In today’s Morning Brief:

Commission launches new tool to digitalize work-based learning and boost educators digital competences

SELFIE for Work-Based Learning will help vocational education and training (VET) schools, as well as companies offering apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning to improve the digitalisation of their training programmes, raising the digital skills of learners. SELFIEforTEACHERS gives educators a snapshot of their digital capabilities and suggests way to forward them.

Calls for Excellence Hubs opened yesterday

On the 3^rd November a call of strategic interest for INESC opened: Excellence Hubs (HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ACCESS-04).

Excellence hubs are an initiative to strengthen regional innovation excellence in placed based innovation ecosystems by cross-border collaboration on a common strategy and/or alongside value adding chains. Place based innovation ecosystems are interconnected companies, research institutions, governmental bodies and societal actors that are mutually reinforcing each other in a territorial context and together raise the level of innovation excellence in their regional fabric.

Deadline is the 15^th March of 2022.

See also the calls for ERA Chairs (same deadline, 15/03) and for Twinning actions (deadline 18/01).

COP26: US lays out its plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050

World leaders took the floor in Glasgow to call for urgent action and set out their national plans to reign in carbon emissions.

US president Joe Biden told fellow world leaders that current soaring energy prices, which last month led to electricity shortages in industrial regions of China, were a reason “to double down on clean energy deployment” so that countries were not “overly reliant on one source of power”.

Biden also unveiled the US plan to achieve economy-wide net zero emissions “by no later than 2050”.

Unsurprisingly, the strategy says the US will have to deploy a spectrum of new technologies to hit the target: renewable energy sources; sustainable fuels like hydrogen and biofuels; and energy saving technologies.

But it also repeatedly mentions nuclear power as part of a green energy mix.

Before Biden spoke, the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, rebuked rich countries for relying on undeveloped technologies to get to net zero. “These commitments made by some are based on technologies yet to be developed. And this is at best reckless, and at worse dangerous,” she said.

If you want to read more about the world’s leader’s race towards net zero click here.

EIT supports the New European Bauhaus with €5 million

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched the ‘EIT Community Booster – Scaling New European Bauhaus Ventures’ in order to support the New European Bauhaus initiative. This first call will support 20 innovative companies with a budget of up to €50,000 each to accelerate solutions integrating sustainability (from climate goals, to circularity, zero pollution, and biodiversity), aesthetics (quality of experience and style, beyond functionality) and inclusion (including diversity first, securing accessibility and affordability).

Commission, Ukraine, Turkey and Republic of Moldova working closer in research, innovation and education

At the EU-Ukraine Summit, the leaders of the European Union and its Member States, finalised the association of Ukraine to Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme (2021-2027), and the Euratom Research and Training Programme (2021-2025). This was followed by Turkey and the Republic of Moldova agreements on the 27 October.

Researchers, innovators students, pupils, trainees, teachers, and young people can now participate under the same conditions as EU Member States. This cooperation in science, research and innovation further strengthens the alliance between the EU and Ukraine, Turkey and the Republic of Moldova to deliver on common priorities, such as the twin green and digital transition.

Portugal launches €250M programme to boost tech transfer in universities

Portuguese economy minister Pedro Siza Vieira and EIB Vice President Ricardo Mourinho Félix announced the Portugal Tech II programme at the Web Summit in Lisbon.

The programme will mobilise €250 million in venture capital investments to boost technology-transfer projects from universities and technology-based start-ups with high potential in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, fintech, health tech and cybersecurity, amongst others.

Portugal Tech II continues the work of its predecessor programme launched in 2018. “[It] will continue to support an environment where technology and innovation play central roles in the transformation of our economy,” said Vieira.

The programme will select venture capital funds managed by Portuguese private teams with relevant track-record in the venture capital, technology transfer and acceleration segments, provided that they are able to raise capital from private and institutional investors.

Read about it here.

EC, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and EIB Partnership in Climate.

At COP26, Ursula von der Leyen, Bill Gates and EIB President Werner Hoyer, have officially entered into a pioneering partnership that will boost investments in critical climate technologies.

This partnership will mobilise up to €820 million between 2022-2026 to accelerate the deployment and rapidly commercialise innovative technologies that will help deliver European Green Deal ambitions and the EU’s 2030 climate targets. Investments will be directed towards a portfolio of EU-based projects with high potential in four sectors:

– clean hydrogen;

– sustainable aviation fuels;

– direct air capture;

– long-duration energy storage.

EU funding for the partnership will be drawn from Horizon Europe and the Innovation Fund, and will be managed under InvestEU according to established governance procedures. The EU-Catalyst partnership will be open to national investments by EU Member States through InvestEU or at project level. The first projects are expected to be selected in 2022.

For more information make sure to click here.

Open Discussion on the Mission Adaptation to Climate Change

On 23 November at 13:30 GMT the European Commission is hosting an open debate on the Mission “Adaptation to Climate Change”.

This discussion will feature the following speakers who will explain how the Mission intends to work and how regions will be able to become part of it.

– Clara de la Torre, Mission Manager;

– John Bell, Deputy Mission Manager;

– Connie Hedegaard, Chair of the Mission Board;

– Dirk Beckers, Director of the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency CINEA

The  session will be followed by a Q&A session via SLI.DO. To register please click here.

European Rare Disease Ecosystem: A Collaborative Path Forward

On November 9, don’t miss the inaugural Rare Conversations Conference will be an opportunity to facilitate essential discussion on the future of the OMP ecosystem involving leading experts. This ecosystem can only be enhanced following a multifaceted and holistic approach, with regards to issues to address, stakeholders to involve and cross-country cooperation.

This high-level conference will be the occasion to discuss the rare disease ecosystem in its whole spectrum of policies and stakeholders at national, EU, and international level. Hearing from different views and needs will help to draw the full picture.

Make sure to sign up here!