputs of the research should be the set-up of

a user-friendly Decision Support System Tool (DSST) for land administrators involved in the decision-making process

Specificities for the Caribbean

The need to focus research activities on Integrated Coastal Zone Management is the priority clearly indicated by

Caribbean researchers during the workshop.

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The main objectives of this research line should be the elaboration of an ecosystem-based management plan of the

coastal zone system. Such approach would require a study on marine resources, with particular attention on coral reef

and fish, but also on local populations and economic sectors (fishery, tourism).

The project should foresee:

The establishment of criteria to define protected areas, which actually are established without taking into

consideration the influence of climate change.

The definition of an integrated set of indicators to monitor the lost of wet areas due to anthropogenic pressures.

The involvement of local actors in the development of the coastal zone plan

The research should deal with the effect of littoralisation and ecosystem fragmentation on wetlands and fish,

including the economical quantification of the impact.

The project should involve as many Caribbean countries as possible, and should include the exchange of

knowledge in order to make a step ahead towards the integration of data. The Caribbean experts stressed the

importance of involving EU partners with oceanography expertise and previous experience on ICZM in EU

research projects.

Research lines of mutual interest with Europe

CAC experts asked for collaboration with EU experts through the implementation of common projects on the identified

priorities, with particular reference to technological innovation (bioremediation system, earth observation, early

warning systems, decision support tools) Concerning the European contribution, a EU-CAC joint research collaboration

would contribute to implement the approach of the Environment Theme Work Program which clearly indicates that

most of environmental issues need to be addressed in a global dimension.

4. Discussion on Caribbean needs and challenges: main conclusions

4.1 Specific needs of the Caribbean in terms of S&T development

The debate was organized around three major questions:

Can we identify some specificities of the Caribbean context?

Is there a specific Caribbean “added value”?

Are there cases of excellence in the region?

A discussion was held on the unique characteristics Caribbean area, which is featured by a few characteristics that have

an impact on research:

The region is surrounded by water; huge % of the territory consists/ made out of sea;

60% of GDP is due to tourism;

High risk of natural hazards (hurricane, earthquake, …);

The vulnerability of its ecosystems (food, marine and terrestrial) due to climate change;

The vulnerability of health due to climate change

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The workshop made clear that these specificities may be considered both as threats and potential strengths. Some

issues ask for knowledge sharing and/or transfer of existing technologies whilst others need further research, at regional

and/or EU/international level.

Some general needs were spotted:

Missing common methodological approaches specific to the management of tropical forest and marine

ecosystems;

Difficulty to access to existing data and/or unavailability of databases. Need for well-structured regional

databases;

Need for regional institutional S&T policy dealing specifically with agriculture, environment and health issues (as

currently being done by CARICOM under the climate change umbrella; offering also funding resources);

Energy (use of agricultural waste as local biomass; rural electrification; need for local research

Inter-regional collaboration as a way to respond to the international collaboration challenges: Is the bilateral

level a facilitator or barrier for the interregional / international collaboration? Many donors are financing

projects in the Caribbean area (a mapping is needed!!)

International collaboration is a long term engagement. Mobility is an interesting starting point to establish this, e.g. by

means of researchers and students exchanges. The added value of networking and establishing partnerships for pooling

resources has been put forward.

4.2 Existing capacities that could be transferred

A number of existing Caribbean research capacities were identified, that could be transferred and represent the starting

points for regional operations to address the challenges identified having an impact on both knowledge sharing at the

regional level or on potential EU collaboration:

Important know how in Cuba on implementation of emergency brigades for natural hazard management

(hurricane, tsunami)

Data on Genetic related diseases (Trinidad - UWI). E.g. glaucome lupus. This can also be used for EU minorities

Fight against malaria (Cuba; Guadeloupe)

Production of drink water from sea water (Aruba)

Ecological coastal land management, sustainable tourism (Cuba);

Climate change regional policy and implementation plan fostered by CARICOM (Climate change convention)

Renewable (wind, geothermic and solar) energy and agricultural bioproducts use and re-use of energy purposes

in Guadeloupe; need for development of small industries and knowledge sharing.

Biodiversity: Caribbean area is a hot spot of biodiversity. Lots of research has been conducted (e.g. natural

products chemistry). Some areas need to be further explored, i.e. marine and microbial biodiversity.

Sustainable forest management. It was noted that in Guyana, facilities has been established to conduct

research on sustainable forestry management: the IWOKRAMA centre. REDD+ mechanism (Carbon

sequestration, ecosystem services). However resources are lacking to make this operational. Management of

tropical forestry and livelihoods of indigenous communities are research questions of global interest.

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Internationally recognized cancer related research in Guadeloupe. They are developing software which might

be shared with other regions

Knowledge on malnutrition & impact on health in Jamaica

Unequal access to health (Jamaïca)

Functional food for health (e.g. ginger liquid with export potential to EU but lacking industry for development

of this)

Child mortality and HIV resistance in Trinidad

The Institut Pasteur de la Guyane (IPG) (http://www.pasteur-cayenne.fr/), a non-profit private foundation of

public utility, is part of the Institut Pasteur International Network (about 30 institutes around the world). Its

missions are structured around four components: research, public health, education and services. The main

research topics are focused on tropical infectious diseases, some of which have a complex cycle involving

humans and arthropods (dengue, malaria, etc.) or humans and mammals (rabies, hantaviruses, arenavirus,

leptospirosis, etc.) or even humans, mammals and arthropods (Mayaro virus and other arboviruses,

Plasmodium malariae, leishmaniasis, toxoplasmosis, etc.). These themes are addressed through translational

approaches facilitated by the complementarity of the multidisciplinary teams (made up of virologists,

parasitologists, entomologists, ecologists, epidemiologists, etc.). Simultaneously to their research activities,

research laboratories are engaged in public health. The Laboratoire de Virologie and the Laboratoire de

Parasitologie are involved in public health activities within their respective missions of National Reference

Centers (Arboviruses and Flu for the Laboratoire de Virologie and Malaria Chemico-resistance for the

laboratoire de Parasitologie). The Laboratoire des Interactions Virus-Hôtes contributes to the management of

HIV infected patients through performing tests of genotypic resistance to antiretroviral drugs. The Unité

d’Entomologie Médicale pursues expertise and surveillance activities on vectors involved in the transmission of

malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. Finally, the Unité d’Epidémiologie collaborates in

programmes of health surveillance and through investigations undertaken during health alerts. The IPG also

offers service activities for the benefit of the population through the Laboratoire d’Analyses de Biologie

Médicale performing routine medical biological analyses, the Laboratoire Hygiène et Environnement,

particularly for the sanitary control of water, and the Centre de Traitement AntiRabique, dedicated to

prophylactic and curative vaccination against rabies exposures. The IPG is also involved in training activities,

welcoming every year students up to Master’s level.

To conduct all these activities IPG possesses distinct technological platforms such as two level 3 BioSafety

Laboratories (BSL-3), five BSL-2 labs, a common platform dedicated to molecular biology hosting different

equipments for automatic genomic extraction, amplification, quantification and sequencing, an insectary for

mosquito breeding and a mouse breeding facility.

Furthermore, IPG cooperates with neighboring institutions in Suriname, Brazil and Haiti and is willing to interact

with more partners.

In addition, the Cayenne general hospital is housing two distinct, but closely linked, research teams:

The Epidémiologie des Parasitoses Tropicales unit is a University research team based in Cayenne since

1998. EPaT’s mission is to lead operational research on parasitic and fungal diseases in French Guiana.

The choice has narrowed down to malaria, leishmaniasis, and American trypanosomiasis or Chagas

disease, toxoplasmosis with a particular amazonian form, histoplasmosis, and secondarily ectoparasitic

diseases. These diseases are local public health priorities because of their frequency and/or their

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potential severity. Moreover, these diseases having vectorial and zoonotic transmissions, they are

closely linked to the sylvatic environment of French Guiana. The studies conducted bring

epidemiologic, medical, and biological knowledge. The EPaT is concerned with the practical beneficial

consequences of research for the populations of French Guiana: a better understanding of

epidemiological contexts and their evolution, of exposure factors, of risk and severity factors, of

virulence and drug resistance of pathogens, of the surveillance and detection of epidemics, and of the

study of the clinical consequences and the improvement of diagnostic methods and treatment and

prevention strategies while respecting indigenous knowledge and practices.

The Centre d’Investigation Clinique - Epidémiologie Clinique Antilles-Guyane was created in 2008. The

mission of this integrated platform is to facilitate clinical research. At the national level, CICs are

labeled by INSERM and aim at creating a network of structures to conduct high-level clinical research.

In addition, CIC-EC Antilles-Guyane belongs to the European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network

(ECRIN) to which similar structures from 13 European countries are associated

(http://www.ecrin.org/index.php?id=22). The establishment of the CIC-EC Antilles-Guyane was justified

by the need to better understand the epidemiology of health problems specific to French Guiana and

to the French West Indies departments. Indeed, these departments, notably French Guiana, have

marked specificities. Its hospital base facilitates access to health structures in French Guiana’s interior

(Health Centres), which represent advanced posts to facilitate data and sample collection for field

studies. The strategic themes studied are focused on parasitic diseases (malaria, Chagas disease,

Amazonian toxoplasmosis, leishmaniasis, histoplasmosis). Nevertheless, CIC-EC Antilles-Guyane also

develops other clinical research projects, some in collaboration with IPG, on viral diseases (HIV/AIDS,

dengue, papillomavirus)

Finally, the CNRS possesses a research team in Cayenne, named Laboratoire de Chimie des Substances

Naturelles. It focuses on chemical ecology and discovery of active metabolites from forest products. In

particular, the search of bioactive natural products is based on the observation of ecological networks

of species and on ethnobotanics. Past and ongoing programmes have already led to isolating and

characterising molecules with putative applications in therapeutics (leishmaniasis, malaria, fungi) and

pest control (mosquitoes, termites).

4.3 Input for EUCARINET

It was suggested that EUCARINET, as any project targeting research in developing countries, should intervene at two

levels:

Supporting regional networking and mainstreaming: in the areas where the needs of the region are not matched

by research capacities; promoting across the region the few existing capacities with the aim to reach a critical

mass of research capacities. It is for example the case of energy research, where a strong need exists, not

completely matched by research capacities.

Promotion of Caribbean capacities towards Europe: in the areas where research capacities and excellence cases

exist, and need to be promoted outside the region, towards Europe in our case, valorizing as such the existing

niches. They allow EU to benefit from existing research excellences in the Caribbean region. Further actions

should be taken within the EUCARINET project for this purpose.

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Besides, there is an important need for baseline data on S&T. Progress is to make on the following dimensions:

- Awareness raising and sharing of existing data (state of the art);

- Capitalization of existing knowledge at regional and worldwide level;

- Generation of new knowledge.

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Annex 1 – Agenda of the event.

“Thematic priority setting for EU, Caribbean & Central America in

Research and innovation”

7th – 8th of March, 2011

Dominican Republic, Universidad Ibero-americana Ave. Francia 129, Gazcue, Santo Domingo

Priorities Dialogue Workshop

7th March 2011 – Plenary Morning Session

09.00 - 9.30 Registration of the participants

09.30 Welcome Speech

Ligia Amada Melo de Cardona, Ministry of High Education Science and Technology for Dominican Republic (MEESCYT) Diassina Di Maggio, Director of Agency for the Promotion of European Research (APRE) , Coordinator of EUCARINET & ENLACE EU Projects Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

10.00 Moderator: (UNIBE) 10.45 The International Dimension of the European Research Framework Programme :

Relevance of Networking Activities Isi Saragossi, Director, European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation, International Cooperation TBC Basile Papadopoulos , Head of Unit, European Commission, DG Development and Cooperation, EuropeAid

11.15 International Cooperation Actions with Caribbean and Central America Tarik Meziani, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation,

International Cooperation

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COFFEE BREAK

11.45 International Cooperation within the specific thematic areas in FP7: Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) (video conference) Elisabetta Balzi, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation, Biotechnologies, Agriculture, Food TBC Health Indridi Benediktsson, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation, Health TBC Environment Nikolaos Christoforides, Head of Unit, European Commission, DG-Research & Innovation, Climate change and natural hazards TBC

12.45 Open debate

13.30 End of the morning session

7th March 2011 – Afternoon Session (only invited participants)

14.30 3 Parallel sessions

Priorities Experts Dialogue Workshop – Identifying research lines of mutual interest

Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE)

Health

Environment

Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) This Parallel thematic workshop will

include the presence of:

8 experts – 3 representing the

Caribbean, 3 Central America, 2

European experts

1 EC officer

1 National Contact Point

1 Rapporteur

A total of 11 participants per workshop

will be selected

Health This Parallel thematic workshop will

include the presence of:

8 experts – 3 representing the

Caribbean, 3 Central America, 2

European experts

1 EC officer

1 National Contact Point

1 Rapporteur

A total of 11 participants per workshop

will be selected

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COFFEE BREAK

18.30 End of the afternoon session

Environment This Parallel thematic workshop will

include the presence of:

8 experts – 3 representing the

Caribbean, 3 Central America, 2

European experts

1 EC officer

1 National Contact Point

1 Rapporteur

A total of 11 participants per workshop

will be selected

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8th March 2011 – Plenary Morning Session

09.00 - 9.30 Registration of the participants

09.00 Welcome from the Host Organisations UNIBE

Moderator: tbc

09.15 Conclusions and recommendations from the Expert thematic dialogue workshops:

Research lines of mutual interest for future cooperation actions

Rapporteur from the KBBE workshop

Rapporteur from the Health workshop

Rapporteur from the Environment workshop

10.30 Open discussion

11.00 End of the morning session

8th March 2011 – Cafetería ENLACE

11.00 – 13.00

Open networking for ENLACE partners and Experts

8th March 2011 – EUCARINET is meeting the Caribbean Experts

11.30 – 13.00

14.00- 16.00

Restricted to EUCARINET partners, EC officer, Caribbean Experts

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FP7 Special Seminar – providing FP7 support services

8th – 9th of March, 2011

Dominican Republic, Universidad Ibero-americana

Ave. Francia 129, Gazcue, Santo Domingo

Day 1: FP7 general information, Legal & Financial

8th March 2011 - Training Session on Legal and Financial issues

14.30 Welcome Coffee and Netwoking Informal networking session

14.45 FP7 overview General presentation of FP7: FP7 structure, FP7 areas open to third countries, work programs, call for proposals (publication process, timing, schedule, how to learn information about future calls) Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

15.30

Introduction on Legal aspects Rules for participation and duties of participants EC officer – TBC

16.30 COFFEE BREAK

17.00 Introduction on financial aspect Costs and eligibility criteria Kim Kruisinga, Legal & Financial National Contact Point, (NL innovation)

18.00

AOB Discussion

18.30 End of the Training Session

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Day 2: Special topics, NCP operation

9th March 2011- Training session on special topics and NCP operation

Morning session

8.45 Welcome Coffee 9.00 International Cooperation in FP7 – current status of Central American and Caribbean

countries participation Presentation of specific issues related to International Cooperation Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

9.30 Marie Curie Presentation of the People programme Daphne Van de Sande, FP7 National Contact Point for Ideas programme, People programme (NL Innovation)

11.00 Q&A (Marie Curie)

11.15 Coffee Break

11.30 Participating in a Proposal Information requested by a Coordinator: Organisation Profile, Short CVs, Information for A2 form, PIC number (how you get one?). Constantine Vaitsas, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

12.15 Proposal (Part A and Part B) Presentation on the structure and main content of an FP7 proposal (with special regards to the Part B) Constantine Vaitsas, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

12.45 FP7 Evaluation Presentation of the FP7 evaluation process Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

13.15 Q&A

13.30 Lunch break

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Afternoon session

14.45 Project Participation highlights Briefly present the main issues that should be taken in mind: how to control time spent, time sheets, keeping track of expenses, reporting highlights, reporting expenses. Constantine Vaitsas, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

15.45 Partner Search How to disseminate a Partner Search, how to find participation opportunities in FP7: available tools/techniques, Partner search databases, NCP Methodology for promoting Partner searches in the country (suggested techniques for local NCPs). Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

16.45 How to present FP7 Example presentation and discussion Epaminondas Christofilopoulos, INCO National Contact Point, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH)

17.15 CLOSING

Annex 2 – Concept Note

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Thematic priority setting for EU, Caribbean & Central America in Research and innovation

Santo Domingo, 7th - 8th of March, 2011

Expert’s dialogue workshop

Why combining Central America and the Caribbean?

The Experts dialogue is in line with the general objective set by the “Madrid Declaration: towards a new stage in the bi-

regional partnership: innovation and technology for sustainable development and social inclusion" (May 2010) in

particular for its contribution to the enhancement of the bi-regional and triangular cooperation in Central America, the

Caribbean (CAC) and in the EU.

The workshop gives priority to identification and definition of research lines and scientific priorities that pave the way

to new cooperation opportunities as well as enable access to cooperation opportunities to countries with low or no

participation in European Programmes.

These areas potentially have several common elements and priorities in terms of research environment and needs. The parallel sessions will encourage and feed the scientific and political dialogue among the stakeholders involved at regional, intraregional as well as international level.

Objectives of the workshop:

The aim of the Workshop is to bring together high level of expertise and knowledge from the Caribbean, Central American and Europe to: a) to identify research lines and scientific priorities of common interest and benefit b) to discuss challenges for EU-Caribbean and EU-CA cooperation that can guide the work of EUCARINET and ENLACE

in the next years. The expert’s dialogue workshop covers 3 different Thematic Areas identified as a elements of mutual interest:

1. Health

2. Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE)

3. Environment

The thematic areas have to be considered in a broad and inclusive way, all of them covering major sub-themes and fields. Identifying and defining bottom-up research lines and scientific priorities can be the basis for fostering new cooperation opportunities for EU and CAC research actors in FP7 and beyond. These research lines have to be intended as main research priorities that the experts will point out, share and discuss on: these research priorities will be transferred to the EC and they could evolve in future opportunities for International Cooperation under the three concerned thematic areas.

The results of the workshop will be included in 2 comprising papers:

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- “Science and Technology expert dialogues between UE and Central America ”

- “Caribbean Regional Position Paper on EU-Caribbean S&T cooperation priorities”.

KEY ROLES in each of the 3 thematic sessions:

EC representatives from Health, KBBE and Environment Units: During the plenary session they will present the Scientific

Roadmap for their respective themes and underline their priorities for International cooperation. During the Thematic

sessions the EC officer will participate to the round table discussion with the CAC experts and EU experts. On the Second

day, each EC officer will present in the plenary session the most significant results of the Priority Setting dialogue

workshop underlining the priorities of mutual interest either between CAC and EU or between Caribbean and EU and

Central America and EU.

CAC EXPERTS: They will contribute to the discussion by presenting their regional Research priorities in the thematic

session, giving a feedback which should be representative of the whole Caribbean or Central America area. The 6

regional experts ( 3 from Caribbean, 3 from Central America) should be complementary one to each other, covering

different fields of expertise and different sub-regional area of the Caribbean and Central America. Compulsory

characteristics: Science and technology experts, Representative for their respective regions. English speaking, familiar

with international cooperation, sound knowledge of the thematic area, good communication skills; Preferable

characteristics: knowledge of the industrial and private sector. Requested preparatory documents: each CAC experts

has to provide a one page outline of his intervention 3 weeks before the workshop.

EUROPEAN EXPERTS: They will contribute to the discussion with their scientific knowledge in the sector and in the CAC

region thus ensuring an immediate feedback on the inputs outlined by the CAC experts.

They will also act as facilitators in the benchmarking of CAC research priorities and EU research strategies.

The 2 EU experts should be complementary one to each other, covering different fields of expertise Compulsory

characteristics: English speaking, familiar with international cooperation, sound knowledge of the thematic area, good

communication skills. Preferable characteristics: knowledge of the industrial and private sector.

Who does what:

who What when

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CAC experts Provide one page outline* 15th of February

EU experts Read the outlines sent by CAC experts

Before the event

Moderator Read the outlines sent by CAC experts

Read the background documents for the theme

Before the event

Thematic national contact point They will provide the background documents

By 31st of January

* Outlines should focus on the following:

1. Relevance / strategic importance of the topic for global or specific regional conditions (Caribbean / Central American ; or isle specific problematic);

2. Mutual interest and added value for Europe ; 3. Evidence of potential partners / capacities in EU and Third Countries to conduct research of excellence on this

topic; 4. Originality and innovation proposed by the research; 5. Matching with research lines identified by previous similar exercises; 6. Check on the corresponding main lines in the current draft 2012 work programmes

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

Background documents to each participant to ensure maximum efficiency and benefit during the discussions. This

includes:

Work programme of respectively the KBBE / Health / Environment theme – Draft version of March 2011 for 2012;

ROADMAPS of the 3 themes

Regional reports for CAC

Lists of previous FP6 / FP7 projects for respectively KBBE/ENV/Health focus involving Caribbean and Central American partners;

For KBBE: Synthesis reports produced by the FP7 BIOCIRCLE project that launched a series of National Round Tables in 17 Third Countries in order to extract a short list of research lines per Activity of the KBBE theme;

Other documents.

Annex 3 – Abbreviations

CA – Central America

CAC Region – Central America and Caribbean Region

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CAR – Caribbean

CARICOM – Caribbean Community Secretariat

CIC- Centre d’Investigation Clinique

CNCDs - chronic non-communicable diseases

CNRS- Centre National de Recherche Scientifique

DEVCO – Development and Cooperation

DG – Directorate General

DR – Dominican Republic

EPaT Epidémiologie des Parasitoses Tropicales

EU - Europe

FP7 – Framework Programme 7

GDP – Gross Domestic Product

HIV - Human immunodeficiency virus

ICZM Integrated Coastal Zone Management

IPG- Institut Pasteur de la Guyane

KBBE - Knowledge Based Bio Economy

LA – Latin America

NCP – National Contact Point

S&T – Science and Technology

STD - Sexually transmitted diseases

TB - Tuberculosis

UWI – University of West Indies

Annex 4 – Agenda of the Caribbean Session

"Caribbean Workshop on thematic priorities for the region and on strategic actions to increase EU-Caribbean S&T cooperation"

Morning & afternoon session with experts- March the 8th, 2011

Context and outputs expected from the session

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The aim of this session is to allow an in depth discussion with the Caribbean experts on the work carried out in the recent months within the project by putting together conclusions and comments from the various findings (survey research mapping exercise, Bibliometric study, mapping of priorities, and conclusion of workshops) as a basis for the identification of the needs of the Caribbean region for future perspectives of cooperation under the FP7 framework priorities.

The session will set down some first foundations of the needs and specificities of the Caribbean region and the possible cooperation niches for Caribbean researchers in the areas identified. Validation from the Caribbean experts and researchers is thus key in this session.

Conclusions found during this session will clear not only the findings made, but the common and most appropriate lines to follow for a rich EU-Caribbean cooperation

Annex 5 – List of participants

Expert name FP 7 Theme Expert role

Professor Andrew Lawrence Environment Caribbean Scientific Expert

Ulric O'D TROTZ Environment Caribbean Scientific Expert

Dale WEBBER Environment Caribbean Scientific Expert

Raúl Pérez de los Reyes Environment Caribbean Scientific Expert

Coen Ritsema Environment EU Expert

Veronica Violante Francesca Environment Rapporteur

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COLOMBO

Eddy Nelson Perez - Then Health Caribbean Scientific Expert

Anselm J.M. Hennis Health Caribbean Scientific Expert

Emilie Juliette SMITH-RAVIN Health Caribbean Scientific Expert

Dr Vincent LACOSTE Health EU Expert

Dr Benjamin Berthout Health Rapporteur

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Pena KBBE Caribbean Scientific Expert

Bernarda A Castillo De La Cruz KBBE Caribbean Scientific Expert

Mark Lancelot BYNOE KBBE Caribbean Scientific Expert

Nadine ZAKHIA-ROZIS KBBE EU Expert

Eduardo J TRIGO KBBE Rapporteur

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EUCARINET Annual project meeting 10th of March, 2011

Dominican Republic, Universidad Ibero-americana

Ave. Francia 129, Gazcue, Santo Domingo

10th March 2011 – Project General Assembly

Morning session: first results and planning for the next 6 months

Subject

Speaker

09.30 Welcome Diassina Di Maggio – APRE

9.45 – 10.15 WP1: Management and coordination of the consortium (APRE)

10.15 – 11.00 WP2: Promoting and supporting a sustainable multi-stakeholder EU-Caribbean S&T policy dialogue

(CERCAL/UWI)

11.00 – 11.45 WP3: Priority setting for S&T cooperation (MENON / CARICOM)

11.45 – 12.30 WP4: Creating the instruments for S&T effective cooperation

(APRE /UAG /(Agentschap NL)

12.30 – 13.15 WP5: Dissemination and Networking (UNIBE /MENON)

Lunch break

14.15 – 15.30

Advisory Board members’ feedback on the EUCARINET

project and open discussion

All

Afternoon session: helpdesk for the first periodic report

Universidad Iberoamericana, Ave. Francia 129, Gazcue, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana. Tel.

+809-689-4111x1160, fax: +809-731-2925

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Annex 6 – Thematic concept notes

Extracts of European policies and Documents

for the FP7 ENVIRONMENT (incl. climate change) theme

Background document for experts participating to the ENLACE and EUCARINET Thematic workshop in the Dominican

Republic on March 7-8th 2011. This document identifies the EU policies for the ENVIRONMENT THEME and the relevant

documents the CAC and European experts might need to elaborate their research lines in occasion of the “Priority setting

workshop” held in Santo Domingo on the 7th and the 8th of March 2011.

The Context:

Environment and International Cooperation

Environmental problems and solutions need to be tackled internationally. The strategic approach for international collaboration of EU environmental research includes identification of major cooperation countries and regions. In line with the EU's commitments and S/T strategies, a coherent set of cooperation activities for major cooperation countries, USA, China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa, and for major cooperation regions, the Mediterranean, Latin America, Asia and Africa in particular, will be continued along the lines set out already in 2008. The 2010 EU-Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Summit focused on bi-regional cooperation on "Innovation and technology for sustainable development and social inclusion". The Summit's Action Plan calls for boosting science and technology cooperation between the EU and LAC countries. The activities targeting LAC contribute to sustainability as advocated by the Summit. This requires an integrated approach taking into account the environmental, economic and social dimensions and a balanced involvement of research teams and the relevant stakeholders from Europe and the LAC region in the consortia. Special attention will be paid to the uptake and use of the new knowledge generated and, whenever relevant, to SME participation. More specifically, international cooperation will be implemented via two mechanisms: 1. Opening of all activities of the Theme to international cooperation. 2. Specific International Cooperation Actions in the areas identified through bi-regional dialogues in third countries/regions and international fora, on the basis of mutual interest and mutual benefit. International climate change agreements Climate and resource challenges require drastic action. Strong dependence on fossil fuels such as oil and inefficient use of raw materials expose our consumers and businesses to harmful and costly price shocks, threatening our economic

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security and contributing to climate change. The expansion of the world population from 6 to 9 billion will intensify global competition for natural resources, and put pressure on the environment. The EU must continue its outreach to other parts of the world in pursuit of a worldwide solution to the problems of climate change at the same time as we implement our agreed climate and energy strategy across the territory of the Union. Communication From The Commission - Europe 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth The EU and its Member States ratified the Kyoto Protocol to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which aims to strengthen the international response to climate change. By ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, developed countries commit to reducing their collective emissions of six key greenhouse gases by at least 5%. By arresting and reversing the upward trend in greenhouse gas emissions that started in these countries 150 years ago, the Protocol promises to move the international community one step closer to achieving the Convention’s ultimate objective of preventing ‘dangerous anthropogenic [man-made] interference with the climate system’. Each country’s emissions target must be achieved by the period 2008–12, while actual emission reductions will be much larger than 5%. The Kyoto Protocol agreement is currently being reviewed and talks on commitments for the post-2012 period are ongoing. As part of these talks, the EU participated in the 2007 Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Bali (Indonesia) in December 2007, where it was agreed to start formal negotiations on a global climate regime for the post-2012 period and on a ‘Bali Roadmap’ that sets out an agenda for these negotiations. The conference, held in December 2007, set an end-2009 (COP 15 Copenhagen 2009) deadline for completing the negotiations to allow time for governments to ratify and implement the future climate agreement by the end of 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends. The decision explicitly acknowledged the findings of the recent scientific assessment by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and recognized that deep cuts in global emissions of greenhouse gases will be required to prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels. THEME 6: ENVIRONMENT (climate change)

With environmental concerns having grown in visibility in recent years, this is the time to pursue actions for a sustainable and environmentally friendly Europe. That will require extensive environmental research and development as we endeavor to contribute to tackling these major 21st century challenges. Environment is a field where collaborative research traditionally has proven to be highly fruitful. Furthermore, the challenges posed by the increasing natural and man-made pressures on the environment and its resources require a coordinated approach at pan-European and international levels. In order to address these challenges, the theme dealing with environment (including climate change) has a budget of €1.9 billion under the FP7 Cooperation programme (2007–13).

The "Environment" programme will be implemented under the following activities and areas:

Climate change, pollution and risks

Pressures on environment and climate Environment and health Natural hazards

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Sustainable Management of Resources

Conservation and sustainable management of natural and man-made resources and biodiversity Management of marine environment

Environmental Technologies

Environmental technologies for observation, simulation, prevention, mitigation, adaptation, remediation and restoration of the natural and man-made environment

Protection, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage Technology assessment, verification and testing

Earth observation and assessment tools

Earth and ocean observation systems, monitoring methods for the environment and sustainable development Forecasting methods and assessment tools for sustainable development

The General Objectives

FP7 environmental research has a twofold objective: on the one hand it is to promote the sustainable management of the environment and its resources through increasing knowledge about the interactions between the climate, biosphere, ecosystems and human activities. On the other hand, it is also to develop new technologies, tools and services that address global environmental issues. Emphasis is being placed on prediction tools and technologies for monitoring, prevention, mitigation of and adaptation to environmental pressures and risks. Specific attention is also being given to informing decision-makers in their design of environmental policy, as well as business leaders and ordinary citizens about the challenges and opportunities they face.

Leaflet on Environmental Research BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT EXPERTS:

Legislative Documents on FP7

European Parliament and the Council decision of 18 December 2006 concerning the FP7 EC (2007-2013)

Regulation laying down the rules for the participation to FP7 EC (2007-2013)

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Council decision concerning the Specific Programmes 'Cooperation'

Work Programme

Work Programme (2011) – Environment (including Climate Change) (July 2010)

Work Programme (2010) - Environment (including Climate Change) (July - 2009)

Work Programme (2009) - Environment (including Climate Change) (November - 2008)

Work Programme (2008) - Environment (including Climate Change) (November - 2007)

Work Programme (2007) - Environment (including Climate Change) (February - 2007)

FP7 related documents

Access to essential documents on FP7 (work programmes, instruments, guidelines for proposal evaluation,

model contracts, etc.).

Newsletters

EU Research for the Environment - This quarterly newsletter provides a good opportunity to showcase EU

environmental research as well as informing its readers about programme developments, environmental

policies, and forthcoming events and publications to watch out for.

Environmental Technologies Research - This newsletter aims to provide information about initiatives and RTD

project results in relation with the FP7 activity "Environmental technologies" under the research theme

"Environment (including climate change)". The newsletter will try to embrace a wide scope of scientific activities

that predominantly will target technologies for managing resources, reducing risks, monitoring, preventing or

treating pollution more efficiently, related to all environmental media and wastes; to clean processes leading to

the phasing out of dangerous substances; to technologies for built environment management, as well as

conservation and restoration of cultural heritage; to risk, performance assessment and testing of technologies.

Miscellaneous publications

EU Research for the Environment 2007 – 2013

The EU works for you: environmental research for today and tomorrow

Ex-post Impact Assessment - FP6 sub-priority “Global Change and Ecosystems”

Global Change and Ecosystems, EU Research for the Environment (Catalogue of FP6 projects)

Catalogue of FP7 projects 2007 - 2010

Further publications on the Environment (including Climate change) theme

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For further information or clarifications on the documents provided, please

contact the:

National Contact Point for ENVIRONMENT,

Paola Materia, materia@apre.it

Keji Adunmo Adunmo@apre.it

APRE, Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea, www.apre.it

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Extracts of European policies and Documents

for the FP7 HEALTH theme

Background document for experts participating to the EUCARINET and ENLACE Thematic workshop in the Dominican

Republic on March 7-8th 2011. This document identifies the EU policies for the HEALTH THEME and the relevant

documents the CAC and European experts might need to elaborate their research lines in occasion of the “Priority setting

workshop” held in Santo Domingo on the 7th and the 8th of March 2011.

The Context: Health and International Cooperation In the field of Health, International cooperation is an integral part of the Theme and project consortia in all areas are encouraged to include organisations from third countries, especially from the International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC, see list of countries in Annex) and from countries with Scientific and Technological cooperation agreements with the EU according to the participation rules. Funding will be provided to participants from the ICP countries. Funding for organisations from other third countries may be provided on a case by case basis if considered essential for carrying out the project. More specifically, international cooperation will be implemented via two mechanisms: 1. Opening of all activities of the Theme to international cooperation. Third country participation is particularly emphasized (enhanced international participation) in the areas addressing global health problems: Anti-microbial drug resistance, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and Emerging epidemics, as well as in certain individual topics in the other areas of the Theme, as indicated in the text. 2. Specific International Cooperation Actions in the areas identified through bi-regional dialogues in third countries/regions and international fora, on the basis of mutual interest and mutual benefit. THEME 1: HEALTH

European-funded health research will focus on three pillars:

Biotechnology, generic tools and medical technologies for human health

High-throughput research: enhancing data generation, standardisation, acquisition & analysis.

Detection, diagnosis and monitoring: with emphasis on non-invasive or minimally invasive approaches.

Prediction of suitability, safety and efficacy of therapies: develop and validate parameters, tools, methods and standards (mainly through the Innovative Medicines Initiative - IMI) and alternatives to animal testing.

Innovative therapeutic approaches and interventions: gene and cell therapy, regenerative medicine, immunotherapy and vaccines.

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Translating research for human health

Integration of biological data and processes: large-scale data gathering, systems biology.

Research on the brain and related diseases, human development and ageing.

Research on infectious diseases (antimicrobial drug resistance, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, emerging epidemics, neglected infectious diseases).

Research on major diseases: cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes/obesity, rare diseases, other chronic diseases including rheumatoid diseases, arthritis and muscoskeletal diseases.

Optimising the delivery of healthcare to European citizens

Translation of clinical outcome into clinical practice: patient safety, better use of medicines, benchmarking, pharmaco vigilance.

Quality, efficiency and solidarity of health care systems. Enhanced health promotion and disease prevention.

View the presentation on FP7 Health Research. Download the general information flyer.

When preparing proposals in the Health area, applicants should consider the following horizontal issues:

The Health Theme builds on the experience acquired from the activities undertaken in the previous programmes, thus

ensuring continuity, while taking into account major global health problems and recent advances in biomedical and

health sciences. The aim of this Theme is to advance the understanding on how to more efficiently promote good

health, to prevent and treat major diseases and to deliver health care. It will help integrate the vast amount of genomics

data to generate new knowledge and applications in medicine and biotechnology. It will foster translational health

research, which is essential to ensure practical benefits from biomedical research.

Child health

Support will be given in particular to specific clinical studies to provide evidence for the appropriate use of off-patent

products currently used off label in pediatric populations. In addition, specific topics will address the following research

issues related to child health and pediatric diseases: Pediatric formulations of drugs against HIV/AIDS, malaria and

tuberculosis, Combined forms of diabetes in children, Promoting healthy behaviour in children and adolescents, and

Improvement of vaccination coverage. Implications for child health and pediatric diseases should be taken into account

whenever appropriate in all research projects in this Theme.

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Health of the ageing population

A special emphasis will be made also on research on the health of the ageing population. The following research issues

will be addressed by specific topics, in particular: Novel approaches to reconstitute normal immune function at old age;

Biomarkers of ageing; Increasing the participation of elderly in clinical trials; Understanding and combating age-related

muscle weakness; Osteoarthritis; Impairment of touch and proprioception at old age; Health systems and long term care

of the elderly; Health outcome measures in an ageing population; and Trends of population health.

Whenever appropriate, the projects funded under this Theme should take into consideration the research aspects

related to prevention, diagnostics and treatment of age-related diseases and the impact on quality of life of older

people.

Gender aspects in research

Gender aspects in research have a particular relevance to this Theme as risk factors, biological mechanisms, causes,

clinical manifestation, consequences and treatment of disease and disorders often differ between men and women. The

possibility of gender/sex differences must therefore be considered in all areas of health research where appropriate.

General Objectives

The objective of health research under FP7 is to improve the health of European citizens and boost the competitiveness

of health-related industries and businesses, while addressing global health issues such as anti-microbial resistance,

HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and emerging pandemics.

Emphasis will be put on translational research (translation of basic discoveries into clinical applications including

scientific validation of experimental results), ensuring that biomedical research provides practical benefits and improves

life quality; the development and validation of new therapies, methods for health promotion and prevention including

promotion of healthy ageing, diagnostic tools and medical technologies, as well as sustainable and efficient healthcare

systems.

Why is it important?

Promoting good health

Preventing and treating major diseases

Delivering health care

Increasing the competitiveness of health care biotechnology and medical technology sectors where SMEs are

main actors

Developing norms and standards for advanced therapies

Enhancing international efforts to combat global health problems Researching rare diseases

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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS FOR THE HEALTH EXPERTS:

Work Programmes from the previous calls containing the research lines which were already open for funding:

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/health/library_en.html

Work Programme Health 2011 (July 2010) [ ] :

Work Programme Health 2010 (July 2010) [ ]

Work Programme Health 2009 (August 2008) [ ]

Work Programme Health 2008 (November 2007) [ ]

RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS:

International Cooperation in Health: more that 30 EU projects involving countries outside EUROPE in different HEALTH

THEMES!

New: Brochure 2010 [ ]

Infections in Africa

Hypertension: who is at risk?

Gut genomics

HEALTH COMPETENCE PORTAL where ALL projects funded by the HEALTH theme are displayed with information on

the research areas and the countries involved:

www.healthcompetence.eu

Relevant Catalogues of projects funded by European Commission, UNIT F, HEALTH

Infectious diseases - FP6 (2002-2006) and FP7 (2007-2013)

Infectious diseases - Leaflet 2009[ ]

EU funded research on antimicrobial drug resistance (2003-2006) [ ]

Neglected Infectious Diseases - Leaflet 2008 [ ]

EU-funded Malaria Research under Framework Programmes 6 and 7 [ ]

Combating Deadly Diseases - EU funded projects on poverty related diseases HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis -

2007 [ ]

Tuberculosis Research and Policy - Leaflet 2009[ ]

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Emerging Epidemics Research, EU-funded projects 2002-2008 [ ]

Influenza Research - EU funded projects 2001-2007 [ ]

Vaccines for humans catalogue - 2008 [ ]

HEALTH LIBRARY ON CORDIS:

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/health/library_en.html

OTHER RELEVANT INITIATIVES:

ALCUEH

Health Collaboration Program among Latin American, the Caribbean and European countries

http://www.alcueh.org

For further information or clarifications on the

documents provided, please contact the:

National Contact Point for HEALTH,

Caterina Buonocore, buonocore@apre.it

APRE, Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca

Europea, www.apre.it

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Extracts of European policies and Documents

for the FP7 KBBE theme

Background document for experts participating to the EUCARINET and ENLACE Thematic workshop in the Dominican

Republic on March 7-8th 2011. This document identifies the EU policies for the KBBE THEME and the relevant documents

the CAC and European experts might need to elaborate their research lines in occasion of the “Priority setting workshop”

held in Santo Domingo on the 7th and the 8th of March 2011.

The KBBE concept

KBBE stands for “Knowledge Based Bio Economy”. It covers issues related to Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and

Biotechnology.

The term “bio-economy”includes all industries and economic sectors that produce, manage and otherwise exploit

biological resources (e.g. agriculture, food, forestry, fisheries and other bio-based industries). For more information see:

http://www.bio-economy.net/ http://ec.europa.eu/research/biosociety/index_en.htm.

Objective of the KBBE theme

Building a European Knowledge Based Bio-Economy by bringing together science, industry and other stakeholders, to

exploit new and emerging research opportunities that address social, environmental and economic challenges: the

growing demand for safer, healthier, higher quality food and for sustainable use and production of renewable bio-

resources; the increasing risk of epizootic and zoonotic diseases and food related disorders; threats to the sustainability

and security of agricultural, aquaculture and fisheries production; and the increasing demand for high quality food,

taking into account animal welfare and rural and coastal context and response to specific dietary needs of consumers.

KBBE Activities

European-funded KBBE research will focus on three pillars, called “Activities”, which each are divided into “areas”:

– Activity 1: Sustainable production and management of biological resources from land, forest and aquatic

environment

– Enabling research ;

– Increased sustainability of all production systems (agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture); plant

health and crop protection;

– Optimized animal health, production and welfare across agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture ;

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– Socio-economic research and support to policies ;

– "The ocean of tomorrow" - Joining research forces to meet challenges in ocean management.

– Activity 2: Fork to farm: Food (including seafood), health and well being

– Consumers;

– Nutrition;

– Food processing;

– Food quality and safety;

– Environmental impacts and total food chain;

– European Research Area.

- Activity 3: Activity 2.3 Life sciences, biotechnology and biochemistry for sustainable non-food products and

processes

– Novel sources of biomass and bio products;

– Marine and fresh-water biotechnology (blue biotechnology);

– Industrial biotechnology: novel high added-value bio-products and bio-processes;

– Bio refinery;

– Environmental biotechnology;

– Emerging trends in biotechnology.

For more information, please consult: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/kbbe/home_en.html

KBBE and International Cooperation

International cooperation with participants from third countries is supported and encouraged throughout all the areas

of the KBBE theme and all topics are open to cooperation with third countries.

“Specific International cooperation Activities” or “SICAs” are identified, for which international cooperation is

mandatory. Such activities aim to foster research both for and with developing countries, thereby contributing to

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achieving of the Millennium Development Goals. Involvement of local stakeholders/users is an important aspect of these

topics.

Co-operation with the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is fostered via selected topics (SICAs and topics

with mandatory ICPC participation) to tackle issues of mutual interest and benefit, identified through bilateral and

regional dialogues. Cooperation with industrialized countries in general focuses on emerging new scientific fields.

Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean: In 2010, EU-Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Summit focused on

bi-regional cooperation on "Innovation and technology for sustainable development and social inclusion". The Summit's

Action Plan calls for boosting science and technology cooperation between the EU and LAC countries. In the KBBE work

programme 2011, a number of topics contributed to sustainability as advocated by the Summit and were, therefore, of

strong interest to LAC countries. In these topics, special attention was paid to environmental, economic and social

dimensions and the uptake and use of the new knowledge generated.

Other horizontal issues of the KBBE theme

When preparing proposals in the KBBE area, applicants should consider the following horizontal issues:

The innovation dimension: In line with the strong importance attached to developing an integrated approach to

research and innovation in the Europe 2020 strategy, effective communication, dissemination, knowledge transfer and

strengthening participation of industry, in particular SMEs, is key.

Special emphasis is placed on dissemination and take-up of research results at project level. Each proposal is asked to

present well-defined dissemination and implementation plans.

Socio-economic dimension of research: Where relevant, account should be taken of possible socio-economic impacts of

research, including its intended and unintended consequences and the inherent risks and opportunities. A sound

understanding of this issue should be demonstrated at the level of both research design and research management. In

this context, where appropriate, the projects should ensure engagement of relevant stakeholders (e.g. user groups, civil

society organisations, policy-makers) as well as stimulate a multidisciplinary approach (including, where relevant,

researchers from social sciences and humanities). Projects raising ethical or security concerns are also encouraged to be

attentive to wider public outreach.

Participation by women and gender dimension in research: Seeking scientific knowledge and using it to serve society

calls for talent, perspectives and insight that can only be secured by increasing diversity in science and the technological

workforce. Therefore, equal representation of women and men at all levels in research projects is encouraged.

Gender aspects in research are of particular relevance to the KBBE theme. For example, there may be differences

between men and women as regards risk factors, biological mechanisms, behaviour, causes, consequences,

management of and communication on diet-related diseases and disorders. Furthermore, roles and responsibilities, the

relationship to the resource base (land management, agricultural and forest resources, etc.) and the perception of risks

and benefits could have a gender dimension. Applicants should systematically address whether, and to what extent,

gender aspects are relevant to the objectives and the methodology of projects. In addition, specific actions to promote

gender equality in research can be financed as part of the proposal.

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Other relevant Background informations for KBBE experts

KBBE related PUBLICATIONS

Please consult the KBBE library, taking back publications, foresight studies, catalogues, analyses, related to the KBBE

theme on: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/kbbe/library_en.html

KBBE PORTAL where ALL projects funded by the KBBE theme are displayed

Project details are published on CORDIS after the negotiation and the signature of the grant agreement between the

European Commission and the beneficiaries on the following website:

http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=FP7_KBBE_PROJ_EN.

From this page you can access projects on Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology funded under FP7.

For FP6 funded projects, please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/research/biosociety/inco/projects_en.html

For further information or clarifications on this

document, please contact:

Cindy Van Hyfte (cindy.van_hyfte@cirad.fr)

CIRAD – EUCARINET Project partner

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Major Policies to which the KBBE theme contributes

– Development of a sustainable European Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) COM(2002) 27 : Life Sciences and

biotechnology, a strategy for Europe;

– White Paper, Adapting to climate change: Towards a European framework for action. COM (2009), 147 final;

– Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. COM(2010), 2020;

– EU Soil Thematic Strategy and the Waste Framework Directive

(http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/three_en.htm);

– Reviewing Community Innovation policy in a changing world. COM(2009), 442 final

An EU policy framework to assist developing countries in addressing food security challenges. COM (2010)127 final