Activities

On 28 October 2025, Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Université Lumière Lyon 2 ran a pilot of the bilingual webinar format (French/Italian simultaneous interpretation available) as part of the ENGAGEgreen project. The one-hour online event, titled “Agri-Food Policy: A comparison between France and Italy", featured a dialogue between two experts on national and local agrifood policies.

Prof. Michele Marzulli opened the webinar introducing speakers and organisers and welcoming the attendees.

The first presentation was given by Jacques-Aristide Perrin, researcher at Université Lumière Lyon 2. His talk covered topics ranging from food geography to economics and social aspects. The approach to agri and food policies he presented draws on research experience and highlights not only the opportunities but also the challenges of the green transition. He emphasised that this process is not necessarily linear and that policies must be adapted to the specific characteristics of each territory. Among the other topics addressed were initiatives promoting zero-kilometer agriculture, food education policies for younger generations, the quality of food products, and the importance of preserving the landscape as an essential component of local culture.

His presentation was followed by Marina Montedoro, Director of Coldiretti Veneto, leading organisation of agricultural entrepreneurs in Italy. Her contribution first highlighted Perrin's approach, which effectively brought to light several concerns shared by both Italian and French farmers. She then recalled some key milestones in European policy (such as the 2020 Agenda) and emphasised the role of associations like Coldiretti — to represent interests and act as an intermediary body between public institutions and civil society. She also addressed several pressing issues in the agricultural sector, including the volatility of food prices, the need to insure production against climate-related risks, and the extreme fragmentation of the sector — a feature that translates into a relatively limited capacity of farmers to negotiate with policymakers. However, farmers do not see themselves merely as victims of European policies; they also aspire to play an active role in shaping policy directions and safeguarding citizens' rights, such as the right to healthy food.

The debate then moved on to another key topic for the ENGAGEgreenreen project: the digital transition. As Montedoro pointed out, agriculture today makes extensive use of cutting-edge technologies to enhance production, from satellite imagery to drones.

The discussion closed by addressing an important issue that directly concerns ENGAGEgreen: the difference in timing between academic research (necessarily long-term) and the dynamics of the agri-food economy. Therefore, the challenge for the future is to continue developing projects and initiatives that bridge these two worlds.

On 22 October 2025, Palacký University Olomouc organised a preparatory workshop for students who intend to participate in the Hackathon of the Olomouc Region 2025. The Hackathon is a 3-day event (14 – 16 November) focused on using open data to tackle transportation and climate change in cities. The preparatory workshop  on using sensor data for smart urban planning hosted three guest speakers from the University, a smart city platform CityOne and an architecture studio, Jakub Cigler Architekti. 

Following Martin Dvořák’s lecture on April 7, which focused on practical experiences in developing the Open Data Portal of the City of Brno, this session with the same guest speaker aimed to introduce the regional-level Open Data Portal of the Moravian-Silesian Region. The lecture sought to facilitate cross-regional exchange of experiences by comparing it with the Open Data Portal of the Olomouc Region. However, the focus shifted from technical aspects to data visualization and was tailored to a student audience, with the goal of inspiring participants to develop competencies relevant to public administration and policymaking.

As part of the Mercator Science-Policy Fellowship Programme and the ENGAGEgreen project, Goethe University Frankfurt organised its fourth meeting of colleagues from Rhine-Main universities and non-university scientific institutions in the Rhine-Main area who deal with the topic of transfer in politics and administration. An article on the workshop can be found here. 

The ENGAGEgreen project and the Mercator Science-Policy Fellowship-Programm co-organised the Conference "Unlocking Science-Policy Synergies for Europe's Green and Digital Future".

The programme can be found here.

Partners from the ENGAGEgreen project actively participated alongside Urban Imprint universities in the international conference “Building Bridges: Shaping Europe's Science-for-Policy Landscape", organized by the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) of the European Commission, held on 26 and 27 May at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.

During the second day, a parallel session titled “Bridging the gap: universities and municipalities co-producing solutions for urban transformation" was coordinated by the University of Granada (UGR), focusing on innovative co-creation between universities and local governments to tackle major urban challenges across Europe such as socioeconomic development, depopulation, digital transformation and climate change.

The session featured contributions from several partners, including representatives from the ENGAGEgreen consortium — the University of Ca' Foscari Venice, the University of Olomouc and the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia — alongside members from the Urban Imprint project, such as the University of Aveiro, the University of Graz and the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris-La Villette.

This event exemplified both the science-policy dialogue, which is the fundamental pillar of ENGAGEgreen, and the strong collaboration between these two Erasmus+ projects, under the coordination of the UGR. This ended up positioning these consortia as key contributors to social innovation and territorial transformation at the European level.

ENGAGEgreen's participation alongside Urban Imprint universities strengthens the network of institutions committed to co-producing knowledge and solutions that respond effectively to Europe's urban challenges. The engagement at this high-level forum consolidates their role as pivotal actors in the science-policy dialogue and as drivers of academic-based solutions to urgent societal issues.

For more information about the event and its program, visit: https://scientificadvice.eu/conference/programme/

The ENGAGEgreen Policy Engagement Toolkit was presented on 20 May during the RMA Power Week, a 5-day intensive workshop for project managers at Palacký University Olomouc. As part of the programme, a lecture titled Public Administration as a Project Partner: Communication Methods explored topics such as effective communication for building collaborations, common challenges, examples of good and bad practices, and recommendations for various forms of cooperation.

Further in formation on the RMA Power Week can be found here:

• https://www.euvip-project.com/podrobnosti-o-ud-losti-a-registrace/rma-power-week
• https://go.ff.upol.cz/workshop/ 

Tome Sandevski organised a webinar for science managers and knowledge exchange officers for the FORTRAMA network on 16 May 2025. The webinar presented key lessons learned from the ENGAGEgreen project and the Mercator Science-Policy Fellowship-Programme. Regarding policy engagement researchers are often only familiar with time-consuming formats such as commissioned research or participation in expert bodies. Research managers and and knowledge exchange officers can support the policy engagement of scientists by informing researchers about the range of possible (time-efficient) knowledge exchange formats and/or supporting them in planning and implementing various knowledge exchange formats. The webinar provided an overview of written (e.g., policy briefs, contract research/longer studies) and dialogue-oriented transfer formats (e.g., workshop formats, visits to research institutions, expert discussions) as well as an overview on how to integrate them into the everyday work of research managers and researchers.

How to translate research funding into policy? This is the question that the EngageGreen Erasmus+ project moves on.  And this is the purpose of WP3 and WP4: to try to translate the experiences gathered during the project into concrete tools and strategies to have a real impact.

The Ca' Foscari University of Venice seminar entitled "From research to policy engagement" was dedicated to these goals. The audience is mixed: university staff (such as research office staff), young researchers (on stage or PhD students), professors and other people interested in the topics.

On April 7, a discussion on sharing experiences in building an open data portal was held at Palacký University Olomouc. The event welcomed an external guest — Mgr. Martin Dvořák, who, as the head of the Open Data Department at the Brno City Hall, was involved in developing the city's open data portal. Following his presentation on practical experiences, the discussion focused on data-related, technical, and organisational aspects, as well as potential future developments, including possible collaboration between policymakers from Brno and Olomouc.

• The presentation by Juliane Schlierkamp is available here in German.
• The event recording in German can be found here.

The 3rd mentoring lecture for policymakers on Specifics of the Olomouc Region and International Experiences in Knowledge Transfer between Municipalities, Universities, and Companies was delivered by experts from the Science and Technology Park of Palacký University Olomouc.

This lecture shed light on how effective collaboration between the academic and public sectors can enhance the region's innovation potential. We focused on areas of specialisation, the region's socio-economic conditions, the integration of the cultural and creative industries, and their impact on municipalities (with examples from Olomouc and Šumperk). In the second part of the lecture, we compared foreign models (Netherlands, Scandinavia, Greece, Slovenia) with the Olomouc Region and discussed the role of the UP Science and Technology Park. This was followed by a discussion on adapting international experiences to local conditions, addressing key obstacles such as legislation, funding, or differing priorities among stakeholders.

The intensive seminar “MOTIF on Public Policy Design" was held at the Université Lumière Lyon 2 as part of the ENGAGE green project. It took the form of a week-long hackathon on the theme of food with the following challenge: 'Combating food insecurity among young people', in collaboration with the City of Lyon and the Boutique des Sciences. 

Supervised by Simon Gadras, lecturer and researcher, the aim was to develop innovative proposals in response to this issue, as requested by Lyon's municipal authorities, while using the collaborative approaches of Public Policy Design. The proposals were presented to the city's decision-makers on 17 January.

Further information can be found here.

Ca' Foscari Challenge School, together with the Governance & Social Innovation Centre of the Ca' Foscari University Foundation and the Department of Economics (through the Erasmus+ funded project ENAGEgreen) organised a three-day workshop aimed at students, Public Administration and Third Sector operators, local administrators and citizens.

With the intention also to also make the activities related to the Ca' Foscari Masters in "Public Administration" and in "Governance, Innovation and Welfare Management" better known , the course included talks on some of the hottest topics for our territories. The course included dialogues between the Directors of the Masters, public policy and welfare experts and the discussion of concrete experiences.

On October 22, Palacký University Olomouc (UP) organised the first in a series of mentoring lectures for policymakers. The lecture was delivered by Jakub Havlín and Petr Kubečka, a project manager and the director of the Science and Technology Park (VTP), a center for innovation and technology transfer at Palacký University Olomouc. VTP provides support to university students and employees, for example by assisting with the licensing of technologies developed by UP researchers and the commercialisation of products created by UP teams. However, VTP also serves as a point of contact for policymakers at local and regional levels who wish to exploit research results or seek university partnerships to enhance business development in the region. This first mentoring lecture provided policymakers with an overview of VTP’s activities and services and guided them through the potential cooperation process.

1. NTL-CUP: Smart parking app
2. DataQ: Armed attacker detection system 
3. Střelci: Safest route home app

Best Business: TRIX (Olomouc Tourism chatbot)

The Town Hall of the 7th arrondissement, in collaboration with the Science Boutique of the Université Lumière Lyon 2, embarked on a process of analysis and understanding of the dynamics at work in the Gerland district in order to propose appropriate public policies. 

It was in this context that the Boutique des Sciences introduced an internship programme, with the aim of gathering data and adding insight into the profiles of the arrondissement's new residents as part of the participatory approach.

The results of the study were now presented in front of the 15 members of the selected town council. The observations highlighted trends and areas for reflection to help adapt public policies. The lessons learned from the study will enable the local authority to refine its vision of the district's social and urban dynamics and adopt public policies that are better matched to local realities.

Further information can be found here.

The first local authority-researchers workshop on the subject of bedbugs was held at the Gerland bio-district on 8 October. The issue has been raised as part of local health contracts, given the proliferation of bedbugs in France in the autumn of 2023. The Université Lumière Lyon 2, as part of the ENGAGE green project, took part, with the presence of a researcher from the POPS research laboratory and the team from the Sciences and Society Department.

This afternoon was an opportunity to strengthen the links between politics and research and to discuss the social and political issues surrounding the proliferation of bedbugs.

While bedbugs are not in themselves a public health problem - for example, they do not transmit disease - they do have an impact on the well-being and mental health of residents, and on quality of life in general.

Further information can be found here.

46 researchers from the Rhine-Main-Universities Darmstadt, Frankfurt, and Mainz visited 16 policymaking institutions in the regional capital of the states of Hessen and Rhineland-Palatinate in September and October 2024. The researchers had 78 meetings with 101 policymaking professionals in Mainz and Wiesbaden. The meetings took place as 1:1 meetings or meetings in small groups. The meetings covered a wide range of topics, including environmental threats of chemicals, mobility, digitalisation in schools, communicating environmental issues, the potential of AI for public administration, and many other policy issues.

On 26 September, the Boutique des Science project on the theme of ecological practices was presented in the presence of François Genouvrier, 1st Deputy for Ecological Transition, Heritage and Public Lighting at the City of Lyon and the Université Lumière Lyon 2, as part of the ENGAGE green project represented by the teams from the Sciences and Society Department and the researcher supervising the project. 

The workshops held during the event highlighted to the local authorities the wide range of views on ecology, as well as the diversity and federative dimension of the local initiatives already implemented by the residents.

More information can be found here.

Beta Technological Center (Vic University) and Granada University collaborated in the organisation of a webinar within the Erasmus+ project ENGAGEgreen, with a science-policy methodology, facing drought on the Iberian Peninsula area from a global approach.

In the online dialogue we sought the confluence between natural and social sciences, but also between territories and actors. We hope to have contributed to strengthening the link between politics and academia in the search for sustainable solutions to global change and the ecological and digital transition.

In the webinar we had six speakers, researchers from different areas and universities and political representatives from Madrid and Andalusia region. About 50 people registered for the online session and we opened a space for interventions to the public at the end of the event.

On 27 June, the members of the Palacký University (UP) Pairing Scheme discussed the implementation strategy of a single data repository at the participating institutions (Olomouc region, Statutory city of Olomouc, UP). After initial presentations on the state of the art at the individual institutions, the group debated what data to use (administrative data, research data, etc.) and for what purpose (storage, archiving, sharing), as well as how to build, manage, and fund the repository in line with national law requirements. 

The UP team also introduced a new project, EnCLOD (funded by Interreg Central Europe), which plans to effectively use open data for spatial management and city and regional planning, setting up a sensor network focusing on transport and urban heat islands.

On June 26th, within the framework of the Erasmus+ project ENGAGEgreen, the project team of Ca' Foscari University of Venice organized the workshop “Build and enhance the academic approach to public engagement". The roundtable gathered experiences of public engagement from one of the project partners University of Granada (Spain), as well as centers affiliated to Ca' Foscari.

The in-person workshop was followed by an online session titled “Engaging Green Policy Decision Making" open to the public and project partners.

For a detailed report on the event, please use this link.

On 20 May, Palacký University organized the second part of ArcGIS training for policymakers. The session focused on publishing and presenting data using Esri Dashboards, a tool for creating dynamic and interactive dashboards that visualize spatial data. These dashboards integrate maps, charts, gauges, and other visual elements to present a comprehensive and real-time view of data in an easy-to-read format. They are commonly used in urban planning, public health, and transportation, making them highly relevant for public administration services. The presentation was followed by several hands-on exercises to ensure an individualized learning experience for all the participants.

In cooperation with Rhineland-Palatinate state institutions, the Rhine-Main universities were able to start a new dialogue: In April 43 researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz visited nine ministries, the state chancellery and the state parliament administration in Mainz and conducted a total of 90 face-to-face meetings with about 80 policymaking officials. The topics of discussion ranged from digitalisation and artificial intelligence to energy, climate and the environment, education, social cohesion and innovation in the economy. We received the evaluation results today: Both policymakers and researchers rated the format as very beneficial. We are particularly pleased that literally all respondents stated that they would participate in the format again in the future. It is also interesting to note that almost 60 per cent of respondents from state institutions told us that they had had little or no contact with researchers before taking participating in the format. Thus, there is a great potential for science-policy dialogue. The pilot project was a success and we are looking forward to the next round of the Rhine-Main Science Dialogue in September 2024!

Picture: Lunch at the State Chancellery on 25 April, 2024, with researchers and policy professionals

The University of Granada, through MediaLab UGR, in collaboration with the Erasmus Plus EngageGreen project, is pleased to announce the organisation of the seminar "Science and Society: the case of French research policy" presented by Florence Belaën. 

Wednesday, 24 April 2024, from 9 to 11 AM, hybrid event:

• In-person: at the V Centenario building of the University of Granada, in the Impronta Space of MediaLab UGR.
• Virtual: https://meet.google.com/vrz-qush-yji through the platform yosigo.ugr.es.

The online broadcast will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube on the MediaLab UGR channels at the University of Granada. 

The seminar will be presented by Florence Belaën, a prominent professional at the intersection of science, culture, and society, from Université Lumière Lyon 2. The session will focus on the connection between science and society, referencing the evolution of research policy in France, especially how these policies are promoting a more effective integration of science with the needs and expectations of society. This topic is particularly relevant at a time when trust in academic knowledge faces significant challenges and the need for a fruitful dialogue between science and society has never been more critical.

This seminar is an exceptional opportunity for academics, students, and professionals interested in the social impact of science and technology. For more information and registration, please visit the MediaLab UGR website.

KEY TECHNOLOGIES FOR OUR FUTURE

With the 2023 revision of the European Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan, the European Commission has identified the financial, political and societal challenges that need to be addressed in order to promote the development and establishment of key technologies for the Green transition. The promotion of new technologies is a cross-cutting task for EU institutions, national governments, businesses and science alike. 

The event brings together researchers from the technical, economic and social sciences with representatives of the European Commission to discuss technical innovations for green transition and the political and financial frameworks for the developement and application of key technologies.

On 28 February, the Pairing Scheme at Palacký University Olomouc was officially launched with a discussion on the process of 'opening' the data and its internal issues, specifics, risks, and expectations both within the university and among the public institutions involved in the project. The overall aim of the discussion was to understand the current practices regarding the acquisition and processing of different types of data, share experiences, and set common mid-term goals. The discussion was opened by presentations from UP, Olomouc Region, and Statutory City of Olomouc, followed by a brainstorming session. 

The workshop provided a platform for reflecting on various aspects of sustainability issues and exploring innovative tools that facilitate the analysis of their complexity. The objective was to tackle challenges arising from the economy and society while assessing the potential contributions that new tools can offer.
The event was divided into two parts. In the morning, there were contributions from the economic and institutional sectors related to the local area. In the afternoon followed the presentation of scientific contributions.

Further information can be found in the programme and on the website.

The BETA Technological Center of UVIC-UCC was invited to present our Pairing Scheme - the "SIMIL Programme" - during the online final event of the project ECOPAP. This project, managed by the CREDA research center is focused on promoting solutions that help to face the challenge of managing plastic waste from the agri-food sector. In this online event BETA presented the methodology of the Pairing Scheme and results of the 2023 edition on the topic of municipal organic waste management, but also introduced the upcoming ENGAGEgreen Pairing Schemes  on new topics in 2024 and 2025.