Portugal takes over the Presidency of the 5+5 Research, Innovation and Higher Education Dialogue

Portugal will have the task of chairing the 5+5 Research, Innovation and Higher Education Dialogue for the period 2022-24. The announcement was made at the 5th Ministerial Conference held as part 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 2019-2022 period.

This Ministerial Conference produced 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 shores of the Mediterranean, namely Spain, France, Italy, Malta and Portugal; Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia. This Ministerial Declaration aims to build the "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 the sustainable development of this region through the implementation of new networking tools, fostering research linked to socio-economic development and open cooperation for research and innovation (R&I), while strengthening the institutional ecosystems of R&I and Higher Education, promoting quality assurance and blended learning practices for the development of skills and the circulation of talent, 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 the countries in this Dialogue.