The future European R&D activities to be debated in Lund

The conference has been prepared by four workshops,  held during spring in different European cities; Tallinn, Brussels, Berlin and Alcala de Hernares in Spain, covering challenges or shocks posed by nature, business, social and cultural development and “decline",  referring to Europe´s position in the world.

The outcome of the conference July 7-8 will be the`Lund Declaration´ hopefully leading to comprehensive reviews of both the European Framework programme and the way towards realization of the European Research Area.

Gunnel Gustafsson, Deputy Director General of the Swedish Research Council, is in charge of the preparations of the conference:
– The economic depression today and climate change illustrates the grand challenges – we call them shocks. The organization of research activities in EU must be tailored to foresee and meet these and future challenges with greater flexibility and joint R&D efforts.

With 25 years of experience from the Framework Programmes and several new reports and evaluations, times has come to reflect upon the future and the future needs of the European Union.

Sweden´s presidency is the last of an 18-month-long ‘troika´, which also included the presidencies of France and the Czech Republic. Issues on their joint agenda includes climate change, job creation and the environmental degradation of the Baltic Sea.

The Lund Conference will take place in Lund, the main University Building, July 7-8, where 400 participants representing the research society, industry, NGOs, will come together during two days.

Text: Tina Zetreaus