An international meeting on “Mutual Learning Exercise on EU Missions Implementation at National Level” took place in Prague on 23-24 November 2023.
Together with 17 other EU Member States, the Czech Republic participates in a series of four international workshops supported by Horizon Europe Policy Support Facility on the themes of setting up national mission management structures, mission portfolios, ensuring funding, creating synergies and engaging citizens in missions. The implementation of EU missions under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme for Research and Innovation requires new forms of governance and cooperation, new approaches to citizen engagement and substantial investment from both the private and public sectors.
The event was organised by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Technical Agency of the Czech Republic, but involved also representatives of many other Czech organisations (Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Regional Development, Technology Centre Prague, JAIP, CZELO, BIOEAST HUB CZ, Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic), foreign institutions (Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Ministry of Education, Science and Research Austria, Flemish Regional Office for Economy, Science and Innovation, French Ministry of Research and Higher Education, German Project Management Agency DLR, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Greek Secretariat-General for Research and Innovation, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Lithuania, Science and Technology Council of Malta, Portuguese National Innovation Agency, Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation and Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova), universities (University College London, University of Manchester, Lund University, Technical University Delft) as well as transnational organisations (OECD, European Commission – Directorate-General (DG) for Research and Innovation, JRC – Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) etc.
During the first day of the meeting, participants gave theoretical presentations on the theory of change, mission portfolio and their management. The European Commission considers the mission portfolio as a set of activities leading to the achievement of the mission’s objectives. An introductory presentation on the Understanding of the Mission Portfolios was given by Emily Wise from Lund University. Contributions covering practical examples in this area followed. They included a presentation by Tomáš Holinka, Head of Strategy Unit S3 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. In his presentation 'S3 Missions: reflection on current developments’, he first explained the priorities of the Czech national RIS3 strategy. He then outlined the different stages of the development of S3 missions in relation to their portfolios and gave examples of operational, national and sectoral programmes supporting S3 missions.
Other presenting participants were Jana Čejková from the Prague Technology Centre, Marie Kubáňková and Jan Nedělník from BIOEASTHUB CZ, Blanka Dvořáková from the National Network of Health Cities of the Czech Republic, Věra-Karin Brázová from the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic and others.
At the end of the first day of the workshop, participants visited the Czech Agricultural University in Prague to learn about several recent research activities and projects in the area of water and wood constructions.
During the second and the last day of this international meeting, participants in several working groups proposed different stages of the mission portfolio process. They further shared and discussed their experience with the use of possible approaches in the planning of individual missions. Participants suggested a prototype of an ideal portfolio, in several cases based on the example of their own national mission.
The process of sharing international experience will continue at the next meeting on Funding and Synergies in Stockholm, Sweden, on 25-26 January 2024.
