Scientific Coordinator Administrative Coordinator Evaluation …IPPT-PAN Poland Kharkov...

STI International Cooperation Network

for Eastern Partnership Countries

Evaluation of Activities with Recommendations for Future Actions

Scientific Coordinator Administrative Coordinator

IncoNet EaP Project received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological devel-opment and demonstration under grant agreement no 609528

“International STI Cooperation Network for the Eastern Partnership

Countries - IncoNet EaP Project”

Evaluation of Activities with Recommendations for future actions



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AbstractThis document presents a thorough evaluation of the outcome of the coor-dinating activities of the IncoNet EaP project with an explicit focus on the Societal Challenges (SC) identified to be of mutual interest for the EU and Eastern Partnership countries, i.e. Energy, Climate Change and Health. In addition, a set of recommendations on EU-EaP Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) cooperation are presented, including topics of mutual in-terest per SC, best means of research cooperation, promotion of innova-tion, and drivers of EU-EaP research cooperation. The report is based on the Project’s deliverable “Del. 1.5 Evaluation Report of the coordinating activities in WP1 with recommendations for future actions’’. Its full version can be found at http://www.inco-eap.net/en/390.php.

Writing TeamGeorge Bonas (CeRISS), Anastasia Vlyzioti (CeRISS), Yannis Kechagiaras (CeRISS), Jörn Grünewald (DLR), Randa Ahmed (UNU), Sabine Klasen (UNU), Laura Sedaine (CNRS)

EditorCeRISS - Centre for Regional and International STI Studies and Support

Palaiologou Benizelou 2, 105 56 Athens, Greece

(+30) 210 3210779

[email protected]

www.ceriss.eu

Permissions for reproduction Reproductions are permitted under the condition to explicitly state the fol-lowing reference:

Bonas G., Vlyzioti A., Kechagiaras Y., Grünewald J. , Randa A., Sabine K., Sedaine L. (2016): “IncoNet EaP”, Evaluation of Activities with Recommen-dations for future actions. Prepared under the FP7 IncoNet EaP Project, Centre for Regional & International STI Studies & Support (CeRISS), Ath-ens, Greece


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IncoNet EaP Consortium

LIST OF PARTNERS

EU Member States/Associated Countries and International Organizations

Scientific Coordinator Acronym Country

Centre for Regional and International STI Studies and Support

CeRISS Greece

Administrative Coordinator Acronym Country

Centre for Social Innovation ZSI Austria

Organization Name Acronym Country

Presidium of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

ANAS Azerbaijan

Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea

APRE Italy

Belarusian Institute of System Analysis and Information Support of Scientific and Technical Sphere

BellSA Belarus

Centrul Proiecte Internationale CIP Moldova

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

CNRS France

Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt

DLR Germany

Sihtasutus Eesti Teadusagentuur ETAg Estonia

International Center for Black Sea Studies ICBSS International Organisation


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Organization Name Acronym Country

Instytut Podstawowych Problemow Techniki Polskiej Akademii Nauk

IPPT-PAN Poland

Kharkov Technologies, Business Incubator

KT Ukraine

National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia

NAS RA Armenia

Regional Centre for Information and Scientific Development Ltd

RCISD Hungary

Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovaηγo, Consultadoria Empresarial e Fomento da Inovaηγo, S.A.

SPI Portugal

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation

SRNSF Georgia

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey

TUBITAK Turkey

The Centre for Scientific and Technical Information and Innovation Promotion of Ukraine

UKRTECHINFORM

Ukraine

United Nations University, Vice Rectorate in Europe

UNU International Organisation


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Table of Contents

ABBREVIATIONS.......................................................................................................... 9

LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................11

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................11

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................13

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT .............................................15

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................19

2. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................. 21

3. EVALUATION REPORTS ON THE 3 SCS: MAIN RESULTS ................................... 24

3.1 ANALYTICAL EVIDENCE ACTIVITIES ............................................................. 24

3.1.1 CO-PUBLICATION ANALYSIS ............................................................. 24

3.1.1.1 ENERGY.....................................................................................25

3.1.1.2 HEALTH .....................................................................................26

3.1.1.3 CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................... 27

3.1.2 IDENTIFICATION OF ACTIONS AND STAKEHOLDERS ...................... 27

3.1.2.1 ENERGY ....................................................................................30

3.1.2.2 HEALTH ..................................................................................... 31

3.1.2.3 CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................... 31

3.1.3 STI BAROMETER ...............................................................................32

3.2 POLICY DIALOGUE ACTIVITIES .....................................................................34

3.2.1 POLICY STAKEHOLDERS CONFERENCES ........................................34

3.2.1.1 ENERGY ....................................................................................35

3.2.1.2 HEALTH .....................................................................................36

3.2.1.3 CLIMATE CHANGE ....................................................................38

3.2.2 THEMATIC WORKSHOP ON CLIMATE CHANGE ...............................40

3.2.3 WORKSHOP ON THE STATE OF AFFAIRS AND FUTURE OF THE EU-EAP STI COOPERATION .......................................................42

3.2.4 ASSOCIATION WORKSHOPS IN GEORGIA AND ARMENIA ...............44


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3.3 COORDINATION AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES ................................................44

3.3.1 TWINNING GRANTS FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS ............................44

3.3.1.1 ENERGY ....................................................................................45

3.3.1.2 HEALTH .....................................................................................45

3.3.1.3 CLIMATE CHANGE ....................................................................46

3.3.1.4 EVALUATION OF THE TWINNING SCHEME ..............................46

3.3.2 FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF EAP COUNTRIES IN EU FUNDING MECHANISMS (ERANETS) ................46

3.3.2.1 ENERGY .................................................................................... 47

3.3.2.2 HEALTH ..................................................................................... 47

3.3.2.3 CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................... 47

3.3.3 COOPERATION WITH INNOVATION PLATFORMS ..............................48

3.3.4 GRANTS FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF EAP IN BROKERAGE EVENTS .............................................................................................49

3.3.5 REVIEW OF SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR EAP THEMATIC NCPS ........50

4. RECOMMENDATIONS .........................................................................................52

4.1 POTENTIAL TOPICS FOR EU-EAP COOPERATION ........................................52

4.1.1 ENERGY .............................................................................................52

4.1.2 HEALTH ..............................................................................................54

4.1.3 CLIMATE CHANGE .............................................................................56

4.2 MEANS/ DRIVERS OF COOPERATION AND INNOVATION ASPECT FOR THE 3 SOCIETAL CHALLENGES ........................................................... 57

5. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................... 61


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Abbreviations

CC Climate Change

CSA Cooperation and Supportive Actions

DCFTAs Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas

E@P Connect Eastern Partnership Connect project

EaP Eastern Partnership Countries

EaPeReg Eastern Partnership Electronic Communications Regulators Network

EE/RES Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy Sources

EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EEN Enterprise Europe Network

EFPIA European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations

EIB European Investment Bank

EN Energy

ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development

ENVSEC Environment and Security Initiative

ERANETs European Research Area Networks

HE Health

H2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation implemented by the European Commission

IEA International Energy Agency

IMI Innovative Medicines Initiative (Joint Technology Initiative)

INOGATE Energy Technical Assistance Programmes in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia

ISTC International Science and Technology Center

JPI Joint Programming Initiative

JRC Joint Research Centre

JTI Joint Technology Initiatives


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NCPs National Contact Points

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PMPR STI Policy Mix Peer Review

R2I Research to Innovation Cluster

RTI Research, Technology and Innovation

SC Societal Challenges

SFIC Strategic Forum for International Science and Technology Cooperation

STCU Science and Technology Center in Ukraine

STI Science, Technology & Innovation

UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

UNDP United National Development Programme

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WB World Bank

WHO World Health Organisation


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List of Figures

Figure 1: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international programmes for each SC

Figure 2: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international programmes (SC per Country)

Figure 3: Implemented twinning activities

Figure 4: Grants for Brokerage Events received by country/ SC

List of Tables

Table 1: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international programmes for each SC

Table 2: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international programmes (SC/country)

Table 3: Major topics of international programmes in EaP (SC: Energy)

Table 4: Major topics of international programmes in EaP (SC: Health)

Table 5: Major topics of international programmes in EaP (SC: Climate Change)

Table 6: EaP National Contact Points related to Secure, clean and efficient energy

Table 7: EaP National Contact Points related to Health

Table 8: EaP National Contact Points related to Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials

Table 9: Common topics for EaP countries: Health


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report is a comprehensive evaluation of the outcomes of the Coordi-nation and Support Activities (CSA) on Energy, Climate Change and Health (3 Societal Challenges) of the IncoNet EaP project along its duration (Sep. 2013-Dec. 2016). In addition, it presents recommendations based on three Expert Group meetings, conducted in 2016, during which experts discussed future thematic activities and actions addressing the EU - EaP STI Cooperation.

The evaluation of activities of the IncoNet EaP on the three Societal Chal-lenges (SCs) demonstrated the state of affairs of Energy, Climate Change and Health research and innovation in the six EaP countries but also in EaP as a region, as well as the state of affairs of EU - EaP STI cooperation on these SCs. It also allowed for a critical review of the main activities of the project targeting EU- EaP cooperation.

The explicit focus of the IncoNet EaP activities on the three SCs allowed for a deeper understanding of the most active fields in the EU- EaP STI cooperation in terms of scientific EU-EaP co-publications but also funded projects involving researchers from the two regions. It also allowed to mo-bilize researchers and scientists active on these three SCs both in the EU and EaP, giving the opportunity to stimulate synergies at the level of joint projects. Finally, it helped to bring closer policy-makers both from EU and EaP countries to discuss the challenges and opportunities for future EU - EaP cooperation.

The whole set of coordination and support activities implemented by the IncoNet EaP project revealed the major issues related to Energy, Climate Change and Health in EaP countries that would benefit from a stronger research collaboration with the European Research Area (ERA).

This report is expected to:

– Support the STI decision-making of the European Commission, the EU MS and the EaP countries by providing evidence on the state-of-affairs and on the trends of the bi-regional EU – EaP STI coopera-tion.

– Feed into the policy dialogue between the EU and EaP in view of an enhanced STI cooperation between the Union and its Eastern Neigh-bours.


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BACKROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT

The “STI International Cooperation Network for Eastern Partnership coun-tries - IncoNet EaP” was a coordination and support action dedicated to the EU-EaP STI cooperation building on previous FP7 projects addressing the region (IncoNet, Bilat, BS-Eranet, etc.). IncoNet EaP had an exclusive focus on the three Societal Challenges (SCs) that were identified to be of mutual interest for the two regions, namely, Climate Change, Health and Energy. The project had a duration of 3 years and ended in December 2016.

Cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries constitutes a major priority for the European Union that developed the dedicated Eastern Part-nership initiative launched in 2009. As part of this initiative, enhanced cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) is a mutual EU and EaP countries’ objective, aiming at jointly tackling Societal Challenges, promoting sustainable development and diversified econo-mies. In order to promote such cooperation, the ‘EU – EaP Panel on Re-search and Innovation (R&I)’ has been setup in fall 2013, chaired by the European Commission and involving policy makers from both regions. One of the concrete outcomes of the mutual interest for a closer EU-EaP STI cooperation is the Association to the EU’s Framework Programme H2020 of Armenia (2016), Georgia (2016), Moldova (2014) and Ukraine (2015).

The IncoNet EaP project was a key tool for achieving an enhanced EU-EaP STI cooperation and for a successful and mutually beneficial Associa-tion to H2020, providing also support to the EU-EaP Panel on R&I. More specifically, the IncoNet EaP project promoted policy dialogue providing analytical evidence and supporting joint agenda setting. The project was implemented by a large consortium of 19 entities from both EU Member States/Associated Countries (MS/AC) and from all the EaP countries. Among the partners from EaP, the consortium included ministerial bodies or their representatives, NCPs, STI institutions and innovation actors.

In particular, the main objectives of the IncoNet EaP project included the following:

• Supporting EU-EaP STI policy dialogue by providing analytical evi-dence and by mobilizing key stakeholders;


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• Fostering cooperation among researchers in EU and EaP by promot-ing the EU’s Framework Programme H2020 and supporting the de-velopment of joint proposals to the Programme;

• Promoting innovation through capacity building actions and stronger links among EaP and EU innovation actors.

Impact of the IncoNet EaP ProjectThe IncoNet EaP project aimed to increase cooperation and joint actions between EU MS/AC and EaP countries in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). In that respect, the project’s activities were address-ing both policy makers and the research and innovation communities in EU and EaP.

More specifically, in terms of its socio-economic impact and societal impli-cations the project:

• Reinforced the policy dialogue between EU-EaP countries through Policy Stakeholders Conferences, ad-hoc policy activities (Associa-tion Conferences in Armenia, Georgia), STI Policy Mix Peer Reviews in Armenia/ Georgia;

• Addressed 3 SCs of major importance for both EU and EaP coun-tries, namely Climate Change, Energy and Health, providing valuable analytical evidence and promoting the development of joint EU-EaP research projects;

• Consolidated the research communities in EaP countries through capacity building actions (training, networking, etc.), contributing ul-timately to the sustainable development of the economies of EaP countries bringing them closer to the EU;

• Promoted innovation in EaP countries, a major priority in the region, by transferring the EU’s know-how and best approaches, as well as by creating links to important initiatives in EU, such as the European Technology Platforms (ETPs), the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and the European Innovation Scoreboard. Such links will ultimately contribute to the development of diversified economies in the EaP countries and to increasing economic links with EU.

Last but not least, the project contributed to the EU’s policy towards the Eastern Partnership countries. In particular, the IncoNet EaP project pro-vided support to the ‘EU – EaP Panel on Research and Innovation’, by feeding the Panel with analytical evidence and by implementing a number of the Panel’s recommendations through concrete actions (e.g. organiza-tion of experts’ workshops on demand of the Panel).


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The IncoNet EaP project identified and addressed with different activities the following target groups:

• Policy-making: European and international policy committees and bodies (relevant EC Directorates, Eastern Partnership Fora, SFIC, European Parliament), as well as national ministries and research and innovation councils in the EaP countries and EU MS/AC;

• Policy-delivery: funding bodies, intermediary organisations and pro-gramme managing authorities in EaP countries and EU MS/AC, as well as at the European level (incl. community programmes, initia-tives and platforms such as ENPI, BSEC, INOGATE, EaP Panel on environment and climate change, Tempus and Erasmus Mundus Programme, the Energy Community, EIT, ETPs, JTI, KIC etc.), and relevant European and multinational financing institutions (e.g. EIB, Eastern Partners Facility, EBRD, OSCE, World Bank, ISTC, UNDP, UNESCO, etc.);

• Research organisations and universities: Researchers and re-search managers from the academic sector both in the EU (incl. JRC) and EaP countries with a focus on the three SCs;

• Research-oriented companies: Researchers and research manag-ers from the industrial sector from the EaP countries and intermedi-ary organisations such as EEN with a focus on the three SCs;

• Project coordinators: Coordinators of relevant EU projects targeting EaP countries on the three SCs (unilateral, bilateral or multilaterally funded);

• NCPs: NCP systems in the EaP countries but also in EU MS/AC;


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1. INTRODUCTION

The IncoNet EaP project aimed to support the advancement of the bi-re-gional Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy dialogue between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries, with an explicit focus on the Societal Challenges (SCs) that have been identified to be of mutual inter-est for the two regions, which are a) climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials, b) secure, clean and efficient energy and c) health, demographic change and wellbeing. The project lasted from Sep-tember 2013 to December 2016.

The present document evaluates the major activities that have been or-ganized under the project and summarizes key recommendations for an enhanced EU – EaP STI cooperation. In that respect, a thorough evalua-tion of the outcomes of a set of activities on the three SCs was performed. These activities were mainly:

a) Analytical evidence activities: identification of joint EU-EaP actions and stakeholders (multilateral, bilateral and national programmes and projects addressing EaP countries), bibliometric co-publication analysis of joint EU-EaP scientific publications, and STI cooperation barometer for EU-EaP attitude towards STI cooperation.

b) Policy Dialogue Activities: in particular, the Policy Stakeholders Conferences addressing the 3 SCs for EU-EaP research and innova-tion cooperation.

c) Support and Coordination Activities In addition, recommendations are presented based on three expert group meetings organised on Energy (26 April 2016, Athens), Climate Change (18 May 2016, Bonn) and Health (19 May 2016, Bonn) during which experts, along with IncoNet EaP consortium partners, discussed future activities and actions addressing the EU-EaP STI cooperation on the three SCs.

More particularly, the expected results of this report are the evaluation of the project and recommendations including concrete actions for the EU-EaP STI future cooperation. In particular:

– Evaluation of the main results of the implemented activities on the 3 SCs with regard to their outcome and impact;


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– Identification of topics of particular interest/trends that were identi-fied as of high importance / relevance in EU-EaP cooperation with concrete conclusions;

– Identification of main/key EaP STI players active in the EU-EaP STI cooperation in the 3 SCs;

– Recommendations based on the overall experience of the project for the future EU-EaP STI cooperation through concrete actions, in particular, with regard to topics of mutual interest, potential means of STI cooperation, promotion of innovation and drivers of EU-EaP research cooperation.


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2. METHODOLOGY

The drafting of this report was based on:

1. Three evaluation reports on the major activities of the IncoNet EaP Project (analytical evidence activities, policy dialogue activities and support and coordination activities) in the three SCs prepared by the project partner organisations;

2. Expert group meetings that reviewed the aforementioned evaluation reports and formulated recommendations for future activities in the 3 SCs and, in a more general sense, on the EU – EaP STI cooperation.

The current document is based on the synthesis of the evaluation reports (first step) and the output of the meetings (second step).

2.1 STEP ONE (EVALUATION REPORTS)

Each evaluation report summarizes the major activities of the IncoNet EaP Project i.e. the analytical evidence activities, the policy dialogue ac-tivities, and other coordination and support activities related to Energy, Climate Change and Health, respectively. The aim was an overall review in order to identify topics of particular interest, most active actors/stakehold-ers and trends of high importance / relevance in EU- EaP cooperation. In particular, major reviewed activities included:

Analytical Evidence Activities namely the identification of joint EU-EaP actions and stakeholders (multilateral, bilateral and national programmes and projects in EaP), the bibliometric co-publication analysis of joint EU-EaP scientific publications and the STI cooperation barometer for the at-titude towards the EU-EaP STI cooperation.

Policy Dialogue Activities supported through Policy Stakeholders Con-ferences in addressing the 3 SCs.

Support and Coordination Activities such as the twinning grants for re-search institutes, feasibility study for co-funding mechanisms (ERANETs), the cooperation with innovation platforms in EU, the grants for the partici-pation of EaP researchers in brokerage events and the review of support activities for National Contact Points in EaP.

Below, there is an outline of the evaluated activities (in parenthesis the source of input used for each activity; all relevant deliverables can be


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found online in http://www.inco-eap.net/en/390.php):

A. Evaluation of Analytical Evidence Activities (for each SC)i. Outcome of the co-publication analysis (Deliverable 2.2.a)

ii. Outcome of the identification of actions and stakeholders (Deliver-able 1.1)

iii Outcome of the STI Barometer- Report of 1st Round (Deliverable 2.2b)

B. Evaluation of Policy Dialogue Activities (for each SC)i. Outcome of the policy stakeholders conference on EU-EaP STI coop-

eration in addressing Climate Change (Yerevan, May 2014); Energy (Minsk, October 2015); Health (Budapest, April 2016) (Conclusions of the PSCs/ Deliverables 3.1, 3.2, 3.3).

C. Evaluation of Coordination & Support Activities (for each SC)i. Outcome of the pilot action on twinning grants for research insti-

tutes (Del. 1.3 )

ii. Outcome of the feasibility study for the participation of EaP coun-tries in EU co-funding mechanisms (ERANETs) (Del. 1.4)

iii. Outcome of the cooperation with innovation platforms (press releas-es at project’s web portal www.increast.eu/ Deliverable 5.1 )

iv. Outcome of the grants for the participation of EaP researchers in brokerage events (Del.4.3)

v. Outcome on the thematic NCPs in EaP (Del. 4.2)

The evaluation reports were an important reviewing tool, since they pro-vided an overview of the Project`s activities related to the three Societal Challenges while the main findings offered an insight of the main topics and organisations involved in STI cooperation. Further, the reports were enriched by the expert group meetings with recommendations for the fu-ture EU-EaP STI cooperation (See Step Two below).

2.2 STEP TWO (EXPERT GROUP MEETINGS)

One ad-hoc expert group meeting was performed for each of the three SCs, involving high-level representatives from institutes/ research centers/ uni-versities from both the EU and EaP countries. The aim of the meetings was to discuss the outcomes of the evaluation reports of the project and to provide recommendations for the future of EU- EaP cooperation in the 3 SCs. The evaluation reports were forwarded to the identified experts in advance in order to allow for a better preparation.

Based on their experience, experts made recommendations related


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to the strengthening of the EU-EaP Science, Technology and Innova-tion cooperation in the following fields:

• Potential topics of mutual interest on Energy, Climate Change and Health;

• Means of EU-EaP research cooperation;

• Promotion of innovation in EaP;

• Drivers of STI cooperation.

The conclusions of the three expert group meetings were drafted and for-warded to the relevant experts in order to make final remarks or com-ments.


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3. EVALUATION REPORTS ON THE 3 SCs: MAIN RESULTS

This chapter presents the evaluation of the outcome of the major activities of the IncoNet EaP project for the three Societal Challeng-es. It is divided into three sub-chapters that are, namely, analytical evidence activities, policy dialogue activities, and other coordination and support activities.

3.1 ANALYTICAL EVIDENCE ACTIVITIES

The Analytical Evidence activities provide analysis and monitoring of the current state of cooperation between EU and EaP, as well as trends for future cooperation. More specifically, the co-publication analysis provides an evidence basis for the identification of active institutions and research-ers in the bi-regional cooperation, focussing on the 3 SCs. Τhe identifica-tion of actions and stakeholders presents an accurate overview of the relevant stakeholders involved in international, multilateral and national programmes and projects that ended in 2010 and afterwards, related to the three SCs; the STI Barometer between EU and EaP was developed to capture the attitude towards the EU – EaP STI cooperation. It enabled a further analysis of any perceived developments as regards to the frame-work conditions, cooperation opportunities and potential of bi-regional STI cooperation.

3.1.1 Co-publication AnalysisA bibliometric co-publication analysis for the 3 SCs between EU MS/AC and EaP countries has been executed based on Elsevier‘s Scopus and Thomson-Reuters Web of Science (WoS).

Definitions-restrictions: The data retrieved in May 2014 covers the time period 2003-2013. Co-publications are considered to be the international scientific co-publications with the participation of at least two institutions/organ-isations established in at least two different countries of which one has to be an EaP country.


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Energy is defined as ‘’applied sciences’’ domain, ‘’enabling and strategic technologies’’ field and ‘’energy’’ sub-field.

Health is defined as science matrix domain “health sciences”.

Climate Change publications are analysed where authors used as key-words either “Climate Change” or “global warming” in the ab-stract, title or as key-words.

General findings: The total number of co-publications involving EaP coun-tries between 2003 and 2013 is 139,279. A deeper analysis for each EaP country shows that in the EaP co-publication output Ukraine has a con-tinuous high involvement, while Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova are stable. The development of co-publications from EaP is increasing slowly whereas the percentage of co-publications is increasing for Azerbaijan, Be-larus, Georgia and Armenia while for Ukraine and Moldova the percentage is stable (or slightly decreased). The most important co-publication part-ners for the EaP countries are Russia, USA, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

3.1.1.1 EnergyCo-publications related to Energy amount to 4,213 out of the total of 139,279. Institutions with highest output in energy are the academies of sciences. The most author-used key-words in the Energy related co-publi-cations are:

Computer simulation

Optimisation

Hydrogen, hydrocarbons

Coke, Coke manufacture

Oxidation

Nuclear Energy


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Most used author key-words related to “Energy”, (2003-2013)(Source: WoS+Scopus)

3.1.1.2 HealthCo-publications related to Health amount to 19,218 out of 139,279. The publication output is stable or slightly increasing, while Ukraine shows stronger growth. There is a very low level of regional co-publications. Most used key words in publications are:

Chernobyl accident

Disease severity

Radiation exposure

Protein expression

Most used author key-words related to “Health”, (2003-2013)(Source: WoS+Scopus)


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3.1.1.3 Climate ChangeCo-publications related to Climate Change amount to 2921 out of 139,279. A deeper analysis for each EaP country shows that, in general, co-publica-tions with the EU/AC countries show a high growth, although the level of Climate Change related scientific output in EaP is rather low. Institutions with highest output in Climate Change are the academies of sciences.

The most author used key-words in EaP publications are:

Water

Energy

Temperature precipitation

Carbon

Greenhouse

Spatial variability

Most used author key-words related to “Climate Change”, (2003-2013)(Source: WoS+Scopus)

3.1.2 Identification of Actions and StakeholdersThe IncoNet EaP project has screened and identified a large number of multilateral, bilateral and national (in some cases) programmes and projects that ended from 2010 onwards targeting the Eastern Partnership

1. This number is lower, due to multiple involvements of EaP countries.


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countries, and addressing 3 Societal Challenges, namely, Climate Change, Energy and Health. The same analysis allowed to identify stakeholders (e.g. Programme owners, Agencies, etc.) responsible for the projects. The following findings came out from this exercise:

International FundingOut of 321 projects related to the EU-EaP STI cooperation funded by inter-national programmes after 2010, almost 40% (138 projects) are address-ing Climate Change, 31% (110 projects) Health and 29% (73 projects) En-ergy (Figure 1 and Table 1).

Figure 1: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international pro-grammes for each SC


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Table 1: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international pro-grammes for each SCProgrammes Health Climate Change EnergyFP7 18 24 22ENPI 27 28 19INOGATE 0 0 11ISTC 8 4 1STCU 25 4 7UNESCO 0 4 0UNDP 6 47 5ENVSEC 0 23 1WHO 22 0 0NATO 2 3 0WORLD BANK 2 1 7TOTAL by SC 110 138 73

When looking at the performance by country, indicative conclusions can be made about the activity of each EaP country in Health, Cli-mate Change and Energy (Table 2). It is important to mention that several projects included more than one EaP country. In addition, Figure 2 shows an overview for EaP countries per SC.

Table 2: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international pro-grammes (SC/country)

SC Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Moldova Ukraine

Health 12 11 29 34 13 26

Climate Change

17 17 26 24 22 55

Energy 15 15 21 17 15 33


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Figure 2: Projects in the EaP countries funded by international pro-grammes by SC per country

3.1.2.1 EnergyBy making a deeper analysis of the Societal Challenges, important results come out for Energy. INOGATE, FP7 and ENPI are the major donors in the EaP countries in the field of Energy.

The major topics of these projects are provided in the following table.

Table 3: Major topics on international programmes (SC: Energy)

Funding Programme

Major Topics

FP7 Energy supply, renewable and sustainable energy, energy effi ciency, clean coal technologies, energy saving, biomass sectors, turbine systems, electrodeposition, nanowires and microelectronics.

ENPI Water management, renewable energy, waste and pollution, green technologies, climate change and biodiversity and energy effi ciency

INOGATE Oil and gas, electricity, renewable energy and energy effi ciency, climate change, energy market convergence, fossil fuels and imports, improving security of energy supply, quality gas and oil metrology, safety in electricity transmission and distribution.

STCU and ISTC Electro storage devices, energetics, thermoelectric batteries, water treatment, power source, heat resistance coatings and renewable energy resources.

ENVSEC Energy effi ciency, reduction of the consumption of electrical and thermal energy, sustainable energy, environmentally sustainable solutions to strategic energy security.


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World Bank Reduction of energy consumption, energy effi ciency, district heating energy effi ciency, reform of the natural gas sector, support of the energy sector reform and development, hydropower rehabilitation.

3.1.2.2 HealthIn terms of Health, STCU, ENPI, WHO and FP7 are the main donors in the region. The major identified thematic topics were the following:

Table 4: Major topics on international programmes (SC: Health)

Funding Programme

Major Topics

FP7 Medical genetics, medicine, economic and social aspects, medi-cal biotechnology, life sciences, scientific research

ENPI Health and social services, governance, education and training, social inclusion and equal opportunities, institutional coopera-tion and cooperation networks

ISTC Drug discovery, zinc oxide composites, antitumor drugs, cell membranes, dangerous infectious diseases

UNDP HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, health and safety risksWHO European Health Policy – Health 2020, Self-assessment of es-

sential public health operations, non-communicable diseases, international health regulations requirements, measles and rubella, Stop TB strategy and multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB), tobacco control, morbidity, disability and premature mortality, Electronic Patient Card (EPC), research and evidence into policy responses and analysis of health information data, disaster preparedness

3.1.2.3 Climate ChangeIn the thematic area of Climate Change, UNDP plays an important role in all EaP countries except Moldova. ENPI and ENVSEC show consider-able presence in Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The major topics found were the following:


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Table 5: Major topics on international programmes (SC: Climate Change)

Funding Programme

Major Topics

FP7 Sustainable development, environmental protection, earth sci-ences, fisheries

ENPI Sustainable management of pastures, supporting Climate Change mitigation and adaptation, soil and air quality, tour-ism/climate change and biodiversity, coastal management and maritime resources, waste and pollution, sustainable management of natural resources, biodiversity conservation, natural hazards / landslide

INOGATE Environmental health and safetySTCU / ISTC Remediation of Cs-contaminated soils, biological treatment of

oil pollution in the coastal zone, mining-related metals, arsenic contamination

UNESCO Wetlands, man and the biosphere, space monitoring of the Black Sea coast

UNDP Disaster risk reduction, protected area (PA); biodiversity devel-oping and conservation, obsolete pesticide stockpiles, range-land ecosystems, mountain forest, ozone depleting, hydro-chloro-fluoro-carbons, environmental pollution, plastic waste, solid waste management, marine ecosystems, territorial plan-ning policies, sustainable management of pastures, low car-bon development strategy

ENVSEC Environmental situation, illegal traffic of hazardous materials waste, security implications of CC, flood monitoring, obsolete pesticide stockpiles, management of shared water resources, adaptation to CC, radio-active pollution, environmental crimes, strategic environmental assessment (SEA)

World Bank Social dimension of climate change

3.1.3 STI Barometer The STI cooperation barometer between EU and EaP was developed in order to “capture” the “attitude towards STI cooperation”. The barometer was purposefully addressed only to stakeholders and researchers with EU- EaP research and development cooperation experience in order to analyse any perceived developments on the ground (“sounding board”) with regard to framework conditions, cooperation opportunities and potential for bi-regional STI cooperation over time.

The main target group was the scientific community in each Eastern Partnership country, in the fields of 3 SCs (climate action, energy and health).


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The results of the STI cooperation barometer between EU-EaP countries contribute to the better understanding of the framework conditions, coop-eration opportunities and the potential of bi-regional STI cooperation over time. It identifies also bottlenecks and trends in order to shape further ac-tions and strategies to facilitate bi-regional STI cooperation.

In the last two years, the main activities in international STI cooperation were the ones with EU countries (bilateral or multilateral cooperation – through EU programmes) compared to other regions, while collabora-tion with Russia and India is shrinking. Scientific cooperation with USA has been increasing only for Georgia and Ukraine. Cooperation with China shows significant increase among the researchers from Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine. Intraregional cooperation in general is evaluated in a positive way by all countries. Overall, the popularity of the USA shows a slight increase from 2015 to 2016. Research cooperation with Russia shows a significant fall among researchers from Georgia and Ukraine. The picture is the same for the research cooperation of EaP countries with South Korea, China and India; only Azerbaijan has more positive prospects for STI cooperation with South Korea and limited prospects with China and India while Ukraine and Belarus have higher expectations for the future research cooperation with China.

As regards the EU-EaP bilateral cooperation, positive tendencies have been observed in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine (associated countries to H2020), but no real changes have been identified in Azerbaijan and Belarus. EU programmes seem to be the most appealing for Armenia, with the H2020 Association Agreement with EU signed in 2016, as well as for Moldova and Ukraine. In parallel, Armenia and Belarus remain positive about the future of their scientific relations with Russia. According to the STI Barometer, the most important EU country in STI cooperation is Germa-ny. Besides, Italy, France, Romania, Poland, UK and Spain were also men-tioned as countries of interest. Romania is an important partner mainly for Moldovan researchers. Italy, France and UK show close STI cooperation with Georgian researchers. Poland is most popular among the research-ers from Belarus. In the next three years the EU MS seems to be the most important in the research cooperation with EaP countries.

The most important international STI cooperation activities are the bilater-al and international multilateral collaborative projects with the EU MS, as well as the strategic-level cooperation for setting up future joint activities. The most popular tools that facilitate the participation of EaP researchers in H2020 are the scientific conferences and the partner-search support, as well as mobility schemes to visit ad-hoc research organisations in other countries to discuss and prepare joint Horizon 2020 proposals. Project


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management training, participation in brokerage events, “twinning” schemes, information about calls launched under Horizon 2020 were also mentioned as important tools. In the opposite, actions considered not very popular, are market-oriented activities to utilise research results with part-ners from abroad, hosting young researchers from abroad and teaching assignments.

The main difficulty in international cooperation is the limited capacity of EaP research institutions, both in terms of research personnel and infra-structure. In many cases the different institutional structure, financial in-struments, funding mechanisms and tools make even more complicated the cooperation with EU MS. Different priority fields in the EaP countries and in EU are likely to cause another difficulty. Only 40% of the respond-ents are well informed about calls for proposals launched under bilateral S&T agreements with single EU MS. Major bottlenecks in establishing con-tacts with EU researchers are finding an appropriate partner with common research interests; different approaches for solving specific problems; sig-nificant differences in the use of current technologies.

3.2 Policy Dialogue activities

The objective of the Policy Dialogue Activities of the IncoNet EaP was the support to the existing STI dialogue between EU MS/AC and EaP countries improving the mutual policy learning between EU and EaP. These activities included:

1) Policy Stakeholders conferences (on Energy-October 2015/Minsk, on Climate Change-May 2014/Yerevan, on Health-April 2016/Buda-pest);

2) A thematic Workshop on climate change (November 2014,Athens);

3) A Workshop on the state-of-affairs and future of the EU-EaP STI co-operation (September 2015, Brussels);

4) Association Workshops in Georgia and Armenia (Spring/Autumn 2016)

3.2.1 Policy Stakeholders Conferences The main goals of the conferences were to identify regional and internation-al initiatives, common objectives, operational instruments (programmes), to shape future cooperative initiatives between EU and EaP countries and to formulate recommendations on the enhancement of STI cooperation in addressing the 3 SCs. In addition, the conferences provided the op-


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portunity for showcasing various projects from the region as best practice examples with the aim to create synergies for future cooperation activities in H2020 and beyond.

3.2.1.1 EnergyThe Policy Stakeholders Conference “Energy Research and Innovation in the Eastern Partnership” was held in Minsk, Belarus on 12-13 October 2015. The conference gathered 128 policy makers and representatives of the academic and scientific communities. They represented 81 organisa-tions from 15 European and Eastern Partnership countries: Austria, Az-erbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Hungary, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Moldova, Poland, France, Turkey, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

A number of international organisations, as well as European energy-re-lated technological and innovation platforms, took part in the event. Par-ticipants represented public policy coordination bodies in the field of re-search, innovation, energy and international STI cooperation at national and EU level, international organisations, major international projects in the energy sector, as well as some organisations representing the civil so-ciety, the research community and business. One third of the participants were women.

All EaP countries demonstrated positive developments regarding national energy policies. Renewable energy sources (RES) and energy efficiency (EE) are prioritised in all EaP countries while energy projects are supported by international donor organisations.

Issues for which special attention is needed are the following:

• Legislation related to the development of EE/RES innovation is in-sufficient, however in Georgia the completion of the First National Energy Efficiency Action Plan was expected by the end of 2015.

• Recommendations and suggestions for legal interventions (includ-ing also strategic documents) have not been considered or imple-mented in several cases.

• Additional policy measures are needed to stimulate EE/RES (i.e. more attractive tariff setting, decentralisation, “smart grid”, etc.)

• The lack of innovation intermediary organisations - such as technol-ogy transfer centres, business incubators and techno-parks aiming to foster cooperation between public RTD and business communi-ties, as well as to support knowledge commercialisation activities – is one of the major bottlenecks of the innovation system for the majority of EaP countries.


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• Low level of financial support for R&D in terms of gross expenditures on R&D (UA: 0.8%, BY: 0.7%, MD: 0.4% while AM, AZ and GE: 0.2% in 2015 according to Global Innovation Index) which has an impact also on energy research.

• Governmental financial support to research institutions for develop-ing EE/RES innovations is insufficient. Funding should be provided to the private sector (business, SMEs) for supporting innovation. There are good examples, e.g. in Georgia, where local banks recent-ly started financing EE in newly constructed buildings. Besides green loans for customers, who are willing to introduce EE/RES technolo-gies in their homes or businesses are also available.

• Human resources development and adequate education are impor-tant preconditions for increasing EE/RES.

• There is a lack of tradition of research in the universities, thus univer-sity start-ups, and spin-offs are absent from the RTDI landscape.

• More active awareness raising for research and innovation is miss-ing on EE measures.

Some recommendations for a stronger EU-EaP cooperation in research and innovation policy in the field of energy were:

• Further development and implementation of energy efficiency policy in the EaP countries;

• Reforms: legislative and institutional;

• Energy market and tariffs (the introduction of market-oriented princi-ples in the energy sector and an appropriate regulatory framework);

• Strategic approaches for a more effective participation in H2020 calls;

• Future support of EU-EaP cooperation in the Energy field;

3.2.1.2 HealthThe Policy Stakeholders Conference in Budapest took place in Budapest, Hungary on 19-20 April 2016. The aim of the event was to bring togeth-er key stakeholders and discuss issues related to the Societal Challenge “Health” and cooperation possibilities between the EU MS/AC and the EaP countries in this field.

The conference was based on two main pillars:

(1) Policy issues addressing Health:

• Presentations from international organisations and initiatives active in the EaP region such as EIB, EBRD, EFPIA, IEA, OECD, UNAIDS,


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UNDP, USAID, WHO;

• Policy reports and recommendations of other Health-related projects focusing on the region such as BRIDGE Health, ERA-NET NEURON and Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPI-AMR);

• Local policies of the EaP countries in the field of health including institutional, economic, ecological and social aspects of country de-velopment;

• Integration of health care development into economic policies;

• Evaluation of the following main cooperation topics: health and well-being, improving health system, research and innovation of treatment and care in health - pharmaceutical science, innovative medicines, tuberculosis, drug and medical technologies, biological sciences, biophysics, molecular biology and genetics, HIV treatment, HIV/AIDS prevention, oncology, lung disease, cancer, health care for ageing people

(2) Best practice examples of projects, programmes and other initiatives from the EaP countries addressing the SC Health:

• Results from FP7 and H2020 projects (mapping exercise),

• Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs),

• Ongoing ERANETs,

• Innovation Platforms/ETPs/KICs addressing EIT Health,

• Any other initiatives identified i.e. NGOs on Health,

• Presentations from the IncoNet EaP project activities related to Health (policy mix review, twinning etc.)

The conference produced the following output:

• An overview of the state-of-the-art and best practices of the EU-EaP STI cooperation in the field of Health;

• Ideas/recommendations for a more efficient STI cooperation on Health addressed to: a) the EC, b) researchers and other stakehold-ers in the EaP countries, c) international organisations, which are active in the region.

The conference results are summarised as follows:

H2020 topics of high interest for EaP countries:• Promotion of mental health and well-being;

• Addressing rare infectious diseases;


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• Cardiovascular diseases;

• Neuro-degenerative diseases;

How to widen participation in H2020 with inclusion of EaP countries?• Flexibility from researchers is needed to adapt to calls;

• More partnering events are needed;

• More SMEs from EaP countries needed; need to create SMEs through spin-off or start-up programmes;

• More emphasis on innovation and market needs (teach innova-tion);

• Consumers’ involvement in the proposals;

• Harmonisation of EaP countries funding practices with EU (mainly for ERANETs);

Which mechanisms should be established for increasing the participa-tion of EaP countries in H2020?

• Mutual information exchange; EU partners need to be approached by EaP researchers and vice-versa;

• Overcoming language-barriers;

• Need to advertise own expertise / transform weaknesses into strengths;

• Motivate EaP researchers (incentives on national level);

The main conclusions of the Policy Stakeholders Conference on Health were that there is a need for mutual understanding during networking events; EaP countries should present effectively the capacity, expertise and needs of the countries in order to establish more concrete commu-nication with the relevant EU stakeholders. The EaP research community should examine and adapt to the new R&I conditions, such as the H2020 programme, which is focused on innovation and market, while it has be-come a highly competitive programme. This is the reason why industry and SMEs are important players in the context of H2020.

3.2.1.3 Climate ChangeThe Policy Stakeholders Conference on Climate Change was held in Yer-evan on 15-16 May 2014. The objective of this conference was to bring together policy makers, representatives of the research community and


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representatives of the private sector to address specific problems that countries in the region face, and showcase best practices regarding EU-EaP scientific cooperation on climate change. Topics of mutual interest were Environment and Climate Change adaptation. The conference ena-bled to highlight the following challenges:

• the necessity for increased coordination and for closer synergies among various policy initiatives, international donors, national ad-ministrations and research entities, also at regional level, while avoiding duplication of efforts;

• the need to ensure sustainability and accessibility to the research performed under the projects funded for the region, through en-hanced national funding (limited lifetime of international funded projects);

• joint policy initiatives on Climate Change need to be based on a sound scientific input, i.e. on comprehensive and comparable sci-entific data, through sound monitoring systems in the region and stronger research networking.

The main recommendations provided during the Conference were:

1. Setting-up an effective coordination mechanism in order to improve the synergies of the Climate Change actors and programmes target-ing the EaP region, it was proposed that a “permanent networking fa-cility” could be created, based on the model already in place for the Balkan countries2. The facility would represent a coordinating point for all stakeholders and funding initiatives on Climate Change addressing the countries of the region and would also keep them connected be-yond the lifetime of the projects. The first steps towards providing the institutional set-up for the facility could be explored in cooperation with the EU- EaP Panel on Research and Innovation, given its major role in facilitating the STI cooperation with the EaP countries.

2. Establishment of a Regional Research Competence Center with the aim to provide solid scientific data to policy makers. It was proposed to set-up an Eastern Partnership Regional Research Competence Center to ad-dress the current needs and gaps in the data on Climate Change from the target countries. The regional research center would a) respond to the EaP countries requirements (providing specific data, performing monitoring activities etc.), b) follow the emerging needs from the interna-tional negotiations on climate and c) ensure accessibility to the research results on a regional level. In addition, it could provide trainings and other capacity building activities for the EaP researchers.

2. The networking facility Balkan GeoNet is coordinated by the University of Novisad.


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3. Improve the link between research institutions and administration; es-pecially for evidence-based policy making, national research organisa-tions have to be involved in the preparation of Climate Change national reports and country studies, as well as in the coordination with the re-lated research sectors e.g. energy, agriculture and health. A more struc-tured cooperation between research and national administration, e.g. in a form of agreement or contract with provision of adequate funding on a medium to long-term basis, would be a way to ensure the continu-ity and sustainability for the Climate Change related needs in monitor-ing and research.

4. Creation of a common calendar of activities for the region in order to improve the communication between the relevant stakeholders. A com-mon calendar of events/activities of the current initiatives and projects (EC- DG RTD and DG DEVCO, UN, national administrations) was deemed to be beneficial.

3.2.2 Thematic Workshop on Climate ChangeFollowing the decision of the 2nd meeting of the ΕU-EaP Panel on Research & Innovation (R&I), the IncoNet EaP Project has undertaken to organise Thematic Workshops in order to identify relevant topics and sub-themes for the EU-EaP STI cooperation.

Under this context, the IncoNet EaP project organised in Athens on 6-7 November 2014 a Thematic Workshop on Climate Change for the identifi-cation of relevant research topics with a particular focus on:

• Fighting and adapting to climate change;

• Protecting the environment, sustainably managing natural resourc-es, water, biodiversity and ecosystems;

Twenty-one participants from all the six EaP countries and from seven EU member-states took part at the workshop. The identified topics were sub-mitted to the European Commission (DG Research) and a report was ad-dressed to the EU-EaP Panel on Research and Innovation.

The EU-EaP STI cooperation in addressing Climate Change necessitates an integrated approach to also include cooperation with stakeholders beyond the STI sector, such as the national sectorial ministries, the civil society and the international donor organisations. The EU and the EaP countries have already paved the way for joint actions on Climate Change. Such ex-amples have been highlighted by the FP7 and ENI projects presented at the workshop. There are good opportunities to further expand the syner-gies by taking advantage of the current H2020 programme.


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During the workshop, researchers identified five topics of mutual EU-EaP interest that could be considered in future H2020 calls for proposals:

• Topic 1: The impact of climate change on soil resources and de-sertification; influence of glaciers. The topic is highly important for the EU-EaP cooperation since similar problems exist in both regions. There is a range of challenges linked to the climate change spanning from the abuse of land use and land degradation to desertification and glacier melting. Significant experience in dealing with such chal-lenges already exists in a number of research hubs both in the EU and the EaP. The output of this topic should promote the socio-eco-nomic development of regions of the EaP countries and introduce considerable material and economic effects, assist the sustainable management of land resources and the alleviation of poverty as well as the mitigation of the adverse impact of climate change.

• Topic 2: Green production with emphasis on low carbon and smart production. Recent encouraging cooperation activities between EU countries and Eastern Partnership countries in the newly-formulated concept of “Green economy” reflect the increasing need to develop low carbon production processes with particular focus on the use of renewable resources. Mutual interest of the topic for both EU and EaP countries is evident. The EU is interested in effective actions to reduce GHG emissions while EaP countries lack inventory meth-ods, and they can gain from the EU experience. Proposals address-ing this topic should improve the GHG inventory tools, methods and standards in EU and EaP countries. Sharing knowledge of actions between EU and EaP countries on accepting new tools and investing in new technologies is of mutual interest. Improved quality of GHG inventories could be used for better policy formulation and contrib-ute to UNFCCC compliance.

• Topic 3: Influence of climate change on urban air quality and strat-egy for mitigation of pollution effects on human health and ecosys-tems. Air quality and climate change can be cost-effectively tackled together by using an integrated approach when defining policies and measures through: a) preparation for implementation of EU air qual-ity legislation in the EaP countries (transfer of acquis); b) transfer of low-carbon and adaptation technologies and their use in the EaP countries through small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) (build-ing practical skills of SMEs for developing adaptation strategies). The topic addresses as well the following issues of mutual interest: i) cooperation in the development of approaches for improving the air quality and reducing the carbon footprint; ii) cooperation in scientific


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research between the EU and countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in the area of climate action.

• Topic 4: Water management for trans-boundary cooperation: water monitoring, databases, modeling, water market development, and risk assessment. Water is an important resource for sustainable development. However, water resources are under strong pressure from climate change, urbanisation, pollution, overexploitation of freshwater resources and increasing competition between various user groups and countries. The aim of this topic is to extend and adapt modern technologies and best practices applied in the EU to EaP countries for the establishment of research infrastructures for Integrated Water Management in trans-boundary basins. The afore-mentioned activities will improve innovative water solutions to the market and will provide harnessing water research and innovation results for the industry and the social sphere deriving benefits for both the EU and the EaP countries. The strengthening of institution-al capacity of water management units in the EaP countries, is re-quired as well as the improvement of water market sector for SMEs and other stakeholders for the promotion of the inter-institutional cooperation in water management sector.

• Topic 5: The impact of climate change on ecosystem services. Im-proper management of natural resources and lack of integration of the nature conservation to the EU rules are an imperative reason to strengthen the scientific cooperation between the EaP and EU countries. The expected impact of this topic will be to translate the scientific results to evidence-based policy making. The added value will be to integrate the ecosystem conservation and restoration is-sues with all different vulnerable sectors of the ecosystem services (e.g. agriculture, forestry and water management).

3.2.3 Workshop on the State of Affairs and Future of the EU-EaP STI cooperationThe Workshop on the State of Affairs & Future of EU-Eastern Partnership STI Cooperation in Brussels (03 September 2015) gave an insight of the STI cooperation and its perspectives in the EaP region. High level participants from the European Commission and the EaP region, as well as stakehold-ers and policy makers from EU Member States, attended the Workshop.

Since the Roadmap for International Cooperation - Report on the imple-mentation of the strategy for international cooperation in research and


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innovation (EC, 2014)3 was the basis for the development of the Work-shop structure, a state of affairs of the EU-EaP cooperation on the 3 SCs was presented in detail through the activities of the IncoNet EaP Project.

During the workshop, the following findings have been identified which can facilitate the future EU-EaP STI cooperation such as:

There are research teams -identified through the bibliometric analy-sis of EU-EaP joint publications- which should be approached in or-der to increase their experience in H2020 through the participation in projects. In addition, twinning among projects can be used as a tool for the development of long-term STI cooperation. It is a sup-portive measure to facilitate cooperation between consortia apply-ing to H2020.

Digital economy is upcoming in the EaP region. The launch of the Harmonisation of Digital Markets (HDM) in the six EaP countries con-stitutes an important tool for designing future policy actions and as-sistance programmes for the EaP countries’ digital economy. Good practices of this trend is the EaPeReg4 and the [email protected].

The STI policy mix peer reviews (PMPRs) in Armenia and Georgia provided considerable assistance to the countries improving their STI system. The long-term perspective for the countries is the suc-cessful association to H2020.

The cooperation of EaP countries under the COST actions is impor-tant as COST enables the breakthrough of scientific and technologi-cal developments leading to new concepts and products. COST As-sociation is open to non-COST countries as the basis is the mutual benefit of this cooperation.

Technology, Innovation and Business should be encouraged further. In addition, better and stronger RTI partnerships are demanded in order to have a fruitful cooperation. To that direction, innovation vouchers constitute a valuable scheme for the region.

3. Accessible at: https://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/pdf/policy/annex_roadmaps_sep-2014.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none. The roadmap for EaP countries has been re-viewed in 2016: https://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/pdf/policy/roadmaps_eastern-2016.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none

4. The EU and EaP electronic communications regulatory platform (see at http://www.eap-ereg.org/)

5. Launched in July 2015, the Eastern Partnership Connect (EaPConnect) project aims to establish and operate a high-capacity broadband internet network for research and education (R&E) across six EaP partner countries in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood (see at https://www.eapconnect.eu/)


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3.2.4 Association Workshops in Georgia and ArmeniaOn the occasion of the Association Agreements to the European Union’s Framework Programme on Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020 of Georgia (April 2016) and Armenia (May 16), the IncoNet EaP project or-ganised two association workshops for each country (spring/autumn 2016) with the purpose to support the participation of the newly Associat-ed Countries (AC) in the European Research Area (ERA). Representatives from previously experienced H2020 associated countries had the oppor-tunity to exchange experiences of their association process and discuss about support measures to be taken at national level in order to follow a smooth association process.

In addition, important topics were discussed such as the priorities of EU’s framework programme for research and innovation, financial regulations, widening participation instruments, Marie Skłodowska Curie Action and funding opportunities in the framework of European Research Council (ERC).

The workshops were mainly addressed to policy makers, representatives from research institutes and universities, H2020 National Contact Points as well as representatives of SMEs from Georgia and Armenia.

3.3 Coordination and support activities

The advancement of EU-EaP cooperation within the H2020 Programme was supported through the following coordination and support activities:

3.3.1 Twinning Grants for Research ProjectsWithin the IncoNet EaP a first call “Twinning among Projects” was im-plemented as an incentive for promoting the Twinning among research Institutes in view of joint applications in H2020 calls for proposals. It was a pilot funding instrument in order to support the mobility among part-ners (covering travel costs, staff efforts, and logistics) and the concrete preparation of proposals. Among the 15 applications positively evaluated, 7 were related to Energy, 3 were related to Health and 5 were related to Climate Change (Fig.3).


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50%

21%

29%

Energy Health Climate Change

Figure 3: Implemented twinning activities

3.3.1.1 EnergyThe main topics of cooperation between the research institutes were mi-crowave energy transfer, production technologies of bioenergy/biogas, oil and gas pipeline, non-intrusive body scanner, alternative energy for trans-port, nature-based solutions, warehousing in maritime supply chains.

Success story: by July 2016, one of the twinning teams has already sub-mitted an application to a Horizon 2020 call. This project proposal has been positively evaluated and has been selected for funding. The project involved partners from Belarus, France and Spain. Coordinated by Alcala University (Spain), this project with the title Multi-Energy High Resolution Modular Scan System for Internal and External Concealed Commodities (MESMERISE) will receive an EC contribution of 5 million Euros. Of these, 0.47 million will be the contribution to the Belorussian participant to the project, the biggest ever EC contribution to a Belarussian participant in the EC framework programme (see more on CORDIS: http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/203299_en.html ).

3.3.1.2 HealthMore specifically, the topics followed by the research institutes have been: controlling translocation of the water-soluble anti-cancer drugs through the cell; comparative analysis of differences in financing schemes of health-care systems; measuring ultrasound non-thermal biological interactions to bring sonodynamic therapy from bench to bedside. By July 2016, one


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of the twinning teams has already submitted an application to a Horizon 2020 call.

3.3.1.3 Climate ChangeMore specifically, astronomy and atmospheric research were the topics of cooperation between the research institutes. The team submitted a H2020 proposal but was not retained for funding.

The IncoNet EaP Project has launched two more calls for proposals for twinning projects since it was considered to be an important tool for the preparation of H2020 proposals. During the second call, four projects from Georgia and Belarus were funded in the topics of Health and Energy, respectively. The main purpose of the second call was to offer an active coaching to the selected twinning teams along the duration of their project (contacts, advice, and assistance for preparing the proposal through web-calls). During the third call, among the 10 applications eligible for funding, 3 were related to Energy, 5 were related to Health and 2 were related to Climate Change.

3.3.1.4 Evaluation of the twinning schemeA webinar-based evaluation workshop was held including the coordinators of the funded projects of the first two calls. The twinning scheme was gen-erally accepted to be a very appropriate and useful instrument. Further-more, the twinning grants were described as appropriate not only to start cooperation between individual scientists, but also to strengthen coopera-tion between institutions. It was recommended to have twinning projects assuring a more continuous cooperation, e.g. over a period of two or three years. This would help to put cooperation on a much more sustainable path. Also, this would enable projects to take more partners on board of proposal writing consortia or to better use existing infrastructure. On a strategic level, the twinning grants have been highly successful according to the drawn experience.

3.3.2 Feasibility Study for the Participation of EaP countries in EU Funding Mechanisms (ERANETs)The objective was to facilitate the inclusion of research agencies from EaP Countries in thematic COFUND ERANETs and JPIs, i.e. to participate in joint funding activities with EU MS/AC in specific themes related to the 3 SCs that the project was addressing (Climate Change, Energy and Health).


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To that direction, firstly JPIs and ERANETs were mapped under a) Work Programme 2016-2017, H2020 (forthcoming calls) and b) past Work Pro-grammes which are still open (ongoing ERANETs/JPIs). Thereafter, the identified ERANETs were disseminated to the IncoNet EaP consortium partners who informed accordingly the relevant national authorities (Min-istries and Funding Agencies). This led to a consultation process between the EaP national authorities and the coordinators of ERANETs/JPIs identi-fied by each EaP country. Based on the results of the process, a feasibility study for the participation of EaP countries in ERANETs and JPIs in the 3 SCs was prepared.

3.3.2.1 EnergyThe identified ERANETs/JPIs related to Energy were in total 21 out of 86 ongoing and forthcoming ERANETs/JPIs. In detail, the ongoing ERANETs related to Energy were 10, the New Calls 9 and the JPIs 2. The expression of interest on behalf of the EaP Partners was high; concrete results are yet to come.

3.3.2.2 HealthIn detail, the ongoing ERANETs related to Health were 8, the new calls 9 and the JPIs 6. The expression of interest on behalf of the EaP Partners was high. In particular, Moldova and Ukraine have shown great interest in participating in specific Health-related ERANETs and JPIs. Some limita-tions were mentioned by national authorities and EaP partners regarding the inclusion of research funding agencies in thematic ERANETs and JPIs, especially in Belarus: an awareness campaign may be necessary to ensure the promotion of these programmes and generate interest from research agencies.

3.3.2.3 Climate ChangeThe identified ERANETs/JPIs related to Climate Change were in total 18 out of 89 ongoing and forthcoming ERANETs/JPIs. In detail, the ongoing ERANETs related to Climate were 8, the New Calls 7 and the JPIs 3.

The expression of interest on behalf of the EaP partners was high. In par-ticular, Moldova and Ukraine have shown great interest in participating in specific Climate Change ERANETs and JPIs.

In the framework of this activity, and to facilitate the consultation process between ERANETs and the EaP national authorities, a Workshop for the


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Participation of Non-EU Black Sea and Eastern Partnership Countries in Thematic COFUND ERANETs & JPIs, jointly organised by the IncoNet EaP Project and the H2020 Project “Black-Sea Horizon”, took place on 13-14 October 2016, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Making use of the results of the feasibility study, the workshop functioned both as an information meeting for ERANET/JPI schemes, as well as a networking event between the EU Member States and EaP funding agen-cies in view of increasing the participation of EaP Countries in ongoing or forthcoming co-funding schemes or calls.

Some findings from the Workshop were that the active participation in COFUND ERANETs & Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) constitutes an im-portant element, in particular, for the EaP countries associated to Horizon 2020. In particular, ERANETs are an ideal instrument for EaP participation providing the following assets:

1) Success rate within ERANET calls is much higher than within the nor-mal H2020 Calls where competition has become too high (10-15% success);

2) Co-funding from national authorities does not necessarily need an additional budget: already existent budgets can be re-allocated to co-fund relevant ERANET schemes;

3) In practice, the budget for ERANET COFUNDs returns back to the national researchers participating in the ERANET calls;

4) Participation in ERANET contributes to the improving of administra-tion performance at the national level by adopting good practices and harmonising STI systems within the European Research Area.

3.3.3 Cooperation with Innovation PlatformsThe IncoNet EaP Project aimed to create synergies between stakehold-ers in the EU MS/AC and the EaP countries in the field of innovation with emphasis on the establishment of links and sharing of good practices be-tween European Technology Platforms (ETPs) and relevant entities in EaP countries. The following progress has been achieved within the project:

1) Promotion of the cooperation in EaP with ETPs through the participa-tion of EaP delegates at the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) Conference in Rome which included an information mission to the infrastructures of the ENEA (December 2014);

2) Workshop on the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) for EaP stake-holders in Kiev (February 2015);

3) Representatives from Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC)


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Inno Energy participated in the Policy Stakeholders Conference in addressing Energy (October 2015, Minsk);

4) Representatives from the EU Technological Platforms and KICs (Cli-mate KIC and EIT Health) participated in the Policy Stakeholders Conference on Energy (Minsk-October 2015), Health (Budapest- April 2016).

3.3.4 Grants for the Participation of EaP in Brokerage EventsThe main aim of launching the grant scheme for brokerage events was to attract excellent scientists from the Eastern Partnership countries to participate in selected brokerage events or large scientific events in EU related to the 3 SCs addressed by the project, with a high networking po-tential in order to establish new contacts with European researchers and thus to increase EaP participation in H2020 consortia. As the activity had a high demand, the project decided to extent it with one additional call for grants and two trainings. The number of successful grants related to all the 3 SCs are listed below:

0 5 10 15 20

AM

AZ

BY

GE

MD

UA

Energy Health Climate Change

Figure 4: Grants received by country/ SC

All the grantees found the scheme useful. They appreciated the possibility as they expanded their opportunities for international scientific coopera-tion. The Grant Scheme was recognized as a quite effective tool to facilitate


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the participation of EaP countries in Brokerage Events, as the majority of the participants already cooperate with contacts made during the Broker-age Events, with some of them already preparing H2020 proposals.

3.3.5 Review of support activities for EaP thematic NCPsThe Project had dedicated activities addressed to National Contact Points (NCPs) in order to optimise the planning of the NCPs support. Such activi-ties included a review of support activities of DG R&I to NCPs, awareness campaign on NCP structures and two trainings for NCPs. The IncoNet EaP Project launched an additional activity which was the twinning scheme to support EaP NCPs’ activities. In particular, a twinning activity was imple-mented focusing on recently appointed and less experienced EaP NCPs dealing with energy, climate and health and experienced counterparts from EU MS. The impact of this activity was a) direct contacts with experi-enced EU MS NCPs b) establishing conditions for further informal bilateral interaction c) share best practices and d) networking between EaP NCPs in each SC.

NCPs are considered to be an important tool for STI cooperation, promo-tion and support of activities related to H2020. The number of nominated NCPs per SC can be found in following tables (by December 2016):

Table 6: National Contact Points related to Secure, clean and efficient energy (as they were on December 2016)

Country Local Organisations AM – National Polytechnic University of Armenia

– State Committee of ScienceAZ – Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS)BY – Belarusian Institute of System Analysis and Information Support

of S&T Sphere– Institute of Power of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus

GE – WEG, World Experience for GeorgiaMD – Center of International Projects

– Institute of Power EngineeringUA – Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas

– A. M. Pidgorny Institute for Mechanical Engineering Problems of NASU

– National Mining University


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Table 7: National Contact Points related to Health (as they were on De-cember 2016)

Country Local Organisations AM – Yerevan State Medical UniversityAZ – Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences BY – Grodno State Medical University

– Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Medical Technologies, Informatization, Management and Economics of Health Care

– Gomel State Medical University GE – Tbilisi State Medical UniversityMD – State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “N. Testemitanu”UA – National Scientific Centre for Medical and Biotechnical Research

of NASU– Uzhhorod National University– Sumy State University

Table 8: National Contact Points related to Climate action, resource ef-ficiency and raw materials (as they were on December 2016)

Country Local Organisations AM – National academy of sciences of ArmeniaAZ – Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS)BY – Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sci-

ences of Belarus for Bio-resourcesGE – Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection MD – Center of International ProjectsUA – National Technical University of Ukraine «Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic

Institute»– National Pedagogical Dragomanov University


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4. RECOMMENDATIONS

The IncoNet EaP Project organised three expert group meetings to discuss the main outcomes of the project and provide priorities and recommenda-tions on EU-EaP science, technology & innovation cooperation in Energy (26 April 2016, Athens), Climate Change (18 May 2016, Bonn) and Health (19 May 2016, Bonn). Experts and representatives of the research com-munity (high-level representatives from institutes/research centres/uni-versities) from EU MS/AC and all EaP countries were involved, along with consortium partners. The experts provided recommendations on actions and activities related to the 3 SCs and more specifically in the following thematic fields:

• Potential topics and means of cooperation;

• Promotion of innovation;

• Drivers of cooperation.

The expert group meetings provides recommendations for:

– Potential topics for EU-EaP cooperation in the 3 SCs;

– Means/ drivers of cooperation and innovation aspect for the 3 SCs.

4.1 Potential Topics for EU-EaP Cooperation

4.1.1 Energy As it was discussed during the expert group meeting on energy, the In-coNet EaP has revealed some specific topics of EU-EaP STI cooperation mainly on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources as follows:

Energy efficiency Energy saving

Energy market reform/economy efficiency

Coke/coke manufacture

Clean coal technologies

Oil and gas

Fossil fuels and imports

Quality gas and oil metrology


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Reform of the natural gas sector

Renewable energy sources, energy consumption and energy security

Green technologies

Biomass sectors

Alternative energy of transport

Hydrogen, hydrocarbons

Electro storage devices

Energetic/thermoelectric batteries

Nuclear Energy

Reduction of the consumption of electrical and thermal energy

Environmentally sustainable solutions to strategic energy security

Photovoltaics, wind energy, solar energy

Integration of renewable energies

Other related topics Water management

Hydropower rehabilitation

Turbine systems

Electricity, safety in electricity transmission and distribution

Energy market convergence

Electrodeposition

Nanowires and microelectronics

Microwave energy transfer

The experts discussed in depth the afore-mentioned topics. Main conclu-sions are summarised below;

• The topics are still relevant and have a strong relation with H2020 which provides potential opportunities for EU-EaP cooperation. How-ever, the national priorities of EaP countries are not always in line with EU trends and topics, thus, there is a need for adjustment in order to increase international/regional cooperation;

• In many topics, an interdisciplinary approach is deemed necessary since experts from different backgrounds need to be engaged in or-der to address properly the interdisciplinary nature of the issues;


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• Strategic priorities in research combined with consultation from stakeholders will enable concrete and dedicated actions which will lead to long-lasting cooperation.

• Information tools and funding actions (with long-term perspective) should be envisaged in order to expand and strengthen the EU-EaP STI cooperation;

• Dissemination is necessary at the policy-making level in order to pro-mote and advance the research funding.

4.1.2 Health The Expert Group on Health identified that there is a high demand for co-operation from the EaP countries in the fields of:

– cardio-vascular diseases,

– neuro-degenerative diseases and

– brain research.

Other important health-related challenges are infectious diseases (TB, HIV, emerging diseases), cancer research and diabetes. For all of these challenges, there is a strong societal demand for solutions (treatment), as well as for research that is always application-oriented. Belarus and Ukraine are important case studies: due to the long-term effects of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the exposure to low-level radiation doses need to be further investigated.

In general, it was found that the health-related topics identified by the In-coNet EaP project are still relevant and will remain relevant in the upcom-ing years. It was recommended that, in the future, the topics should be reviewed on a regular basis, and the selection should be made accord-ing to a holistic view that considers both the European and the national agendas and strategies (in terms of RDI, healthcare, industry, etc.), as well as the funding opportunities that are to be made available. Such a holis-tic approach should strive to identify relevant topics for each country in the present, in the long run. On this basis, a matrix with priority areas for funding needs to be established, differentiating between public funding, academia-funding and industry-funding. As a general principle, a good bal-ance between the existing expertise and capacities (the “offer”) and the needs of society and markets (the “demand’’) must always be pursued when taking decisions of this kind.

Relation to Horizon 2020 topicsIt was mentioned during the expert group meeting that a number of priori-


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ties are addressed across and within all the three pillars of Horizon 20206. These include also international cooperation; and fostering the functioning and achievement of the European Research Area and Innovation Union. Some issues are jointly addressed under several societal challenges. Other societal challenges under H2020 also include funding topics in the field of health research. The nanotechnology, advanced materials, biotechnology and advanced manufacturing and processing section of Pillar 2 in Horizon 2020 and SC 2 on ‘Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy’ cov-ers areas related to health and food. The Health Challenge also provides funding to the IMI Joint Technology Initiative.

An overview of the “demand” side for health-related research and its rel-evance to the individual EaP countries –according to the workshop partici-pants– is presented in the table below:

Table 9: Common topics for EaP countries: Health

Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Moldova UkraineCardio-vascular diseases

x x x x x x

Brain research x x x x xNeuro-degenerative diseases

x x x x x

Cancer research x x x xDiabetes x x x x

6. Horizon 2020 is built around three pillars: 1) Support for “Excellent Science” – including grants for individual researchers from the

European Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships (formerly known as Marie Curie fellowships);

2) Support for “Industrial Leadership” – including grants for small and medium-sized enterprises and indirect finance for companies through the European Investment Bank and other financial intermediaries;

3) Support for research to tackle “societal challenges”. During negotiations between the European Parliament and Council it was decided to support research towards meeting seven broad challenges: 1. Health, demographic change and wellbeing2. Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water

research, and the bioeconomy3. Secure, clean and efficient energy4. Smart, green and integrated transport5. Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials6. Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies7. Secure & innovative societies


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Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Georgia Moldova UkraineInfectious diseases (TB, HIV, emerging diseases)

x x x x

Mental health x x xMetabolic syndrome x x xObesity x x xBioinformatics x x xRare diseases, incl. Mediterranean fever

x

Diseases of maternity and newborns/children, adolescents

x x

4.1.3 Climate Change The IncoNet EaP activities revealed some specific topics of EU-EaP STI co-operation on climate change and climate change adaptation as follows:

Climate Change monitoring and risk-assessment Air quality and pollution effects: influence of climate change on ur-

ban air quality, food safety, and strategy for mitigation of pollution effects on human health and ecosystems

Environment: climate Change related environmental degradation; environment and health security, decarbonisation of the economy; moving towards a circular economy; smart cities

Water: water management and monitoring, databases, modeling, water market development, and risk assessment; water saving tech-nologies, water conflicts waterborne hazards

Soil erosion/degradation: assessment of pastures, mountainous ar-eas, forestry management

Technology development: use of GIS technologies and Satellite im-ages for assessment of Climate Change impacts

Geospatial tools and new methodological approaches, e.g. satel-lites, indexes. Earth observation including in situ monitoring

Environment / Climate Change adaptation and mitigation Water management: efficient water use in agriculture and urban re-

gions, water recycling and re-use (due to scarcity), transboundary/


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integrated water management (a policy issue), desertification and water shortage

Agriculture and forestry adaptation: drought resistant forestry, moni-toring, protection and restoration of small rivers

Green urban infrastructure

Climate data: downscaling of global climate data, important to fore-cast data in the future, creation of early warning systems, global geochemical cycles as indicator of climate change

Other topics Interdisciplinarity of Climate Change issues: interlinkage to other

relevant fields should be actively supported (bio-economy, water-en-ergy nexus).

Provision of data and data sharing: need for additional data, data at regional level is not sufficient, need for strong research policy and for capable regional climate modelers, change standards of sharing data to international standards.

At EU level: there is a need for e-infrastructure on data sharing, to connect information between EU and EaP experts. Collaboration be-tween EU countries facing droughts, e.g. Spain, and EaP countries. Different data from case sites to share with EU projects, providing test sites (space data), link of Geoservers (to adapt data)

Regional model: Existing global models are not robust for mitigation and adaptation measures in EaP countries. There is a need for re-gional model running at high resolution (11 km), especially for Cau-casus (European models stop at the east coast of Georgia).

Horizon 2020: List of key topics available in the framework of H2020 to see where expertise of regional EaP experts fit, EaP Institutes could sell missing data to EU projects.

Policy change: translation of H2020 topics and directions into na-tional policies / Implementation in national policies / regulatory framework for Science in the EaP region is needed.

4.2 Means/drivers of cooperation and innovation aspect for the 3 Societal Challenges

Means of cooperationThe IncoNet EaP activities revealed some specific tools aiming to strength-en EU- EaP STI cooperation such as twinnings, conferences, joint research,


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mobility, co-publications, ERANETs, etc. All the three Expert Groups con-cluded that all these tools remain important for future cooperation as they promote a “deeper” cooperation. Moreover, it was observed that all the tools and instruments that are usually put in practice to stimulate and es-tablish cooperation, display advantages and shortcomings. Choosing one over another basically depends on the objectives and the audiences that are targeted, as well as the conditions (funding, timeframe) to put them in place. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. In addition to this, the most important foundation for any kind of lasting and sustainable cooperation is the development of mutual recognition and trust between the parties. This tends to be a long-term and demanding endeavour, but someone could greatly increase the chances of success in any concrete cooperation, by following large, top-down multilateral cooperation programmes or small-scale, specific events and projects.

Means of cooperation which are considered to be very important for networking and initiating future cooperation are brokerage events, con-ferences, meetings, exchange visits, thematic workshops and info days. However, large-scale events should be reconsidered although more oppor-tunities are raised for complementarity; it is recommended to organise small-scale events dedicated to a specific topic and motivate participants to be prepared properly since the support of small networking events has been estimated to be most effective in order to establish cooperative re-search consortia. Twinning and mentoring schemes are the most efficient tools; PhD exchange instruments can be enforced and stimulated as this will increase the collaboration between research teams.

In addition, special attention should be paid to the way a representative presents his/her organisation; his/her message should be attractive and accurate stating the organisation`s expertise/infra-structure. The organi-sation’s profile should provide the necessary elements in detail in order to attract those who are really interested in establishing cooperation.

Some particular comments to that direction were the following:

• COST Actions (which support the STI cooperation) are a very ef-ficient tool for networking/information/training which can lead to long-term cooperation.

• Participation in ERANET type actions is important revealing the real engagement of the target countries. Participation in JPIs and equiva-lent multilateral programmes is meaningful, when there is enough national budget to contribute and a large enough community to par-ticipate.

• Information dissemination concerning topics, institutions and fund-ing should be strengthened (possibly via a specific web-portal).


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• Raising the motivation of individual research has been understood to be vital in order to overcome the hurdle of grant writing. This might be achieved by specific training events.

• The awareness of securing Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) should be enhanced and measures implemented. It should be al-ways made clear that the protection of knowledge is always the first step in proposal writing.

• The expert groups especially stressed that wider involvement is needed from EaP scientists, and young scientists, in particular. Brain-drain should be addressed through program design and more permanent cooperation from EaP countries. Links with leading Eu-ropean research institutes should be promoted together with wider networking. Private companies of EaP region should be more ac-tively engaged in research and innovation.

InnovationThe expert groups agreed on the high importance of innovation and in-novation-related initiatives in EaP countries. Measures like clusters that are intended to support and facilitate innovation and foster cooperation amongst the different stakeholders are to be considered as valuable re-sources. Therefore, such activities were considered important to be en-couraged and supported, although no dedicated reforms on innovation have been made so far on the national level of EaP countries. However, technological parks/incubators, European Technological Platforms (ETPs) and other schemes could have an added value in terms of promoting co-operation.

In addition, some indicative comments are as follows:

• Setting up financial support mechanisms and venture capital schemes are deemed necessary for promoting innovation.

• A best practice example related to innovation is the innovation vouchers scheme.

• Although there is cooperation between technological parks/incuba-tors at national level, this cooperation should be extended between EaP countries at regional level and with EU MS.

• A better exploitation of the services provided by the European Enter-prise Network should be pursued.


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Drivers of cooperationAccording to the experts’ views, the EU-EaP STI cooperation depends on various factors:

• The main drivers of cooperation are the access to knowledge net-works and the access to funding instruments.

• National EaP research programmes could be aligned with EU pro-grammes which will ultimately lead to facilitation of cooperation in research.

• Cooperation with EU could be enhanced by (a) cooperating with oth-er important international specialised organisations (i.e. Group of Earth Observation, Medical Geology, European Association of Earth Sciences, and FAO), (b) supporting full-time NCPs, and (c) aware-ness-raising activities on Climate Change.

• Bilateral cooperation (bilateral agreements, exchange of staff) could also be a driving force to further multilateral cooperation.


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5. CONCLUSIONS

This report provided a thorough evaluation of the outcome of the Coordina-tion and Support activities (CSA) of the IncoNet EaP project, which explic-itly focused on the Societal Challenges (SC) Energy, Climate Change and Health. In addition, this report provides a set of concrete recommenda-tions resulting from expert group meetings on the EU-EaP STI cooperation with a focus on the three SCs.

In particular, this report:

• Evaluated the main results of the implemented CSA activities on each of the three SCs with regard to their outcome and impact;

• Identified topics of particular interest and trends of high relevance in the EU-EaP cooperation;

• Identified major STI players in the EaP countries that are active in the EU-EaP STI Cooperation in the three SCs;

• Provides recommendations for the future EU-EaP STI cooperation with emphasis on research topics of mutual interest, on ways to pro-mote innovation, as well as on potential means and drivers for an enhanced bi-regional EU-EaP research cooperation.

There is a long-lasting STI cooperation between EU and EaP countries, which has been highlighted through the co-publication analysis and the mapping of funded EU-EaP research projects that have been performed by the IncoNet EaP project. However, the participation rates of EaP coun-tries in H2020 remains a challenge that needs to be rapidly addressed, especially when considering that four out of the six EaP countries (namely Moldova, Ukraine and recently Armenia and Georgia) achieved their As-sociation to H2020.

The ‘EaP Panel on Research and Innovation’ established in 2013, chaired by the European Commission and bringing together policy makers from both EU MS and EaP countries’ representatives constitutes a privileged forum for the adoption of all necessary support, mentoring, capacity build-ing and other measures that will consolidate the Association process and will strengthen the EU-EaP STI cooperation in H2020 and beyond.


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STI International Cooperation Network

for Eastern Partnership Countries

Evaluation of Activities with Recommendations for Future Actions



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