ARTEFACTS: How do we want to deal with the future of our one and only planet?

The European Commission’s Science and Knowledge Service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), decided to try working hand-in-hand with leading European science centres and museums. Behind this decision was the idea that the JRC could better support EU Institutions in engaging with the European public. The fact that European Union policies are firmly based on scientific evidence is a strong message which the JRC is uniquely able to illustrate. Such a collaboration would not only provide a platform to explain the benefits of EU policies to our daily lives but also provide an opportunity for European citizens to engage by taking a more active part in the EU policy making process for the future. A PILOT PROGRAMME To test the idea, the JRC launched an experimental programme to work with science museums: a perfect partner for three compelling reasons. Firstly, they attract a large and growing number of visitors. Leading science museums in Europe have typically 500 000 visitors per year. Furthermore, they are based in large European cities and attract local visitors as well as tourists from across Europe and beyond. The second reason for working with museums is that they have mastered the art of how to communicate key elements of sophisticated arguments across to the public and making complex topics of public interest readily accessible. That is a high-value added skill and a crucial part of the valorisation of public-funded research, never to be underestimated. Finally museums are, at present, undergoing something of a renaissance. Museums today are vibrant environments offering new techniques and technologies to both inform and entertain, and attract visitors of all demographics.JRC.H.2-Knowledge Management Methodologies, Communities and Disseminatio

Le PMI e gli Investimenti in Ricerca: Le Politiche Comunitarie

Con l¿accorciamento della vita media dei prodotti, un livello di globalizzazione senza precedenti nella storia e l¿avvento della società della conoscenza, le Piccole e Medie Imprese (PMI), che sono il motore dell¿economia europea ma non dispongono di vere e proprie strutture di ricerca, sono costrette a compiere salti mortali per offrire prodotti sempre di migliore qualità e a prezzi sempre più concorrenziali. L¿articolo fa una breve analisi della situazione delle PMI in Europa con particolare riguardo alla ricerca, alle barriere percepite all¿innovazione e agli strumenti che la Commissione europea ha messo in atto a sostegno delle PMI nell¿ambito del 7° Programma Quadro di Ricerca (7PQ)JRC.A.5-Interinstitutional and Stakeholders Relation

Education and Training Courses on Nuclear Science, Illicit Trafficking, and Environmental Radioactivity - A JRC Activity in EU Enlargement and Integration

Since 2003, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has organised nuclear science training courses at the Institute for Transuranium Elements (JRC-ITU) in Karlsruhe, Germany, on a regular basis. The Commission has sponsored participants from candidate countries, potential candidate countries (Western Balkans) and new member states within its enlargement and integration policy in order to strengthen activities between the old, new and potential EU member states. The courses range from basic nuclear science and radiation protection with Nuclides.net [1], to illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials, and measurements of radioactivity in the environment. In line with actively promoting EU integration in regional resource centres, the most recent trainingcourse was organised jointly by the JRC and the Jo?ef Stefan Institute and was held at the Nuclear Training Centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in Sept. 2005.JRC.E.4-Nuclear fuel