REFERENCE OF THE CONTRACT: 222800
EC CONTRIBUTION: EUR 496 380
STARTING DATE: 01.12.2008
DURATION: 36 months

COORDINATOR
Name: Dr Gunnar Sandberg
Phone: +46 84 73 00 00
Email: vinnova@vinnova.se

List of partners
Swedish Governmental Agency For Innovation Systems (VINNOVA, Sweden) Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea (APRE, Italy) Foundation of Research & Technology Hellas (FORTH, Hellas) University of Central Lancashire/Centre for Professional Ethics (UCLAN/CPE, United Kingdom) China Science and Technology Exchange Centre/China- European Union Science and Technology Cooperation Promotion Office (CSTEC/CECO, China)

Background and objectives
The economic growth in China has resulted in a wide range of social and economic reforms. The key objective of the European Union’s (EU) policy towards China is to support the continued reform and transition process. BILAT SILK will follow this policy.

Overall strategy
The BILAT SILK project will organise broad dissemination activities and campaigns like info days, publications, and electronic newsletters in order to raise awareness of a broad audience on the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and related programmes in Europe and China.

The goal is to clearly highlight the value of research collaboration with European teams and to demonstrate the financial incentives. Special focus will be put on research areas high in the EU-China strategic agenda such as biodiversity and climate change. Focus will also be put on connecting strong research regions between China and Europe. The optimal use of the project results will be ensured through promotion and dissemination and supporting of the process of other objectives.

The project will help European and Chinese scientists have quick access to the latest information needed thus contributing to the realization of a higher degree of collaboration. The project will identify six mutual research areas of interest between the EU and China, with the ultimate aim of better strengthening – and benefit from Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation. The foreseen activities aim to elaborate a detailed mapping of joint research themes between EU and China and to enhance the S&T cooperation in specific areas of research. In order to strengthen the S&T cooperation in the six selected research themes, workshops and international forums will be organised in Europe and China. These events will be aimed at main actors in Europe and China in the field of research, in particular Chinese and European rsearchers/research organisations and politicians, including delegates of the European Commission (EC). In fact, the final aim of this work is the identification of joint research topics to be submitted to the EC for future Work Programmes.

Partner search activities will be further enhanced in order to streamline the scientific cooperation in the selected themes and topics of interests.

Implementation and dissemination activities
BILAT SILK will focus on organising broad dissemination and awareness raising campaigns, identify mutual research areas and strengthen the S&T cooperation with workshops and international Forums. The activities foreseen aim at elaborating a detailed mapping of joint research themes between EU and China and enhancing the cooperation. The project will review and evaluate the state of the art of methodologies and practices used in current European and Chinese Technology Assessment (TA) as S&T policy advisory, to identify common themes and practices and provide a comprehensive list of TA organisations in regions with similar activities and potential for collaboration. Furthermore, the work will establish a concrete plan of collaboration in S&T policy advisory resulting from the comparative evaluation of methods and impact in TA and based on the particular context and policy structures of regions.

The project will also take actions to raise the capacities of Chinese National Contact Points (NCP). This had already been the objective in a former EU project ‘Starter’, but there are still areas to be improved. The project will establish and reinforce the information services by setting up regional contact points to form a liaison/promotion structure for FP7 in China.

Expected impact
The relationship between China and the European Union has been growing progressively for more than a decade now, and has matured into a veritable partnership. Both sides have identified scientific research and development as a key driver of economic success and sustainability and the proposed project was born in the context of this deepening partnership as a way to foster closer research collaboration.

Some of the principle objectives of the proposed actions are to display and demonstrate the importance of China-Europe science and technology cooperation, as well as to raise Chinese and European scientific profiles on either side. In addition, the project will support the aim of China and the EU to open their research programmes for greater collaboration.

The main focus will be on Europe’s new Research Framework Programme (FP7) for funding scientific research and China’s 11th ‘Five-year Plan’ stressing a scientific approach to development. Along with focusing on policy in relation to R&D, initiatives on both sides will be highlighted to showcase infrastructures, research institutions, universities and enterprises involved in research and development.