About this portal
Discover this portal: take a glimpse at the three focus areas – health, renewable energy, and climate change. Browse the networks and cluster organisations for cooperation to implement the Union for the Mediterranean R&I Roadmaps.
Objectives
The portal offers a one-stop shop for information on research results, best practices, policy papers and other relevant publications, as well as a portfolio of opportunities for R&I collaboration, such as funding opportunities, networks and cluster organisations. The main objective is to foster the exchange and circulation of knowledge and data among R&I stakeholders across the Mediterranean region in the fields of health, renewable energies and climate change.
Climate Change
Following the 25th Meeting of the UfM Platform on Research and Innovation in June 2020, experts proposed three roadmaps to address climate change: Water scarcity, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity. Effectively managing water scarcity is crucial for safeguarding livelihoods and sustaining socioeconomic development. Regional collaboration is paramount to tackle challenges posed by upstream restrictions.
Similarly, mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture requires embracing and advancing R&I. This approach allows for the exploration of resilient farming systems and facilitates the transfer of sustainable agricultural technologies.
Biodiversity is profoundly impacted by climate change and exacerbated by anthropogenic activities such as land use and urbanization. Collective efforts are necessary to raise awareness of these issues, increase the number of protected areas, and restore damaged ecosystems.
Renewable Energies
The effective integration of renewable energies into existing networks and the promotion of equitable access to clean energy are priorities for the Euro Mediterranean region, as well as to minimise environmental impact and to stimulate local economic development.
In rural and isolated areas, the challenge of unreliable energy access is exacerbated by unstable infrastructure. The combination of renewable energies with digitalization presents an opportunity to address these issues. By promoting the modernization of energy systems, particularly through wind farms, biomass, geothermal, and solar hydrogen technologies, local energy production and storage can be enhanced. This approach not only fosters sustainable mobility but also contributes to the overall advancement of the region’s energy infrastructure.
Health
The health landscape in the Euro-Mediterranean region is undergoing rapid changes driven by socioeconomic developments, demographic shifts, and epidemiological transitions. Despite some improvements, numerous challenges persist, and new ones are emerging, primarily induced by the aging of the population, urbanisation, and climate change’s effects.
Significant disparities exist among countries in the region regarding their capacities to manage and recover from health crises. The region faces critical challenges: enhancing the health emergency preparedness of Euro-Mediterranean countries and establishing sustainable, resilient health systems; addressing the needs of vulnerable groups due to gender, age, socioeconomic status, or health conditions.
Networks & clusters
Networks
Networks are defined as collaborative structures of systems where organisations (government agencies, research institutions, industries, etc.) join forces to share knowledge, expertise, resources, and technology to advance innovation and address common challenges. Networks implement several types of activities: Capacity-building, policy recommendations, decision-making processes and knowledge sharing, support to members’ collaboration, international collaboration support, collaboration workshops, matchmaking and networking, access to funding, etc.
Access the database of networks
Clusters
In the EU, cluster organisations are defined as member organisations that bring together actors from the triple helix: Academic/research institutions, industry players including SMEs, R&I support organisations such as accelerators or incubators, and policy support organisations. While many non-EU countries may lack a clear cluster definition, various structures, such as technology parks or similar entities, can function equivalently to clusters in terms of structure or focus of activity.
Cluster organisations serve as strong catalysts, fostering international partnerships and connecting diverse ecosystems.
Roadmaps
The implementation of the UfM R&I Roadmaps is key to ensuring that the agreed R&I priorities come into practice and are developed effectively. It provides orientation on how to generate the desired outcomes in the UfM region, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. At the 25th Meeting of the UfM Platform on R&I, held in June 2020, experts agreed that the UfM Regional Policy Dialogue on R&I should support the implementation of the R&I Roadmaps setting the priority areas (PAs) health, renewable energy and climate change for cooperation.