Sustainability and global dimension of European Research Infrastructures

Project Information

GLORI

Grant agreement ID: 101124993

DOI

10.3030/101124993

Project closed

EC signature date 10 May 2023

Start date 1 April 2023

End date 31 January 2024

Funded under

• Research infrastructures

Total cost

€ 164 961,25

EU contribution

€ 100 000,00

Coordinated by

FUNDACION ESPANOLA PARA LA CIENCIAY LA TECNOLOGIA, F.S.P., FECYT
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GLORI (Sustainability and global dimension of European Research Infrastructures)

Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project GLORI (Sustainability and global dimension of European Research Infrastructures) is aiming at organizing a Conference on Research Infrastructures devoted to discussing the sustainability challenge and global dimension of RI. The sustainability challenge and the related funding issues will be further addressed taking stock of the developments under former Presidencies notably as regards synergies between EU priorities and funding.
The Conference will be organized under the auspices of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and it will take place in Tenerife during the last week of September 2023. The Observatories of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias will be the main venue for this Conference that will bring together the RI community from Europe and beyond.
The specific objectives of the conference are the following:
• To gather main European and international actors in the Research Infrastructure scene, fostering contact, collaboration, and creation of synergies between the actors and disciplines involved

• To optimize the use of funding sources for Research Infrastructures. The event will enable an open discussion on how the different funding sources at European, national, and local level can be used and/or combined throughout the RI lifecycle.
• To identify challenges and potential solution for the environmental & energetic challenges RI face within the current context and in line with the Green Transition and Digital Transformation
• To highlight the importance of research infrastructures for the European research and innovation, show how the European RI connect at global scale and foster their role to drive international cooperation and science diplomacy.
• To discuss preliminary ideas for next Horizon Europe strategic Plans

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work done by FECYT in cooperation wteih the Spanish Minsitry of Science, Innovation and Universities and DG RTD, and the Institute of Astrofisics of the Canary Island has focused on designing and executing a meaningful conference that can contribute to having a better RI system in Europe and beyond.
In order to do so, extensive human and financial resources have been allocated by FECYT to this conference.

FECYT was also in charge of coordinating the travel arrangements with the speakers of the conference(which in this case counted up to around 30), designing and updating the conference website, organising the social dinner, liasing with suppliers and overseeing the rest of the activities related to the logistics of the conference.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main result of the Conference was the Tenerife Declaration on "Global Dimension and Sustainability of Research Infrastrucutures", which was launched during the event and endorsed by the 27 EU Member States and the European Commission during the Competitiveness Council of Research and Space on December 8th 2023. This declaration calls for the following recommendations(summary):

1. Ensuring long-term sustainability of RIs
2. Fostering career developments and skills in R&I.
3. Advancing the implementation and integration of Open Science Policies and practice in RI at European, national and institutional levels.
4. Assesing the currenty challenges in the environment with an impact on RIs while promoting mutual learning in the search for solutions to shared problems and taking the ooportunity to increase resilience. Specifically:
-Decreasing the carbon and broader environmental footprint associated with the energy and resource consumption.
-Generating new ways of access
-Developing coordinated policies to address the challenges.
-Meeting the UN Sustainable Goals.
5. Increasing the availability of critical raw materials and components neccesary.
6. Addressing the challenges identified in the third report of the EC on the application of the ERIC Regulation.
7. Investing in efforts to enhance international cooperation.
8. Where possible, fostering the collaboration of the European RIs with their counterparts worldwide.
9. Fostering the role of Ris in advancing science diplomacy.

Image of the Conference