Cooperation between the EU and Latin America and Caribbean

The FP7 project EULAKS (Connecting Socio-Economic Research on the Dynamics of the Knowledge Society in the European Union and Latin American and Caribbean Countries) was aimed at building and supporting networks and partnerships between Latin American and European researchers, along with research institutions in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH).

The overall goal was to support international co-operation actions for the development of partnerships between communities of scholars, research institutions, and agencies in the EU countries and in the countries of LAC, especially in relation to common challenges and opportunities as they are related to the emerging Knowledge Society.

To achieve these objectives, EULAKS carried out analytical studies such as:

• a review of trends and patterns in SSH co-operation between the EU and LAC
• an analysis of the role of the SSH for the design and implementation of science, technology, and innovation policy in the EU and in LAC
• analytical studies of scientific communities and collaborative EU-LAC research networks
• an EU-LAC comparison of indicators for the Knowledge Society
• networking activities for competence building in Knowledge Society foresight
• strategic studies on the role of ICTs for the dynamics of knowledge networks

Added value at the end of EULAKS - some policy recommendations and results :
The Nexus Perception Study performed by the Universidad de la República (UdelaR) suggested that researchers should be incentivised to develop policy-relevant projects, where they engage with policy-makers and other stakeholders from an early stage and end up with policy briefings that are understandable and useable by policy-makers in framing, selecting, and/or evaluating policies.

Hands-on modes
A main challenge was to devise institutional tools to facilitate the move towards more hands-on modes (meaning innovation research agenda and policy design are strongly connected) of articulating SSH research and policy making in the field of STI.

From academia to policy making toward economics of innovation
On the academic field, the discipline “science studies” has been permanently involved with the policy concerns. The discipline in LAC is one of the most developed in the world and certainly more developed than in any ‘peripheral’ country. Project partner L'Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) found out that an interesting aspect of this rich tradition in science studies is its early interest in science policy making and its new tendency toward economics of innovation.

New instruments to build bridges
Three main recommendations resulted from the comparative analysis on the status quo of knowledge society indicators in the EU and LAC that was performed by the Universidad Autónoma de México (UAM):
(1) to redefine information platforms in LA in order to propose a new kind of statistics that shows real processes of knowledge diffusion in different sectors of society, (2) to reconsider the use of indicators proposed by international manuals and build new ones, and (3) to establish a political dialog between policy makers, productive, and social sectors to create consensus on the national, regional, and sectoral priorities for development based on an increased use of knowledge.

Team:

• Dirk Johann (project leader)
• Christian Flury
• Dr. Margit Hofer
• Ingmar Karner
• Magª. Martina Lindorfer
• Mag. Dr. Klaus Schuch

Section: Research Policy & Development

Partners:

• Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO)
• L'Institut de recherche pour le développement
• London School of Eonomics and Political Science
• Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
• Universidad de la República, Uruguay
• Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento
• Zentrum für Soziale Innovation - ZSI (Co-ordination, Austria); L'Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - IRD (France); Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Sede México - FLACSO (Mexico); Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento - UNGS (Argentina); London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE (UK); Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - UAM (Mexico); Universidad de la República - UdelaR (Uruguay)

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Tags: European Research Area, internationalisation, knowledge society, Latin America, RTDI cooperation