Portugal assumes Presidency of the 5+5 Dialogue on Research, Innovation, and Higher Education

Portugal will chair the 5+5 Dialogue on Research, Innovation, and Higher Education for the period 2022-24. The announcement was made at the 5th Ministerial Conference held within the framework of this forum, where Portugal was represented by the President of the Foundation for Science and Technology, Madalena Alves. The conference took place on October 11 in Nouakchott, Mauritania, still under the presidency of Mauritania and vice-presidency of Italy for the period 2019-2022.

This Ministerial Conference issued a Ministerial Declaration and respective Work Plan for the next two years, signed by the ministerial representatives of the 5+5 countries that make up this Dialogue on both sides of the Mediterranean, namely Spain, France, Italy, Malta, and Portugal; Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia. This Ministerial Declaration aims to build a "Partnership for Scientific Research, Innovation, and Higher Education to promote cooperation, social cohesion, youth employment, and sustainable development in the western region."

For Portugal, the main objective of this Presidency will be to promote cooperation, social cohesion, youth employment, and sustainable development in this region through the implementation of new networking tools, fostering research linked to socioeconomic development and open cooperation for research and innovation (R&I), as institutional ecosystems for R&I and higher education are strengthened, promoting quality assurance and blended learning practices for skills development and talent circulation, with a focus on the Sustainable Blue Economy.

Portugal embraces this challenging mission with conviction and strong commitment, in a joint effort that will certainly strengthen and consolidate cooperation between the scientific communities of all countries participating in this Dialogue.