The Forward General Assembly

On September 23rd and 24th, all 24 members of the Forward’s Consortium were gathered to discuss the progress of the project.

This meeting was introduced by GOBCAN ACIISI ‘s Director and the project coordinator.

There were also some opening words from the EC Project Officer. M. Joao Albuquerque, who invited us to a more fruitful participation by suggesting to answer widening calls in Horizon Europe program because ORs are fully eligible. He also stressed that ERA chairs are also an opportunity for our territories.

After this opening session, each Work Package leader presented an update report on general achievements, challenges and deviations, pending tasks and next steps of the final year/phase of FORWARD.

Within the work package 2 “Research and Innovation diagnostic of ORs ecosystem led by Nexa at La Reunion, the main challenge is to elaborate one OR support model by identifying activities to be mutualized.

This integrated approach enables to reinforce ORs’ networks and the implication of political actors at local and national levels. We need to rely on an expert team. Based on Thematic Working Groups (TWG) management, the WP3 leader expressed the importance to create consortia by face to face meetings as virtual ones have their limitation. The same motivation of volunteer members must be maintained for the sustainability of the thematic groups. In the future, they could split into two sub-groups: networks and alignment on R&I strategy.

For Work package 4 and 5, the EC project officer congratulated the work done and encouraged collaboration through fellowships to create ORs ecosystems and develop contacts. The main challenges for these two work packages is the covid-19 with the mobility restrictions.

We have to adapt to local, virtual trainings or capacity actions regarding abroad fellowships. The action plan for mobilities within WP5 is expected by October 2021.

Within the Workpackage 6, a survey on recommendations for future EU research policies has been carried out by the WP6 leader. From this, ARDITI, WP6 leader could gather very interesting answers from 18 partners. ARDITI is working on this feedback at the moment.