Eye of Europe responds to the existing need of anticipating, exploring and co-creating future paths in, for and from Research and Innovation (R&I). Acknowledging the diverse and uneven capabilities and levels of institutionalization of R&I foresight across Europe, our Consortium builds on the experience of its 17 partners in order to coagulate existing energies and amplify them. The project’s goal is to nurture and mature an R&I foresight community with expanding levels of inclusiveness (from foresight experts, to foresight beneficiaries, to thematic experts and the broader audience of foresight enthusiasts, including civil society and citizens) and progressive levels of integration (from mapping organizations and experts, to sharing results, to developing shared capabilities, towards a collective intelligence). To this end, the project methodology is aimed at (i) consolidating the mutual learning and sharing of practices among foresight practitioners and R&I policy-makers, (ii) harnessing the expertise of thematic experts for the benefit of the community, (iii) mobilizing stakeholders in joint pilot activities and (iv) engaging an active, broad audience in co-creating and deliberating future imaginaries. Operationally, the project will establish and advance an online platform as the strategic home base of the community, with its resources and capabilities; engage relevant stakeholders in tailored face-to-face interactions; and promote futures thinking through educational and inspirational materials.

EDUCHANGE aims to become one of the first ever projects to conduct simultaneous field experiments in four strategically selected countries (Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland) with the goal to reduce inequality at the educational transition from compulsory to secondary education and at the transition to higher education. While experimental intervention studies have become more common in sociology and economics in recent years, EDUCHANGE will address five critical limitations in this literature: 1) No information or career guidance experiment with the goal to reduce inequality at educational transitions has ever been implemented in different countries with a harmonized design. This is puzzling given the importance of institutional context for the generation of inequalities in education 2) The majority of experiments focus on the transition to higher education while neglecting earlier transitions which are particularly relevant in tracked European education systems 3) Previous experiments have hardly considered the role and knowledge of professional counsellors 4) Previous interventions have mainly focused on updating students’ biased perceptions of costs and returns while neglecting other psychological and social barriers 5) Advances in multimedia technologies have only to a limited extent been integrated in previous experiments. Key outcomes of EDUCHANGE will include: (a) A more nuanced conceptual understanding of how career guidance and information provision can help to reduce inequalities (b) A comparative study of students’ subjective evaluation of costs, returns and probabilities of success and psychological barriers they attach to different educational alternatives in a comparative perspective (c) Knowledge about to what degree institutional context has an impact on whether information provision and career guidance can reduce inequality at two key educational transitions – and potentially affect persistence at the next level.

The Social Sciences & Humanities for Climate, Energy aNd Transport Research Excellence (SSH CENTRE) project brings together 13 leading organisations from across the EU, including: 3 universities, 4 research institutions, 2 stakeholder network organisations, and 4 R&I and communications SMEs. Our partners bring world-leading expertise across SSH and STEM disciplines applied to climate, energy and mobility, covering neutrality, community-led initiatives, heating and cooling, circular economy and sufficiency, and digital technologies. Partners will reach 228,880+ stakeholders by leveraging their significant experience in transdisciplinarity and citizen engagement, and networks that span academia, policymakers at various levels, the private sector, civil society and citizens. Our objectives directly address the call challenge with an aim to support cross-sectoral collaborations and empowerment of citizens and networks towards the development of socially innovative solutions for the EU’s climate transition. Issues related to Open Science, inclusivity and diversity – especially with regards Southern and Eastern Europe and different career stages – are at the heart of the project. SSH CENTRE will meet its objectives through a set of 7 carefully-designed Work Packages. Key activities involve: development of novel SSH-STEM collaborations to facilitate the delivery of the EU Green Deal; SSH knowledge brokerage to support regions in transition; and the effective design of strategies for citizen engagement in EU R&I activities. Outputs include action-led agendas and building stakeholder synergies through regular Policy Insight events. The high-profile virtual SSH CENTRE, and its 660+ members, will thus represent a ‘go-to' gateway for Cluster 5 SSH research excellence, delivering inclusive governance and engagement approaches. The Centre will generate and share best practice for SSH policy advice, overcoming fragmentation to accelerate the EU’s journey to a sustainable future.

GI-NI aims to contribute to an inclusive Europe of shared prosperity, by providing a better understanding of the changes and joint impact of three major transformations: technological progress, globalisation and migration; and offering policy and governance solutions to better equip citizens and companies, securing more equal opportunities and outcomes. We use a multidisciplinary research approach by a top-tier consortium with international stakeholder engagement throughout the project. GI-NI has five objectives: 1. Measure impacts of the three transformations on work, skills, and inequality; 2. Synthesize and analyse their interaction; 3. Foster dialogue and co-create future options with stakeholders; 4. Collect and consolidate data and produce future projections; 5. Identify policy and governance options for inclusion and equality. GI-NI generates this by: building on state-of-the-art research and other EU projects; using innovative methods; combining EU-wide and international micro- and macro-data; addressing gaps in knowledge and insights on data, joint impacts, and futures. We generate three new outcomes: 1. New scientific understanding of joint impacts of transformations; 2. Multilateral policy solutions; 3. New evidence in support of a robust EU policy strategy. GI-NI carefully disseminates and valorises results. GI-NI addresses the general priorities of the H2020 Work Programme ‘Europe in a changing world’: 1. Address concerns of EU citizens on migration and the 4th Industrial Revolution by better understanding their impact on work, skills and equality and presenting scenarios and solutions; 2.Collaborate with international partners beyond EU borders (China, India, Brazil, Singapore); 3.Contribute to sustainable prosperity by bottom-up firm-level evidence and solutions; 4.Contribute to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 1, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 17. In conclusion, we provide insights and solutions to anticipate change for more equality in work and skills.

High-quality education is a key driver of economic growth and social progress. Despite large investments in education over the past few decades, the quality of education in some EU countries has stagnated or even deteriorated. Marginalized populations are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences arising from inadequate educational policies. Understanding the efficiency and (cost-)effectiveness of investment in quality education is crucial for allocating resources to where they could have the largest economic and social impacts. The EFFEct research project has been established as an impact-driven initiative that aims to provide evidence-based policy recommendations to improve the quality of education. By investigating the effectiveness and efficiency of education systems and specific policies in EU countries by using (quasi-)experimental evidence, EFFEct advances knowledge in several critical areas, including diversity, equity and inclusion; teachers, trainers and digital transition; instruction and (adult-)learning. EFFEct has four interrelated objectives. Objective 1 offers novel insights on diversity, equity and inclusion by investigating targeted programs for disadvantaged students as well as religious and elite schools. Objective 2 investigates how teacher shortages can be mitigated and examines the role of digital environments. Objective 3 evaluates policies related to instruction, admission standards, and upskilling and reskilling of adults. Finally, objective 4 analyzes how the efficiency of EU educational systems has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and establishes the main policy levers and qualitative insights that may explain efficiency changes. EFFEct brings together a multidisciplinary research team of economists, sociologists, (neuro-)psychologists, teacher trainers, education scientists, mathematicians, and sustainability and operational research experts from four European research universities, a research institute and a NGO.