Inspired by the Apollo 11 mission to put a man on the moon, the European R&I missions aim to deliver solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our world, such as cancer, climate change, healthy oceans, climate-neutral cities and healthy soil and food. At the occasion of the Informal Council for Research Ministers in Helsinki, Finland, Commissioner Moedas announced the appointment of five prominent experts to chair the mission boards, which will propose targets and timelines to design the specific missions.
Read more about the newly launched work on research and innovation missions
Mission Board Chairs
The Commission is establishing five ‘mission boards’. Their first deliverable will be to propose concrete targets and timelines for each mission by the end of 2019:
1. Ms Connie Hedegaard, former European Commissioner for Climate Action, for the mission on ‘Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation’
2. Professor Harald zur Hausen, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, for the mission on ‘Cancer’
3. Mr Pascal Lamy, former Trade Commissioner and Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, for the mission on ‘Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters’
4. Professor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, former Mayor of Warsaw, for the mission on ‘Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities’
5. Mr Cees Veerman, former Dutch Agriculture Minister, for the mission on ‘Soil Health and Food’.
Read more about the Mission Board Chairs
New Report: Governing Missions in the European Union
Also, Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Special Advisor for Mission Driven Science and Innovation to Commissioner Moedas, presented a new report: Governing Missions in the European Union’, which sets out what it takes to make missions a success.
In her new report, Professor Mariana Mazzucato, presents the three essential elements to deliver impactful missions in the European Union:
- How to engage citizens in missions
- How to ensure that public organisations are optimally equipped to implement missions
- How to optimise finance and funding for missions.
Read the Governing Missions in the European Union Report by Professor Mariana Mazzucato
