Societies underinvest in research either because it is a long term process and the results are not easily seen, either because of the complexity of this enterprise. This along with other difficulties weighs on the researchers who lack the will or power to get more engaged in the public life which further affects the trust in science and research. Breaking the vicious circle is a slow process and should be based on a genuine partnership between the researchers, as promoters of new findings about the world's true nature, the society as a whole, with its most stringent but also subtles needs, and the communication facilitators as a way to surface the unexpressed realities. The partnership, ReCoNnect-ing these different views, should be effective in educating the present citizens, but also shaping the teaching approaches for the members of the future society. This consortium is made up from 6 research institutes, 4 universities, 1 public body, and 2 civil community associations experienced in promoting science and STEM education, which supported the development of one of the largest educational networks in the country in connection also with EU programmes. Together, we propose a highly innovative concept of European Researchers' Night rooted in a long experience with the programme and well supported by the partner's institutions, which we will implement in a nationwide campaign comprising 21 events in representative urban areas. Three UNESCO/aspiring geoparks will organize events in rural areas, while others will be encouraged to participate remotely. Focusing the conversation, we tackle a topic of great interest for the European Union countries: The European Green Deal. We propose to map the current perceptions and expectations of the population on this programme by a large number of encounters with the public, and to better communicate on the endeavors and successes that Romanian researchers have in contributing to the very ambitious goals of the EU programme.

Europe’s future economy and social coherence is depending on young generations with interests, skills and capacity far beyond what is offered in the traditional educational system. Europe needs young people deeply engaged in science, research and innovation – and based on positive and engaging experiences of what science, research and innovation is at a very early age and in early schooling. Young people are increasingly disengaged from science learning in schools and this is causing great concern in the EU Commission and among other global players. We call this the Commission’s SCIENCE LEARNING INNOVATION AGENDA, described and documented across numerous Commission documents, research papers and guidelines.“Our research points to the potential value of schools and science educators engaging in activities and approaches that enable teachers and students to deconstruct popular gender discourses and stereotypes.” “Balancing Acts”: Elementary School Girls’ Negotiations of Femininity, Achievement, and Science, 2012 (Archer et al)The ScienceGirls project aimed to contribute to the Science Learning Innovation Agenda through practical experimentation in secondary school, and guided by Commission recommendation and by guidelines from leading science learning research communities. The project aimed impact on science learning in schools re-defining it’s to appeal to the young generations. Synthesizing leading research, it is clear that most girls do not feel comfortable with science education and the values and personal identities linked to science and science jobs. The problem is not a lack of intellectual capacity; the problem is at identity level. The teenage years are precisely the most important time in life for creating identity and personality, including gender identity, and this is why resistance to science among most school girls might in fact lasts a lifetime: when resistance towards certain school interests is directly linked to the creation of one’s identity and personality, the resistance is very difficult to overcome in later in life. This is why ScienceGirls addressed teenage girls from 13 to 15 years old and their relations to science learning. The project engaged the girls in 3 major challenges: HOW WE FEEL SCIENCE- create a more authentic understanding of science and gender in early schooling through engaging teenage girls as co-creators of this understanding, through telling the personal and collective and gender-sensitive stories about science education and about the image of science in society SCIENCE IN REAL-LIFE- engage the girls and their support teachers in real-life/time science and research experience in collaboration with the local community, including interacting with female role-models in science and research VISIONS OF EARLY SCIENCE ENGAGEMENT- invite the girls to co-create scenarios of new ways of science learning in school that will appear attractive and relevant to teenage girls and their emerging gender identities. Their teachers learnt about gender-sensitive science learning alongside the teams, and supported the participation of the girls’, but have not held a privileged position in the project, as a united research community clearly states that “science teachers are a part of the problem”, very often practising forms of science teaching that disfavors girls and confirms many girls’ “prejudices” against science and science jobs. The project focused on and worked through 5 overall innovative thematics, based on comprehensive preparatory reviews of recent science learning research:CO-CREATIONIDENTITYREAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE – OPEN SCHOOLINGMIXED REALITY COLLABORATIONAUTHENTIC VISIONS FOR ATTRACTIVE GENDER-SENSITIVE SCIENCE ENGAGEMENTThe 5 overall innovative thematics are detailed across the application and in the Attachment Pack. The project consortium is organized accordingly: 6 secondary schools as practice partners + 1 secondary school engaged through the Spanish knowledge partner, 2 academic institutions as knowledge partners and a quality assurance partner with 15 years of EU experience. A strong and most dynamic climax in the project was the 5 days SCIENCEGIRLS SCIENCE VISION ENCOUNTER mobility, along which the participating girls created visions for what science learning in school could be – with a strong focus on female identity. Key outcomes:THE SCIENCEGIRLS GUIDANCE TO GENDER-SENSITIVE SCIENCE LEARNING INNOVATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOL THE SCIENCEGIRLS 30 MINUTES VIDEOSCENARIOS OF INNOVATIVE SCIENCE LEARNING IN SECONDARY SCHOOL – produced by the girls- teamsPolicy paper: INNOVATION IN SCIENCE LEARNING IN SCHOOLS IS IMMINENT – BUT WHO WILL DRIVE?Knowledge paper: CO-CREATION AND THE SCIENCE LEARNING INNOVATION AGENDA

The pandemic emphasised the need to accelerate the deployment and market uptake of digital health technologies, many of which were developed to contribute to the fight against the spread of COVID-19. This recent transformational innovation in Europe offers the opportunity to revolutionise the Health sector, which needs to adapt to the latest technological developments and become more digital and more sustainable. Providing an opportunity to university students and graduates to enhance the entrepreneurial, digital and green skills needed by a transformed healthcare sector is essential towards innovation. Health2Innovation aims to inspire, mentor, train and empower students and graduates, through the development and execution of a dedicated, standalone and hybrid training course focusing on the skills needed by a digitally transformed health sector.Health2Innovation brings together higher education institutions, incubators, vocational education training organisations, SMEs and tech experts from Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland and Romania to exchange knowledge and best practices, co-design and deliver a training course targeting students and/or graduates in Life Sciences, Medicine, Business, Engineering or ICT-related studies. The partnership will create a training course on the basis of each partner’s expertise knowledge and experience that will enhance learners’ understanding in key areas related to health, such as digital health, data literacy, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotechnology and circular economy, as well as their entrepreneurial, digital and green skills. The partnership will also develop a digital learning hub and a mobile app and it will also bring to life a Health Innovation Bootcamp and an Apprenticeship programme in innovative health clusters, namely the Medicon Valley in Denmark and Sweden and the Lille Northern France Health Cluster.

Researchers worldwide are struggling nowadays to solve some of the critical issues which pose a threat to our future life on Earth. While everyone heard about the climate change, smart cities, freshwater and ocean pollution, soil degradation which conduct to poor quality of food, or cancer, but most of the time only with respect to disasters or an uncertain future, the researchers are actively involved into identifying practical solutions for all these threats, developing devices and systems to monitor, control and diminish their effect, and to cure people and Earth. These missions will have the chance of becoming effective only by ReCoNnect-ing the researchers to the society, by developing a mutual respect and understanding one needs a will to listen, to be open to the new and to explore. As such, we propose the adoption of a special life strategy, that of continuous and active learning, in which all those involved, scientists, communicators or the general public, are active learners interacting with each other. The consortium is made up from 5 research institutes, the largest and most prestigious in the country, 4 universities, with high scientific expertise but also including journalism faculties and one public scientific body, that have been participating in previous research outreach events and coordinate some of the largest STEM educational networks (teachers and pupils) derived from the European programmes. By organization of 20 NIGHT events yearly, also in rural areas, and a strong involvement of researchers at school along the 2 years project implementation, we are confident in the strengthening of the science communication and educational programs already developed, increasing, meanwhile, the number of researchers involved in outreach activities. These allow us to look to the future with new hopes of an active and cultured society towards solving the humanity issues through science and awareness.

Reaching net zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 is key to limit global warming to 1.5 °C and achieve the targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. Mitigation approaches such as renewable energy sources, improved energy efficiency and forest preservation, need to be combined with active carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR). Low-cost nature-based solutions need to be identified, assessed and promoted on a large scale for both CO2 sequestration and biodiversity conservation. WILDCARD will, for the first time in Europe, assess the overall potential impact of natural rewilding of abandoned agricultural land and proforestation on carbon sequestration and biodiversity at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Combining field observations, remote sensing, and vegetation modelling with economic, societal and political analyses, WILDCARD will inform national and European policy makers on the contribution potential of nature-based solutions to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The project will investigate the regulatory, cultural and economic barriers to natural rewilding and proforestation, and identify which social innovation mechanisms, models and incentives can better support our CDR approach. WILDCARD will use a dedicated cross-scale analysis, linking site-based in-depth knowledge on rewilding impacts and socio-economic consequences to a European-scale assessment, embedded in the current EU policy context and informed by global scenarios from IAMs and ESMs. The final project’s aim is to offer concrete and realistic policy options aimed at enhanced uptake of rewilding as a significant solution to achieve global climate objectives.