The Dioscuri Programme aims to strengthen international standards of scientific excellence in Central and Eastern Europe and to support the on-going scientific transformation processes in the EU-13 countries. The person-centered programme was initiated by the Max Planck Society (MPS) and is jointly managed MPS and the National Science Centre Poland (NCN).
The COP21 Paris Agreement recognises the role of cities and calls on them to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. The EU is committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Sustainable Development Goal 11 ("Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable"). Many forward-looking cities have set themselves climate goals whose achievement rests on wide scale roll out of highly integrated and highly efficient energy systems.
The transition to a circular economy entails a systemic transformation of entire value chains, covering design, production and consumption phases, so that the value of products, materials and resources can be maintained in the economy for as long as possible, while reducing environmental impact. It also aims at increasing material productivity, including de-materialisation, and exploring new representations and practices of property for individuals and collectives. Such a deep transformation is unlikely to happen suddenly and would rather follow some transition processes and pathways.
Forest fires are a major hazard in Mediterranean Europe and increasingly so in Central, Eastern and Northern European countries. There is a limit in our capacity to deter fires, particularly mega-fires when conditions are most severe. This is the result of unbalanced management strategies and policies that can be effective in fire suppression under normal weather conditions but are insufficient to deal with extreme events such as mega-fires. Areas at risk from forest fires are projected to increase by 200% in Europe by the end of the 21st century, in particular due to climate change.
Emissions of pollutants in air are a major concern worldwide, due to its direct consequence on human health, as well as its additional impacts on climate. In the EU, air pollution is estimated to cause 400 000 premature deaths per year, with cities producing more than 70% of greenhouse gases world-wide. Urban citizens, due to the concentration of population and sources of pollution in densely populated areas, are particularly vulnerable. Actions aimed at air quality improvement contribute, in many cases, also to reduction of GHG and other airborne pollutants emissions.
Global warming and the need for CO2 reduction drives a search for new lower carbon ways of moving: old modes of transportation seem no longer sustainable in the long term. When thinking about the future of mobility, changes in mobility are usually addressed in terms of technology.
Europe's urban areas are struggling to develop themselves into well-connected multimodal and multi-usage nodes for smart and clean mobility. Multiple trends affect urban and inter-urban areas: urban growth, densification, digitalisation, increasing pressure from freight movements and a shift to a service-oriented economy. Moreover, many European cities and regions areas are committed to develop into zero-emission areas.
Innovative solutions in the fields of connected and automated transport, shared mobility, inter-modality, etc. are being deployed or tested for wide-scale implementation, re-shaping mobility and affecting the operation and business models of the transport sector. These changes result in the emergence of new stakeholders and services, new types of data (in particular ‘Big Data’), new risks and socio-economic impacts.
The EU remains a staunch supporter of the multilateral trading system. In spite of its successes, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is now facing new challenges in light of a rapidly changing world. The WTO can be further modernised, by making its trade agenda closer to citizens and ensuring that trade contributes to the pursuit of broader objectives set by the global community, in particular with regard to sustainability[1].
African and European agriculture share the common challenge of moving towards more sustainable ways of agricultural production. Both regions aim to ensure food production and reduce the environmental impact of agricultural activities in the face of climate change, more unpredictable water supply and increased degradation of (land) resources. Systems approaches are needed to optimise agricultural productivity as well as the delivery of ecosystem services.