Science, Europe and the Mediterranean at the Science Meeting 2017

The last day of the Science Meeting 2017, July 5, opened with a plenary session on the theme “Science, Europe and the Mediterranean”. 

 

The session was attended by the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, the President of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science, Alexandre Quintanilha and the deputies of the five parties in parliament represented in this committee.

 

Minister Manuel Heitor, in his speech, referred to four critical messages for the future, which were intended as premises for this Meeting: 1. Align – to respond to the missions and challenges of the National Science and Technology Plan; 2. – Open – for a science open to the community, which dignifies knowledge as a public good; 3. – Strengthen – the scientific community, in terms of scientific employment, units and Associate Laboratories ; 4. – Diversify – the scientific community and the scientific system.

 

Commissioner Carlos Moedas, in turn, presented some of the conclusions of the LAB-FAB-APP report , prepared by the high-level independent group, appointed by the Commissioner and coordinated by Pascal Lamy, which was known in Brussels this Monday (3 July). In LAB-FAB-APP, a vision and a set of strategic recommendations are outlined, which aim to enhance the impact of research and innovation in the European Union in the future, based on the critical analysis of the evaluation of the results of the Horizon 2020 program for the construction of a post-2020 program. In his speech, the Commissioner highlighted three recommendations contained in this report: 1. looking at the whole and not the parts; 2. the focus on the scientist, who is the decision maker and innovator; and 3. missions, in which science is linked to citizens and all elements of the chain are aligned. 

 

In the speeches of the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Science, the common denominator was the concern that they all expressed regarding the production of legislation in parliament on the most diverse subjects, which they understand should be increasingly based on studies produced by the scientific community.

 

After these interventions, the session continued with a technical panel, in which Vladimiro Miranda, from INESC-TEC of the University of Porto, participated, with the communication Trans-Mediterranean cooperation and Portuguese affirmation with emphasis on Morocco , and Mário Carvalho, from ICAAM of the University of Évora, with the communication Agronomic strategies for increasing the productivity of irrigation water in a Mediterranean environment .

 

The final interventions of the session were given by Nart Dohjoka, from the Science Diplomacy Program of the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan, and Minister Manuel Heitor, who closed the session.