Green Deal Research: Salzburg Research One of the Main Players
In December 2019, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the “Green Deal” concept as a leitmotif for the future work of the European Commission and the European Union. The aim is to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union to zero by 2050 and thus become the first continent to become climate-neutral.
The Green Deal in Current Research Activities
An overview report by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) shows how the EU’s Green Deal is already represented in the EU research framework program Horizon 2020 and in the programs that are being handled by the FFG.
A total of 38 percent of the funding from the current Horizon 2020 framework program and 52 percent of the funding that is handled by the FFG relates to at least one of the aspects of the European Green Deal. In the European research program Horizon 2020, concerns of the Green Deal are generally addressed by almost all programs. They refer to aspects of climate protection, biodiversity or sustainability. For the projects that are handled by the FFG, there are the strongest references to the European Green Deal in the fields of energy & environment and mobility with 91 and 87 percent respectively.
Mobility: Green-Deal-Relevant Research in Salzburg
Seven out of nine federal states have the largest share of Green Deal-relevant funding in the area of “Sustainable and smart mobility” – this includes the state of Salzburg. Salzburg Research ranks at the top among Salzburg’s top players in green deal-relevant research in the state of Salzburg: In research activities in the EU framework program Horizon 2020, it comes second behind the University of Salzburg, in national research funded by the FFG Salzburg Research even comes first.
“The results confirm our increased efforts to promote sustainable solutions in public spaces”, says Salzburg Research Managing Director Siegfried Reich. “Trends such as individualization, networking, urbanization or the ecological footprint influence the way in which people, things and goods move. With Motion Data Intelligence, we research and develop digital technologies and services in order to better understand movement, to link future technologies with existing mobility systems and thereby enhance them and to promote sustainability in public spaces.”
Green-Deal-Relevant Research at Salzburg Research
Examples of green-deal-relevant research at Salzburg Research include:
For more examples see: Smart Region & Mobility
Overall, the analysis shows that Austria can address the aspects of the European Green Deal well.
Source: Die Österreichische Performance im Europäischen Green Deal (FFG) (PDF)
