Gearing European Research Towards Sustainability: RD4SD Exercise

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Abstract

SUMMARYSustainable development (SD) is a necessity to safeguard the interests of future generations and, driven by the environmental and economic challenges, already occupies a central position in EU strategies. This report explores what it means to harness European research to SD and how this could be achieved and measured. Three aspects are covered, addressing changes in: execution of research; elaboration of research policies and developing indicators of the contribution of research to SD.The report has emerged from a structured dialogue between an expert group and stakeholders from the research and policy communities. SD needs to be embedded in practice, or how we do research. This is important because R&D is itself a significant economic activity with an environmental footprint to match. Research facilities can be very energy intensive and labs produce all kinds of non-recyclable or potentially hazardous wastes. Unless researchers internalise the values of sustainable development they are less likely to express these in the directions and outputs of their work. There is a need for systematic knowledge-sharing at European-level on good practice.The status and profile of SD research needs to be raised. Research in SD is in part an emerging discipline but also may be delineated by an interdisciplinary approach to the problems that it addresses. For some SD exists as a wider vision. While all of these perspectives can be held simultaneously it is important to ensure that the careers of those engaged in this area are not disadvantaged by comparison with those in traditional disciplines. Incentives, rewards and senior positions should be further directed to promotion of the area.Both exploratory investigator-driven research and problem-oriented targeted research are needed to address the issues of SD. The former category has the potential to offer breakthroughs from outside the field but to achieve these, excellence in translational research is needed. Socio-economic research, including sustainability research is needed to understand the character, the mechanisms and the requirements of the institutional transition in society, culture, economy, regulation, and politics necessary to allow for sustainable development. Foresight exercises and SD-oriented socio-technical experimentation and shaping form important tools for identifying and mobilising opportunities. Governance issues are at the heart of a successful research strategy for SD. Of particular importance is the interaction between researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders. At present there are insufficient spaces for such interaction. An inventory of existing actions should be constructed and action taken to stimulate SD-oriented experimentation. ERA-wide Policy Platforms are needed as ‘fora’ for defining an SD related research agenda. Information flowing in the SD research mediation system should be debated through Policy Platforms. Such Platforms would gather relevant policy makers across Europe pursuing SD goals with expectations from SD-related scientific research, aiming to develop targeted policy initiatives. SD-related scientific research targeted policy initiatives should make use of the entire spectrum of instruments foreseen in the European treaty (Article 169 initiatives; Open Method of Coordination; other kinds of multi-lateral initiatives). One area of research need is a better understanding of the specific characteristics of the dynamics of creating SD-related knowledge in different fields and sectors – it is unlikely that there is a one-size-fits-all concept.Despite the importance of good evaluation, current approaches make measurement of the effectiveness of the contribution of research to SD difficult or even illusory. This helps to justify the investments that society makes and also identifies good practice. However both input and output indictors are constructed from data collected under categories which do not easily allow SD activity to be distinguished. An alternative methodology is proposed which takes research collectives or consortia as the unit of analysis and then applies a two-step approach, first identifying benefits against a checklist of indicators and second asking a jury of wider stakeholders and potential beneficiaries of the research to identify and assess the relevant contributions.Summary of recommendations:Recommendations on implementation of research for SD A1: More needs to be done to promote sustainable practices among researchers and research institutions. A2: SD should maintain its focus on key challenges while being grounded both in a vision and in the framework of an emerging discipline. A3: The EU research strategy, in its design and formulation, should complement cross-cutting approaches with an approach tailored to the specific needs of sectors. A4: The status and profile of SD research and those who practise it needs to be raised. A5: SD research should where appropriate be embedded in coordinated initiatives and under the rubric of Grand ChallengesRecommendations on Research Policy for SD B1: Foresight should be used to identify SD-related research needs. B2: SD should be supported by a portfolio that is balanced between exploratory and problem-oriented research and underpinned by substantial socio-economic understanding. B3: There is a need to support research-led social shaping of SD concepts, involving stakeholders and researchers. B4: ERA-wide Policy Platforms are needed as ‘fora’ for defining SD related research agenda. B5: Knowledge brokerage processes that link SD research to application should be encouraged. Recommendations on Measuring the Contribution of Research to SD C1: There is a need to collect information about existing surveys, about analyses to build input and output indicators and about experiments conducted at any level to measure the contribution of R & D to SD. C2: SD research is best measured via Proxy Indicators linked to the direct results of research activities contributing to SD. C3: The production of indicators should be completed by the analysis of their results by a Jury in the framework of participative debate. C4: The development of other methods, such as the measurement of the behavioural additionality of research policies, needs to be encouraged.

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