The VERA project aimed to provide relevant strategic intelligence for the future governance and priority-setting of the RTDI system in Europe.

The VERA project aimed to provide relevant strategic intelligence for the governance and priority-setting of the research, technology, development, and innovation (RTDI) system in Europe, and for better adapting science, technology, and innovation policy to the shifting global environment and upcoming socio-economic challenges. For this purpose, VERA carried out an in-depth stocktaking of RTDI related forward looking activities in Europe and internationally, and a thorough review of trends and drivers of long-term change of European RTDI governance. On the base of these insights, VERA developed scenarios on the evolution of the European Research Area, assessed the critical issues for the ERAs future capabilities emerging from these scenarios, explored subsequent strategic options, and ultimately generated a set of policy recommendations for responsive and future oriented multi-level, multi-domain RTDI policy strategies.

VERA was conceptualised as a continuously progressing two-way communication process among ERA (European Research Area) actor groups from society, industry, academia and policy across domains, levels, and regions. It set up a strategic conversation between these stakeholders that evolved through several carefully tailored stages in order to jointly discover shared visions and strategic options around the ERAs future perspectives towards 2030 and far beyond. VERA explored gradual evolution following from current patterns of change, but also explicitly embraced transformative and disruptive developments with a long-term horizon.

The VERA consortium consisted of ten internationally renowned institutes from 10 EU countries involving a team of more than 20 researchers with outstanding expertise both in terms of relevant knowledge and forward looking methodology, and excellent contacts with RTDI stakeholders in Europe and the world.

More information can be found at www.era-visions.eu

Team:

• Ing. Bernhard Bauch
• MMagª. Katharina Riedmann
• M.A. Gorazd A. Weiss
• Dr. Alexander Degelsegger-Márquez (project leader)
• Ingmar Karner

Section: Research Policy & Development

Partners:

• Fraunhofer-Institute for Applied Information Technology (Coordinator)
• Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
• Austrian Institute of Technology
• European Commission - Joint Research Centre - Institute for Prospective Technology Studies
• L’Institut Francilien Recherche Innovation et Société
• Technical Research Center of Finland
• University of Manchester - Manchester Institute of Innovation Research
• University of Twente
• Romanian Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding

Related Articles:

• News: The VERA project - Forward Visions on the European Research Area - launched its new interactive web portal (www.eravisions.eu)
• News: FP7 Project VERA "Forward Visions on the European Research Area" launched
• News: The VERA project - Forward Visions on the European Research Area - publishes its first deliverable: the ERA Fabric Map
• Event: VERA: Forward Visions on the European Research Area
• News: CORDIS: VERA-Abschlusskonferenz bietet Zukunftsvisionen für kommenden EFR

Tags: European Research Area, foresight