Forum launched to strengthen links between practice, policy and Social Science and Humanities and research

The Shared Green Societies Forum was officially launched in Brussels, bringing together civil society organisations, local and regional authorities, researchers and EU policymakers to strengthen cooperation on Europe’s green transition.

The launch marked the start of the new forum designed to connect Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) research with on-the-ground practice and policy-making. With the launch led by ALDA Europe and supported by partners such as Anglia Ruskin University, DRIFT, Energy Cities, ICLEI Europe, Galway University and more through the EU-funded SHARED GREEN DEAL Project, the forum aims to support more inclusive, socially grounded approaches to sustainability.

Opening the event, Professor Rosie Robison of Anglia Ruskin University and Valeria Fantini, Project Manager at ALDA, shared with the full room exactly why, Shared Green Societies is being launched:

“Green transitions are a policy challenge. They are an on the ground practical implementation challenge, but above all of that they are a societal challenge,” said Professor Rosie Robison.

Following up on this, Valeria Fantini added:

“We identified three main objectives of the forum. To support citizen and professional participation, to support mutual knowledge flows, and to advocate and help shape inclusive policy making.”

The Forum has opened for three types of participation: from highly active involvement as ‘Forum Members’, to consultative or exemplary roles as ‘Forum Champions’, to more occasional, supportive engagement as ‘Friends of the Forum’.

Pointing to the future

Shared Green Societies is being launched at a moment of geopolitical upheaval, tectonic technological changes, and intense discussion on the future of Europe. It was in this context that the keynote address of Ms. Astrid Ladefoged, Head of the Green Transitions Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation was made:.

She highlighted competitiveness, technology and even AI as a strong reason for Europe to invest in Social Sciences and Humanities.

“We need humans to make it work in practice. To take all the information and find the right way to apply it at the micro level, at the meso [ed.: the space in between] and at the macro level,” Astrid Ladefoged said and suggested a task for the Forum to engage on: 

“How can we really use Social Sciences and Humanities to bring it [research supporting the green transition] into practice? Both bring it into practice but of course also bring it into policy, because practice and policy are two sides of the same coin.” 

Local champions of Shared Green Societies

Discussions throughout the day showed how these challenges and opportunities play out locally and what role local engagement plays. This was perhaps especially clear during a session presenting local champions, a specific type of members of the new forum. 

Kinga Kovacs, Project Manager at Energy Cities, presented the group, who shared an experience as local partners in the SHARED GREEN DEAL Project.

“We noticed that change always started with the people… the people who were driving the experiments, but also all the local actors and the citizens were really key to driving the change," she said.

Examples of local champions included efforts to

• community-led biodiversity learning in Ireland
• circular economy hubs in France.
• School Children pushing Mobility policy in Portugal
• Food debates and workshops in Sweden

You can watch the introduction, the keynote conversation,  and the session on Celebrating local 'Champions' in Shared Green Societies here.

To learn more, and join the Forum, visit the Shared Green Societies Web Page.

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