The Directorate General for Research and Innovation has launched two new communities of practice. They will help create two new codes of practice for:
- industry-academia collaboration for knowledge valorisation
- citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation
The work of the communities of practice, which is coordinated by the European Commission, will start with the launch meetings of the two Communities of practice on 29 March and will run until the end of June 2023.
The new codes will support the implementation of the Council Recommendation on the guiding principles for knowledge valorisation.
Code of practice on industry-academia collaboration for knowledge valorisation
Industry-academia collaboration is one of the key channels for knowledge valorisation. It occurs in various ways, such as collaborative research, public-private partnerships, joint research, technology infrastructures and intersectoral mobility among others. There is also a growing trend driven by open innovation towards more interactive models of collaboration, creation of new intermediaries and digital platforms that facilitate co-creation and matching the supply and demand for innovation.
A Code of practice on industry-academia collaboration will reinforce knowledge valorisation by providing principles, recommendations, approaches and tools for stakeholders and practitioners. A community of practice that brings together a wide representation of stakeholders who responded to the call for expression of interest will contribute to the co-creation of the Code of practice on industry-academia collaboration for knowledge valorisation.
The call to join the community of practice is now closed. In case you have any questions regarding its work, you can contact: RTD-INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA-COP@ec.europa.eu
Code of practice on citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation
To reinforce knowledge valorisation with citizens as the driving force of the process to accelerate the use of knowledge and research results for societal benefits, a code of practice is being co-created with stakeholders. A community of practice, composed of stakeholders who responded to our call for the expression of interest, will provide inputs that will feed into the Code of practice on citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation.
The role of citizens is key in the creation and uptake of innovative solutions by market and society and in calling policy makers to take account of science for better policies. Citizen engagement in knowledge valorisation, helps shape new models and innovative solutions responding to societal needs. By broadening the participation in knowledge valorisation processes to such actors, especially those on the demand side of research and innovation (users, consumers, citizens), there are increased opportunities to expand innovation capacities. This can also ensure that the benefits of innovation are shared with all parts of society. Innovative solutions that stem from such participatory processes, including those involving new technologies, new business models, behavioural change, and social innovations, are often more socially acceptable.
Interested stakeholders can still express their interest to join this community of practice by contacting: RTD-CITIZEN-ENGAGEMENT-COP@ec.europa.eu
Codes of practice support the guiding principles
The Council Recommendation on the guiding principles for knowledge valorisation provide guidelines for national, regional and local policy makers to maximize the transformation of research and innovation (R&I) results into solutions that benefit society. The guiding principles are supported by Codes of practice to provide more detailed guidance on the implementation of certain areas of knowledge valorisation for actors in the R&I ecosystem. A Code of practice on intellectual assets management and a Code of practice on standardisation were adopted as Commission Recommendations on 1 March 2023. Developing the guiding principles for knowledge valorisation and the Codes of practice on intellectual assets management and standardisation are outcomes of Action 7 in the ERA Policy Agenda for 2022-2024.