Expert Group on Humanities, 2007, Positioning humanities research, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Brussels
- Author : Expert Group on Humanities
- Year : 2007
- Title English : Positioning humanities research
- Publisher : EUROPEAN COMMISSION
- Publisher's Location : Brussels
- ISBN : 978-92-79-05656-7
- Pages : 113
- Abstract : Executive Summary (part) "The heightened role of the humanities in the 7th Framework Programme The 7th Framework Programme (FP7) marks a new stage in the inclusion of the humanities in the Framework Programmes, in that for the first time in the history of these Programmes an entire theme – Theme 8 of the Specific Programme Cooperation - is explicitly addressed to the “Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities”. Like FP7 in general, and the Cooperation Specific Programme in particular, Theme 8 is directly linked to the (revised) Lisbon Agenda, through which the Union seeks to address what it regards as Europe’s current and future key challenges: growth, employment and competitiveness, social cohesion, and sustainability, quality of life, and global interdependence. Theme 8 is designed to “provide a new knowledge base for policies” in these and related fields – in other words, a European policy-relevant knowledge base informed, inter alia, by the humanities. Theme 8 is divided into the following eight thematic activities: · Growth, employment and competitiveness in a knowledge society: the European case · Combining economic, social and environmental objectives in a European perspective: Paths towards sustainable development · Major trends in society and their implications · Europe in the World · The Citizen in the European Union · Socio-economic and scientific indicators · Foresight activities · Strategic activities In the first work programme released for Theme 8 on 22 December 2006, the above activities are further divided into areas and topics, with project proposals being invited at the level of topics. Among the topics under Activity 3 are, for example, “Migration”, “Youth and social exclusion”, and “Cultural interactions and multiculturalism in European societies”, i.e. societal developments that may well challenge the success of the Lisbon agenda. Each topic is mapped out in terms of issues that “should” or “could” be addressed by research teams. As signalled by the very name of the Specific Programme, research carried out under Theme 8 is to be collaborative (and comparative), involving researchers and research institutions from a number of countries participating in FP7. Moreover, especially in the case of “largescale integration projects”, such cooperation is expected to involve a “range of different disciplines”. To some extent, the approach adopted for Theme 8 reflects emerging trends in humanities research in general. Cooperation, multi- and interdisciplinarity and societal relevance / problem orientation are increasingly being seen as relevant to the future of humanities research. Or, to put it the other way round, the humanities are increasingly being expected to reflect on, and offer orientation with regard to values and developments in society and, to this end, to engage in problem-oriented research clusters.
- Comments : Pdf copy uploaded to LE:NOTRE web site - see: http://www.le-notre.org/downloads/Project%20Outputs/LN2outputs/ResearchMethods/egh_final_report_2007_en.pdf