Saturday, March 15, 2014
Council (Omni Shoreham)
In 1994 Jacques Delors launched the 'Soul for Europe' (SfE) initiative, which was intended to give a value-driven dimension to the EU - a sui generis entity which Delors believed would not succeed on legal expertise and economic know-how alone. Today, in the midst of financial crisis and an increasing emphasis on innovations with easily-marketable deliverables, it is clear that the SfE initiative failed to permeate the policy landscape of the ERA and, perhaps, represents a missed opportunity for researchers, policymakers and citizens alike to question exactly why it is that Europe 'does’ science. A striking neglect of the 'big questions' has, instead, become characteristic of ERA policy, especially when addressing these questions offers no obvious political or economic payoff. This vacuum of values in ERA policy has become all the more pressing in light of the forthcoming 'Horizon 2020' policy focus on tackling the world's 'grand challenges', which not only relies upon first-rate, evidence-based scientific research but also a shared, strategic common vision and acceptance by society at large. In light of this urgent need to reconnect practitioners and policymakers of European research with the citizens they serve, this paper examines the benefits that could be had by belatedly resurrecting Delors’ SfE initiative and implementing it into the specific policy context of the ERA. In particular, it will place a special emphasis on the values that connect the various stakeholder levels in the ERA, and examine how the SfE drive could better target these values to guiding ERA policy.
