Research and Innovation Days 2020 focused on science and the new Green Deal

The European Research and Innovation Days took place online consisting of a Policy Conference and the Science is Wonderful! exhibition, European Research and Innovation Days 2020 ran over three days and finished on 24 September. The virtual annual event featured 146 different sessions and connected over 30.000 policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and citizens from 188 countries.

During the Policy Conference, the speakers discussed how research and innovation policy and funding can deliver on the European Green Deal, Shaping Europe’s digital future, the renewed European Research Area and other priorities.

Parallel to the policy conference, virtual Science is Wonderful! Exhibition let schools, youth, citizens and stakeholders discover 40 EU-funded projects tackling the main challenges faced by our societies, from the climate emergency to the fight against cancer and COVID-19.

Plenary and hub sessions

The policy conference, the core of the European Research and Innovation Days was divided into plenary sessions, hub sessions and workshops covering 10 themes:

• Hub 1: Policy
• Hub 2: European Green Deal
• Hub 3: Digitalisation
• Hub 4: Horizon Europe
• Hub 5: EU Missions
• Hub 6: Smart implementation
• Hub 7: International cooperation
• Hub 8: European Innovation Council
• Hub 9: European Institute of Innovation & Technology
• Hub 10: European Research Council

If you missed a session or want to re-watch one of the sessions, all sessions are available on the platform.

Day 1: Proposals for EU missions

On the first day of the event, top experts handed over their proposals for EU missions to the Commission for a greener, healthier and more resilient Europe. By 2030, the proposed missions aim to find solutions for saving more lives from cancer, making Europe climate-resilient, restoring our ocean and waters, achieving 100 climate-neutral cities, and ensuring 75% of soils are healthy. Europeans’ concerns, ideas and hopes helped formulate the proposals to ensure the missions’ relevance and ability to make a real difference.

Day 2: European prizes

During the second day of the event, the Commission also awarded four prestigious European prizes to recognise game-changing ideas:

• The EU prize for Women Innovators 2020
• The European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) Award
• The Horizon Impact Award,
• The European Innovation Council Horizon Prize for Affordable Tech for Humanitarian Aid.

All these prices recognise outstanding achievement and improvements to people’s lives. They represent a unique way to boost innovation by unleashing untapped resources, creating the buzz that delivers solutions to global challenges, and identifying role models that can inspire others.

Day 3: The Letter of Intent

On the last day of the Research and Innovation Days, a Letter of Intent was signed setting out a common objective between the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s first Knowledge and Innovation Communities – KICs (EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Digital and EIT InnoEnergy), to maximise EU support for game-changing innovators and entrepreneurs across Europe.

The Letter of Intent sets common principles, including a commitment to the innovators, agility, reactivity, speed and streamlining of innovation policy, resources and efforts, enhancing synergies and efficiencies across the two programmes.

Source: Pre-event Press Release, Post-event Press Release