PRESIDENCY EVENT (DK) - CONFERENCE “HUMAN VALUES AND GRAND CHALLENGES: SSAH CONTRIBUTIONS TO EUROPEAN TRANSFORMATIONS AND RESILIENCE”

Project Information

Human Values

Grant agreement ID: 101252917

DOI

10.3030/101252917

Project closed

EC signature date 28 July 2025

Start date 1 June 2025

End date 30 April 2026

Funded under

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Total cost

€ 300 000,00

EU contribution

€ 300 000,00

Coordinated by

AALBORG UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Human Values (PRESIDENCY EVENT (DK) - CONFERENCE “HUMAN VALUES AND GRAND CHALLENGES: SSAH CONTRIBUTIONS TO EUROPEAN TRANSFORMATIONS AND RESILIENCE”)

Reporting period: 2025-06-01 to 2026-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The ambition of this conference was to discuss what a stronger focus on the role of human values would contribute to European research and innovation and explore how this focus could further EU’s agenda for a social, green and digital transition. SSAH research is the lens through which we can understand this and can as such be leveraged to tackle the imminent problems of European societies and further the European innovation agenda. The hope is that this prospectively will motivate a greater inclusion of SSAH in mission-based, transdisciplinary research and increased collaboration. What would such research look like and how could it have societal impact through European research programmes? 


The Objectives of the Conference: 

1. To understand how research on societies can power R&I advancements for a sustainable future and highlight the impact of such an approach 
2. To identify and define topics of high societal significance where human values are paramount for future transdisciplinary research and suggest grounds for collaboration between SSAH and STEM disciplines  
3. To inspire science policy to develop programmes that promote research investment for citizens’ benefits and encouraging holistic scientific approaches.

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

Activities and Outputs
The project successfully established the full organisational and operational framework required for the planning and delivery of the conference. This included the establishment of a Project Group, Programme Committee, Steering Committee, and Advisory Board, ensuring appropriate governance, strategic guidance, and scientific oversight throughout the implementation period.

To support the practical delivery of the event, a Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) was contracted, conference facilities were secured, and accommodation capacity was arranged through the booking of venue and hotel rooms. In addition, specialist moderation and communications services were procured to ensure high-quality facilitation of discussions and effective dissemination of conference activities and results.

A dedicated conference website and registration platform were developed and launched, providing participants with access to information, registration services, and event updates. Several key management and implementation documents were also produced, including a Data Management Plan, Communication Plan, Project Plan, and a comprehensive Showflow and Responsibility Plan, which collectively ensured a structured and transparent approach to project delivery.

The conference was successfully executed in accordance with the approved programme and objectives. To extend the reach and accessibility of the event, a digital platform was established to host recordings of plenary sessions, interviews, and other conference content, enabling continued engagement beyond the conference dates.

The project further delivered a Conference Brief and a set of recommendations that captured the key insights, discussions, and conclusions generated during the event.

Outcomes
The conference achieved several important outcomes. Most notably, it fostered a shared understanding among participants of how perspectives from the Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy (SSAH) can be integrated into transdisciplinary and mission-oriented research approaches. Discussions highlighted the importance of incorporating human values as a central dimension in research and innovation activities and demonstrated how SSAH perspectives can contribute to understanding and addressing complex societal challenges.

A key outcome of the conference was the development of a Conference Brief containing recommendations formulated through the conference deliberations. Following the event, this brief was disseminated and promoted across relevant research and policy fora. Through these efforts, the conference contributed to discussions within the European Research Area (ERA) and sought to influence future research and innovation agendas by proposing concrete and actionable measures to strengthen the systematic inclusion of human values and relevant SSAH perspectives in European research and innovation policy and practice.

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)

Core proposition. The report advances a shift from treating social sciences, arts and humanities (SSAH) as a supplementary ethics or dissemination component to making human values, societal needs and transdisciplinary problem-framing central design principles for European research and innovation (R&I). Its distinctive contribution is to connect competitiveness, resilience and innovation capacity to Europe's democratic, cultural and social foundations, rather than to technological performance and short-term economic growth alone.

Results beyond the state of the art:
• From integration to co-definition. The recommendations go beyond conventional SSAH integration by positioning SSAH as a co-leader with STEM and policy actors from the earliest stages of challenge definition, foresight, horizon scanning, strategic planning and solution design. This reframes interdisciplinary work as a unified science response to grand challenges, not as a late-stage societal add-on.
• A human-centric FP10 architecture. The report proposes that a resilient society fit for human beings should be an organising principle across all FP10 policy windows, partnerships and European Innovation Council activities. It also calls for a robust Society policy window addressing democracy, culture, education, governance, social cohesion and prosperity.
• New governance and evaluation mechanisms. It sets out concrete programme-design instruments: multidisciplinary boards, co-design panels with citizens, policy makers, NGOs, industry and researchers, SSAH input in Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas, evaluator training against mono-disciplinary bias, and weighted assessment criteria in which societal relevance, human-values alignment, interdisciplinarity and stakeholder engagement become core quality measures.
• New readiness and evidence infrastructures. The recommendations extend the technology-readiness logic by embedding Societal Readiness Assessment and social adoption considerations into R&I evaluation. They also propose secure, FAIR and AI-ready social data infrastructures, making Europe a social data powerhouse able to understand behavioural, cultural, democratic and inequality dynamics.
• Experimental implementation capacity. The proposed Human Values Innovation Labs would combine policy labs, living labs and entrepreneurship support to generate SSAH-led innovation across regions. A portfolio approach, two-step proposals and rapid-response reallocations would allow complex societal challenges to be addressed through complementary short- and long-term projects.