INCOBRA - Increasing International Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Brazil and the European Union

With the aim to increase discussions and interactions among Brazilian and European agencies, project INCOBRA (Increasing International Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Brazil and the European Union) organized the 2^nd Scoping Workshop. It took place in São Paulo on March 26^th and 27^th.

According to João Arthur Reis, trainee in Public Policies Management at funding agency FAPEMA (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão), the event was extremely important to strengthen bonds between Brazilian and European ST&I institution. “The way the event was structured made it easier for the participating institutions to dialogue, allowing the identification of points of common interest among the agencies in the search for cooperation opportunities”. João also added that the gathering was essential to start connections with the Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) that were present. “Both with the ones that FAPEMA already had some sort of partnership established and with the ones we had no connection until now”.

For Johannes Riegler, manager of JPI Urban Europe, the 2^nd Scoping Workshop allowed the consortium to have the opportunity to be in contact with Brazilian national and regional funding agencies. “The chosen format allowed good networking and the continuation of discussions that started during the 1^st INCOBRA Scoping Workshop in 2017, in Brussels, and at the same time they provided us with enough space for us to learn and understanding how the co-funding mechanism works, its logics, instruments and collaboration opportunities. In the bilateral meetings, organized in the format of ‘speed dating’, we had the chance to identify bonds and optional cooperation activities”, added Riegler

Funded by European Commission programme Horizon 2020, the INCOBRA consortium aims to identify main obstacles and propose solution to increase cooperation in science, technology and innovation between Brazil and the European Union, as well as to enhance the creation of joint opportunities and/or coordinated calls in several thematic areas of common interest.

During the event, JPIs gathered with representatives of the Brazilian funding agencies to assess issues related to join-funding for projects in science, technology and innovation between Brazil and the European Unions, and the possibility to create collaborative calls in the future. “We already have, for example, adherence to a cooperation call for funding with JPI Water, and establishing dialogue with their representative was crucial for us to identify more future opportunities, such as calls, events and initiatives that might interest us. With JPI Urban Europe, on the other hand, we had our first contact during the 2^nd INCOBRA Scoping Workshop, and we already identified an area of common interest, the research on small and medium cities and their role in regional development”, João stated.

For Johannes, Brazil is by far the country, in terms of population and geographical area, with the highest percentage of people living in urban areas (about 90% of the population, in comparison with 70% in Europe). “The strengthening of bonds and possible cooperation with funding agencies and other actors in Brazil is a big step to achieve our mission to become the platform to create, combine, discuss and make available knowledge and sloid evidence for sustainable urban solutions”.

Segundo Reis, a União Europeia é um dos principais parceiros de cooperação internacional da Fundação, além de outras iniciativas que tem em conjunto com alguns países europeus individualmente, como a França. “Para os pesquisadores maranhenses esses projetos são de grande valia, isso porque frequentemente são projetos de pesquisa, desenvolvimento e inovação que envolvem uma escala temporal e financeira muito grande. Ao envolver diversas agências de fomento à pesquisa, nacionais e internacionais, o volume de recursos dedicados aos projetos são multiplicados, e os esforços são somados”.

João Reis also said that such cooperation actions increase the quality level of research developed in Maranhão, enhance the impact of publications and encourage the creation of stronger connections with researchers from European institutions and from other states in Brazil. “Additionally, these are project with a high social impact, that promote meaningful and lasting outcomes in several fields of knowledge”.

The INCOBRA Scoping Workshop was the first action toward a future collaboration. “The networking capacity of the organizers and the interactive format used in the workshop allowed us to build bridges for future collaboration between Brazil and JPI Urban Europe”, concluded Riegler.

At the workshop, representatives from 5 JPIs were present: “Urban Europe”, “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life”, “More Years, Better Lives”, “Water” and “Ocean”. On the Brazilian side, the event was attended by funding agencies such as FAPEMIG, FAP-DF, FAPEMA, FAPESC, FAPES, FACEP, CNPq and CPqD.

The INCOBRA consortium is composed by seven European and seven Brazilian institutions.

Source: ABIPTI Communication Agency.