Concept and Objectives

The EULANEST European - Latin American Network for Science and Technology project intends to promote and co-ordinate research co-operation among EU Member States (MS) and Latin American countries (LAC), thus contributing to strengthen  the impact of their national programmes on international cooperation in science and technology  (S&T) with Latin America. EULANEST is intended to network European policy-makers and programme managers involved in promoting research co-operation with Latin America in all fields of science.

This ERA-NET will prepare its partners towards the preparation, design, implementation and development of joint transnational research activities. EULANEST will first map and benchmark the co-operation activities in S&T among MS and LAC, identifying best practices and preparing the ground for a Joint Action Programme, with the final goal of coordinating selected activities and of the launching of a joint call between the partners.

Through these activities EULANEST will contribute to the building of the European Research Area (ERA) and, particularly, to strengthening the international dimension of the ERA by co-ordinating bilateral programmes of research co-operation with Latin America, both within and between European countries

In addition EULANEST intends to help to develop a more coherent approach of the EU towards scientific cooperation with emerging Latin American countries, like Chile, Argentina, Brazil,.. in the present Framework and INCO programme where no specific treatment adequate to the characteristics of these countries is  available.

The EULANEST project aims at:

·         bringing together the key European Union (EU) organisations funding international scientific cooperation with Latin America,

·         establishing a network of national and international research co-operation activities between the EU Member States (MS) and at lest 5 Latin American countries (LAC)

·         creating the conditions for launching one or more joint transnational research activities between the partners involved in the project.

·         launching a joint call among the partners on international scientific cooperation with Latin American countries

Through such coordinating activities, EULANEST will enable the strenghtening of the European Research Area and will facilite the scientific cooperation with Latin America. EULANEST will contribute to meeting the following objectives:

1) Contributing to the building of the ERA and the coordination of S&T activities in Europe

·         Facilitate the exchange of programme information, expertise and best practices between MS, ensuring coordination between member states

·         Ensure the development of transparency and trust between partners within the MS and with LAC

·         Co-ordinate European MS S&T programmes with Latin America with those programmes developped by multilateral european organisations such as the European Commission

2) Strenghtening the international dimension of the ERA :

·         Facilitate a structured exchange of programme information with a specific region such as Latin America in order to address fragmentation between national programmes in the field of international scientific co-operation, promoting a stimulating environment to increase scientific co-operation between the MS and LAC, and facilitating LAC participation in the different EU research programmes

·         Facilitate knowledge and develop a comprehensive overview of the European research cooperation with Latin America

·        Provide the opportunity and evidence for the partners to collaborate in the design of the future of international co-operation at EU level with Third countries. This will pave the way to enable national managers and decision makers to increase the, up to now, very weak level of co-operation among the international cooperation activities in S&T of the European Union MS.

3) Strengthening scientific and technological relations between Europe and Latin America :

·         Build a strong partnership between EULANEST and its Latin American counterparts

·         Secure a strong financial and scientific basis to support further bilateral and trans-national programmes of scientific cooperation with LAC

4) Foster strategic policy-making on scientific cooperation between EU Member states and Latin America.

·         Facilitate high level and expert meetings between EU and Latin American decision makers in the field of science and technology

The EULANEST project will therefore lead to:

¨       improved coordination of S&T activities towards LAC within the partner countries

¨       improved knowledge, coordination, cooperation and transparency, among EU MS on their  national scientific cooperation programmes

¨       improved knowledge, coordination, cooperation and transparency, between EU member states, the European commission and other multilateral organisations financing scientific cooperation programmes with Latin America,

¨       strengthened long term policy strategy for scientific cooperation between EU member states and Latin American countries

¨       secured financing of bilateral and trans-national scientific programmes between EU member states and Latin American countries

¨       set up a common basis for the launching of a transnational S&T call between most of the partner countries

It will indeed provide the basis to build and extend a consortium of key players in the field of international co-operation in science and technology, with a view to explore the possibilities to carry out joint transnational activities, by creating an environment to stimulate, encourage and facilitate the joint cross European partnership by:

           i.    exchanging programme information and expertise on best practices

          ii.    developing an updated on-line information system on EU-Latin America S&T programmes

         iii.    exploiting synergies between national programmes, and setting up a joint basis for supporting and managing a transnational S&T programme with Latin American countries

         iv.    pioneering new approaches to pan-European collaboration and carrying out joint activities

At least one Joint Call will be launched at the European Conference for international scientific co-operation that will be organised within the project.

A high-level Policy Group, consisting of senior representatives of national government ministries/agencies, will meet annually to steer the co-ordination actions and develop a common agenda for S&T cooperation between EU partners and LAC.  This common agenda will be articulated as a Joint Action Plan, and will be underpinned by pilot projects during the first four years.  

Although EULANEST is a European-based network, which seeks to co-ordinate programme funding and management activities at the European level, its substantive focus – namely, research co-operation with Latin America – means that EULANEST depends for its overall success on developing a strong working partnership with its Latin American counterparts. LAC will not be only ‘clients’ of European research on Latin America bust also real partners.

A strong emphasis will be put on the needs and offers of both the European partners and the participating Latin American countries as regards international RTD co-operation in order to build a real partnership and to fine-tune forthcoming activities.