The concluding plenary session will follow three days of discussions among conference delegates on how EU support for research and development can best enable global scientific collaboration and strengthen the response to global challenges.
The concluding plenary will provide the opportunity for conference participants to return to the point of departure that was set out in the opening plenary and allow participants to report back on their discussions. Rapporteurs from various conference sessions will elaborate on the issues that have arisen for further consideration and action going forward. This will be with a particular view to reframing of challenges as opportunities – for example by stimulating the cross-fertilization of ideas across scientific disciplines and encouraging bottom up collaboration. The plenary will also serve to provide a clear idea of the process to follow the conference – “who will do what” – and thereby mark the conference as the beginning of a process rather than a one off event.
Key components of the plenary agenda will include:
• The conference providing the potential basis for a Council Conclusion at the European Union Competitiveness Council
• Elaboration of how Horizon 2020 and actions outside its framework can relate to a 50 year roadmap for research and development
