REINFORCING aims to become the ORRI central point of knowledge and expertise that supports territories and institutions in fostering Fair Transitions governance by aligning with societal values, needs and expectations.
REINFORCING proposes a novel approach to the development of a One-Stop Source of expertise and services on ORRI that will efficiently support institutional and territorial changes through:
A demand-driven strategy, involving a vast community of both experienced actors (i.e. project partners, advisory board members, grantee frontrunners and past and ongoing ORRI projects) as well as territories and institutions that are still at early stages of opening up to society. The REINFORCING community will take an inclusive approach to addressing gaps emerging from the observation of over 10 years of FP7 and H2020 funding programmes, such as the scarce involvement of the private sector and Balkans territories. The community will both benefit from REINFORCING services and expertise, and actively contribute to their identification and co-design.
A cooperative approach that capitalizes on existing experiences, tools, resources and joint forces with other ongoing projects for topic-specific expertise. ORRI is facing a shift from dedicated funding programmes (such as SwafS) to mainstreaming into R&I processes to address current climate and health challenges (e.g. EU Missions). Rather than reinventing the wheel, REINFORCING will build on the current ORRI knowledge base and inspiring examples, through a wide network of collaborations and reflexivity and adaptation of partners’ expertise.
A sustainable long-term vision to guarantee ORRI uptake in future products and services beyond the duration of the project. H2020 projects have shown that ORRI initiatives are often strongly dependent on EU funding and territorial support is still limited. REINFORCING will provide such territories and their stakeholders with long-awaited tools to assess the benefits of ORRI practices, as well as their costs and necessary skills. This will strengthen Europe’s know-how on ORRI within quadruple-helix institutions (academia, policy makers, industries and civil society), empowering territories beyond the project duration. A carefully planned and socially just business plan will ensure that the REINFORCING One-Stop Source keeps supporting territories in the long term.
Funded under HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01 (GA.101094435).