Prof Chris Foulds

After somewhat of a hiatus on here, I'm inspired to check back in as I'm en route to the joint 4S-EASST conference in Amsterdam - it looks amazing.. FOMO will be v real, v quickly, given how is much going on! Lots of hastags already.. #easst4s #EASST4S2024 #easst2024 #4s2024.. did I miss any?!

The EU on a mission: rethinking governance and policymaking - Friends of Europe

How have EU missions reshaped governance and policymaking in the last 3 years?
🗓️ Save the Date for our SSH CENTRE event with Friends of Europe! Let's boost synergies, prioritize interdisciplinary R&I for a greener and more inclusive Europe.
In person in Brussels, plus online, 1230-1400 CET 30 Jan.

Times Higher Education Awards 2023: winners announced Anglia Ruskin and Dame Nancy Rothwell take top prizes at ‘Oscars of higher education’

ARU won the UK university of the year last night - “Anglia Ruskin University was hailed as an institution that “support[s] its region to the full” as it scooped the top prize at the Times Higher Education Awards 2023”

Had a brilliant day today at the Global Sustainability Institute’s annual strategy day and Christmas bash. Very lucky to be working with such inspiring and supportive colleagues!

Absolutely delighted to be at Rosie Robison’s Professorial Inaugural Lecture tonight. So pleased to be celebrating the achievements of an inspiring and generous colleague

We’re running a session at EASST-4S next July in Amsterdam, on the experiences of doing inter- & trans-disciplinary research in response to societal challenges. Differences between practice & expectations? What lies beyond the ideal-typical? Abstract deadline is 12 Feb. #sts #scipol #energy

No more New European Bauhaus Mission The New European Bauhaus Mission (NEB) won’t be seeing the light of day after member states jointly said no to the European Commission’s proposal. Instead, the Commission’s green culture initiat...

The EC’s plan to convert the New European Bauhaus into a sixth Horizon Europe Mission has been rejected by the EU Member States. But it’s not the end of the road quite yet.. lots of support for a future work programme dedicated to green culture

Over €47B of the recovery funds will go to European Research Area objectives EU member states plan to spend a combined €47.4 billion of the post-COVID recovery fund on research and innovation projects that promote the development of the European Research Area (ERA), accordin...

Over €47B of the recovery funds will go to European Research Area objectives - A new analysis by the European Commission shows which ERA actions member states are funding from the EU’s post-COVID package

COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals Leaked documents show how the COP28 host planned to use its role to strike fossil fuel business deals.

COP28: UAE planned to use climate talks to make oil deals
… unsurprising, unfortunately!
EnergySky

Canada to join Horizon Europe, Trudeau says Canada is to join Horizon Europe, the EU’s €95.5 billion programme for research and innovation, according to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. “Canada's joining Horizon Europe, which is th...

Canada has joined the Horizon Europe framework programme!

Great job in great dept working with great people in a great city!

EU-UK relations: Council gives the go-ahead to UK participation in the Horizon Europe and Copernicus... The Council decision enables the EU to adopt the relevant decision within the EU-UK Specialised Committee on Participation in Union programmes before the end of the year.

As expected (phew), but great to see that last week, the European Council gave the go-ahead to UK participation in the Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes

Energy Demand Research Centre Launch Online launch for the Energy Demand Research Centre.

Check out the online ‘Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) Launch Event: Call to action on energy demand’ on Monday 27th November 1-2:40pm UK time. The Centre will deliver integrated tech & social change to rapidly reduce emissions, secure prosperity, reduce inequality and improve quality of life.

Plus, we’re also finalising a systematic literature review of mission-oriented innovation policy making and its impacts on the creation of knowledge and policy evidence, particularly in relation to the organisation and experiences of interdisciplinarity.

Here’s an example of ssh critique of the city mission: doi.org/10.3138/jccp...
In www.sshcentre.eu, we’ve done interviews with mission actors and we’re also halfway through citizen focus groups (40 citizens on each of the soil, cities, climate, ocean mission) prior to EC policy dialogue events.

A great-looking new, free MOOC has just been launched: ‘Explore the European Green Deal: Understanding the European Green Deal – History, challenges, and opportunities’. 8 modules to help people understand the EU Green Deal. Developed by the GreenDeal-NET consortium.

This looks really great. The more SSH discussions around the Horizon Europe Missions, the better. This keynote looks especially great because it is about the Soil Mission, which I believe has had much less SSH critique compared to eg the Climate Neutral Cities mission

Reposting this, with the note that we have translated versions available in: Ukrainian; Turkish; Spanish; Romanian; Polish; Italian; French; Czech; Bulgarian; Hungarian.

We make recommendations on EC funding programmes and how universities should change management practice. Feedback welcomed!

D1.2 Position Statement for international climate, energy & mobility research Supporting the Social Sciences & Humanities across Southern and Central & Eastern Europe: A Position Statement for international climate, energy and mobility research This Position Statement put...

Excited to see our Position Statement published. It gives recommendations on how Central & Eastern European (climate, energy, mobility) Social Sciences & Humanities research communities should be better supported. There remains huge disparities compared to researchers in Northern & Western Europe.

Thank you! Another great tip

Ah ha, good tip, and thanks for being my Bluesky guru!

Really interesting new Special Issue call for papers in the Buildings & Cities journal, on Sufficiency: www.buildingsandcities.org/calls-for-pa...

This looks like a must read!

Member states near agreement on framework to improve research careers in Europe, eg longer-term contracts and training for jobs outside of academia sciencebusiness.net/news/careers...

“Only 16 EU countries have met a June deadline to submit updated National Energy and Climate Plans to the European Commission for the period running up to 2030 – and none of them are fully compliant with the EU’s latest energy efficiency goals” www.euractiv.com/section/ener...

Today, we finished a SSH CENTRE consortium meeting. This project is the 3.5yr EU Centre of Excellence for Social Sciences & Humanities research on climate, energy & mobility. We provide a gateway for such insights for the European Commission. Do get in touch if you want to know more
www.sshcentre.eu

I was pleased to record a 3m video for the European University Association to react to their Green Deal Roadmap for Unis. I reflect on how they are uniquely situated between scales and stakeholder communities. I also warn against solutionism and the scaling-up agenda
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3gq...

This was a great read and certainly reminds me of pub conversations with colleagues about why they won’t leave Twitter (although I prefer to call it X, as Twitter as we used to know it is dead).

Another brilliant blog post from Patter on what it means to be ‘critical’ in academic writing - a great resource for social science PhDs!
patthomson.net/2023/10/30/c...

Earlier in the year, we at the SSH CENTRE published Stakeholder Engagement Infosheet one-pagers. Our motivation was that policy actors too often reduce engagement to one homogeneous thing.. when actually there are lots of different methods, methodologies and approaches. sshcentre.eu/engagement-m...