28^th – 29^th  September 2022

This year’s European Research and Innovation Days gave participants the opportunity to discuss how EU research and innovation can help build the world we want to live in.

Young researchers and innovators brought out-of-the-box ideas to tackle big challenges, such as climate change, plastic pollution, and food security. Most valuable, however, were the richness of discussions in the programme panels, networking possibilities, opportunities to interact with committee staff in the so-called village, and first-hand experience of research innovation projects in the exhibitions; both the village and exhibitions were virtually platforms.

In July, the European Commission adopted a New European Innovation Agenda that aims to put Europe at the forefront of a new wave of high-tech innovation and start-ups, helping Europe meet societal challenges. Building on significant work that has been already done to foster innovation in the EU, this new agenda aims to accelerate development and scaling up of innovations through a coherent set of actions. For now, working closely with the Member States, the focus has shifted to implementation of 25 dedicated actions including funding for scale-ups, provision of space and public procurement, and fostering and retaining talent. Significantly, this new agenda recognises new innovations developed by startups and students as well as more traditional innovators in research.

European Research and Innovation Days is the European Commission’s annual flagship online Research and Innovation event, bringing together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs and the public to debate. The fourth annual event brought together more than 13500 people from more than 100 countries.