The AGE Summit’s Post

🌱 A new Erasmus+ project REVIVE has started at the Institute of Economics and Rural Development! The project “REVIVE: Restoring Ecosystems in the Face of Depopulation via Innovation & Entrepreneurship” addresses rural depopulation and its impact on ecosystems, promoting sustainable local initiatives. 🔹 Duration: 1 September 2025 – 31 August 2028 🔹 Budget: EUR 250,000 🔹 Main activities: data collection, sustainable entrepreneurship training, community workshops, international seminars, and a MOOC online course. 🔹 Partners: University of Greenland, University of Salamanca, University of Catania, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (LEKVI), and University of Oulu. Together, we aim to revitalize rural areas through innovation and collaboration! 💡 🔗 More information: https://www.ekvi.lt LCSS Institute of Economics and Rural Development Zivile Gedminaite-Raudone #REVIVE #ERASMUS

𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐓: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 2025 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 & 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 in Economics, Business, Tourism & Social Sciences (CETS 2025) will be held from 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 1 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 2, 2025, at the Mercure London Hyde Park, United Kingdom. The event is organized with the aim of fostering dialogue and collaboration among researchers, academicians, and industry professionals on how creativity and technology are reshaping key sectors, including economics, business, tourism, and social sciences. @CETS 2025 will provide a global platform for participants to discuss emerging trends, theoretical advancements, and practical innovations driving digital transformation across industries. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/g8r-T-Ji The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Imperial College London VisitBritain UK government Association for Information Communication Technology Professionals #CETS2025 #DigitalTransformation #AIandEconomics #SmartTourism #AcademicConference #LondonEvents #CreativityInBusiness #FutureOfWork

“We must affirm Africa as a co-author of global science.” This was the resounding message at the Science Summit 2025, held alongside the UN General Assembly in New York. Africa’s university leaders, researchers, and policy experts made a strong case that higher education and research must take centre stage in shaping the continent’s future — from data sovereignty and AI governance to climate resilience and global health innovation. Dr Tom Kariuki of the Science for Africa Foundation captured it well: “Regulatory equity must be supported by integrating African leadership into international decision-making forums … but we must also encourage our governments to institutionalise evidence-informed policy-making through mechanisms like science attachés and advisory panels.” Key takeaways from the summit: -Universities are not just teaching spaces — they are innovation ecosystems training future scientists, policy leaders, and entrepreneurs. -Investment in African-led, sovereign, and blended science financing is essential to reduce over-reliance on volatile donor funding. -Data is “the new gold”, yet much of Africa’s data remains untapped — a barrier to AI, genomics, and precision medicine. The Addis Ababa Declaration reminded us earlier this month that Africa must drive home-grown climate solutions. The UNGA Science Summit echoed that message: Africa cannot just participate in global science — it must shape it. Read the full article in University World News Africa edition [ https://lnkd.in/ekcKqXAe ] #UNGA2025 #ScienceSummit #HigherEducation #Africa #Research #AI #ClimateAction #GlobalHealth

🟡 The Incite-Dem Interactive Forums are novel events where institutional actors are recruited to reflect on how citizen-generated models might be integrated into governance structures, and what adaptations are needed to make them work in practice. 🟡 6 Democratic Innovation models, constructed from the insights that the public offered during our Democracy Labs, are scrutinized by decision makers to see if they would stand the test of real-word democracy. Read all about the Interactive Forum that took place in Helsinki in our latest blog: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eBS3S8AF #incitedem #democraticinnovations #democracy #participation Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa eco-union Kyoto Club Tallinn University Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa Focus, društvo za sonaraven razvoj / Focus Association for Sustainable Development University of Münster Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) University of Groningen University of Helsinki

📢 Just published: Our latest policy document! "The Impact of Large Digital Platforms on Media: How to create a sustainable media ecosystem" Featured in Big Tech and Media Sustainability – A Resource Guide for African Media by the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD), in partnership with the University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika and UNESCO. This timely policy brief explores: -How Very Large Digital Platforms divert advertising revenues and exploit news content, raising serious copyright issues, especially with the rise of Generative AI. -The urgent need for fair compensation from large digital platforms to sustain journalism. -The call to treat media as a public good and establish national media compensation funds. In an era of digital disruption, media sustainability is not just a policy issue-it’s a democratic imperative. A robust, financially viable media ecosystem is essential to the health of our democracy and social fabric, and for holding power to account. Huge thanks to Ingrid Schneider, Ashraf Patel, Serusha Govender and Dandy Rafitrandi and collaborators for their insights and dedication to this vital work. This release aligns with the MGG–PRODIGEES Policy Lab, held from 29 April to 3 May 2024 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, hosted in collaboration with Stellenbosch University. The PRODIGEES project, under the Managing Global Governance (MGG) Network, is coordinated by the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 873119 and Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), driving research on digitalisation for sustainable development. Explore the report. Engage with the insights. Comments and suggestions are welcome. 😊 #MediaSustainability #DigitalPlatforms #PRODIGEES #MGGNetwork #UNESCO #IGD #PolicyLab #AfricaMedia #DigitalJustice #FairCompensation #AIandMedia #Stellenbosch #IDOS #BMZ #EUResearch #GlobalSouthVoices Christ University, Bangalore Department of Economics (Bangalore Central Campus) Christ (Deemed to be University) Centre for Studies in Population and Development, Christ (Deemed to be University)

🎓 Universities create knowledge, train talent, and link scientific discovery to real-world application. Their ability to collaborate locally and globally shapes how effectively research translates into innovation. A new blog by our WIPO colleagues Lorena Rivera León and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, together with Phil Baty and Elizabeth Shepherd from Times Higher Education, explores how universities worldwide drive innovation linkages. Using data from the GII 2025, the analysis introduces a new indicator, "University industry and international engagement," capturing how universities connect with businesses and international partners. The findings show that universities in high-income economies remain the most connected globally, led by Hong Kong, China, the Netherlands, and the United States. Among middle-income economies, China, India, and South Africa lead their groups, while Uganda tops low-income economies in international outlook. Regional champions include: 🇳🇱 Maastricht University in the Netherlands 🇺🇸 Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States 🇶🇦 Qatar University 🇿🇦 University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa 🇮🇷 Amirkabir University of Technology - Tehran Polytechnic in Iran 🇧🇷 USP - Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil and more... Explore how universities anchor national and regional innovation ecosystems. 🟢 Full article → https://lnkd.in/e-5Fgvzr

This article offers an insightful analysis into the Global Innovation Index 2025, focusing on how universities connect with industry and international partners, a critical dimension for knowledge-based economies like Qatar's. What I appreciate about this addition is its clarity of purpose. Instead of mixing teaching scores, reputation surveys, faculty-student ratios, and Nobel prizes into one universal number, this indicator looks at two very concrete forces behind innovation ecosystems: - Industry Engagement (Income from industry and Patent citations) - International Outlook (International staff, International students, Internationally co-authored research). The GII then averages these two scores for the top five universities in each economy, offering a targeted view on how effectively universities bridge research, markets, and global talent flows. (which might have mitigated our score in the related indicator in the ranking it draws its numbers from https://lnkd.in/d8q492T6, analysis under way) ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ Analysis done: QU’s strong record in industry engagement (notably research income and applied partnerships) boosts its composite score even though its international outlook score is comparatively modest within THE metrics. The methodology benefits universities, and countries, with strong industry partnerships, and Qatar University’s dominance nationally gives it full visibility in the GII data. #Herewego, integrity my friends 😉. ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ For those who know my long-standing take on #rankings: this is the type of measurement I’ve always supported — focused, purpose-built indicators tied to national priorities, rather than composite scoreboards where apples, oranges, and pineapples end up in the same fruit basket. Rankings can be useful signals. But insight, not score, should drive strategy. Within this new framework, Qatar University ranks 18th globally and first across Northern Africa and Western Asia, for university–industry and international engagement. An encouraging reflection of the consistent national investment in research collaboration, talent attraction, and industry linkages. The good thing about this index is that you don't have to claim a trophy, it just gives credit to: A university ecosystem evolving toward impact and connectivity RDI strategies translating into measurable linkages A region increasingly plugged into global knowledge flows These results are not a finish line — but a signal that the ecosystem architecture is taking shape. As #MENA economies accelerate their innovation agendas — from Qatar to the UAE to KSA — precision metrics like this help us track what truly matters: ideas becoming partnerships, talent becoming innovation, and universities serving as engines of national development. Build capability, the metrics will follow!

Innovation is not just about technology—it’s about people, trust, and societal value. In our feedback to the European Commission’s open consultation, we call for an impactful, human-centric, inclusive, and socially responsible Innovation Act, because: ☑️ Barriers to innovation are often social and institutional, not technical. ☑️ Promising ideas fail to scale because of lack of matchmaking between idea generators and adopters, limited adoption capacity in public bodies, insufficient support for nontraditional innovators and limited or insufficient societal acceptance. ☑️ Future innovators need SSH skills in ethical reasoning, governance, citizen engagement, and intercultural collaboration - essential for their innovations to be trusted and adopted. We call for EU innovation act that: ✅ Broadens the definition of innovation to include social, governance, and policy innovations. ✅ Embeds participatory approaches, enabling universities, and non-traditional innovators such as municipalities, NGOs, and citizen groups to co-create and adopt innovations. ✅ Introduces innovation stress tests for social, ethical, and environmental impacts—not just economic metrics. ✅ Recognizes the importance of SSH-trained talent alongside STEM profiles ✅ Invests in SSH research infrastructures and creates regulatory sandboxes for non-traditional innovators. ✅ Expands innovation-friendly procurement and develops blended finance instruments to de-risk social innovation investments. Read our full recommendations here: https://lnkd.in/eGMbtdre #EuropeanInnovationAct #SocialInnovation #ResponsibleInnovation #SSH #HumanCentricInnovation #EUInnovationPolicy #FutureSkills #InclusiveInnovation #HigherEducation #ResearchImpact European Commission EU Science, Research and Innovation EIC - European Innovation Council EIT - European Institute of Innovation and Technology Ekaterina Zaharieva Henna Virkkunen Christian Ehler Alexandr Hobza Manuel Aleixo Eszter Lakos Lucilla Sioli Science|Business European University Association UNIC (European University of Cities in Post-Industrial Transition) Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship ENIHEI - European Network of Innovative Higher Education Institutions EASSH – European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities Gabi Lombardo PhD Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU 2025 Annelien Bredenoord Jantine Schuit Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics Arwin Van Buuren Michiel Scheffer 🟥Immanuel Nijssen Michiel Besters Convergence | TU Delft-Erasmus MC-EUR

“Open Science is not only about access to publications and data, but creating knowledge systems open to all.” Day 1 of the 2025 #GRC European Regional Meeting in Belgrade opened with an inspiring exchange among international research leaders on how #OpenScience and #ArtificialIntelligence can advance equity, justice, and sustainability in research. Co-organised by Science Europe, Fond za nauku Republike Srbije - Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia (SFRS), and HUN-REN Headquarters, this year’s meeting highlights the importance of building more open, inclusive, and globally connected research systems. 🌐 Opening remarks by Nenad Filipovic (SFRS), Mari Sundli Tveit (Norges forskningsråd, President of Science Europe), and Roland Jakab (HUN-REN) set the stage for two days of dialogue on how science can be a driver of fairness, inclusion, and shared progress. Throughout the day, participants reflected on how the Open Science agenda can: 🔹Support the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 🔹Foster equitable participation in the global knowledge system 🔹Strengthen capacity building in the Global South A recurring theme was the evolving role of AI in Open Science governance and the responsibility to ensure that new technologies reinforce, rather than challenge, equity and transparency. ⚖️ The plenary brought together insightful perspectives from Thibault Cantat (ANR, the French National Research Agency), Thomas Margoni (KU Leuven), Elvisa Seumenicht (Austrian Science Fund FWF), DIMITRIOS I. FOTIADIS (University of Ioannina), and Matija Zlatar (University of Belgrade). Keynotes by Andras Stipsicz (HUN-REN Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics, ERC Scientific Council) and Sofija Stefanović (University of Belgrade) offered inspiring reflections on the ethical and societal dimensions of scientific progress. 💡 As the discussions continue, Day 2 will turn to the theme of Research for Sustainable Communities, building on today’s insights to further explore how science can support resilient and equitable societies. #OpenScience #SustainableResearch #GlobalCollaboration Lidia Borrell-Damian Torsten Schwede Krzysztof Pyrc Jose Manuel Fernandez de Labastida Bregt Saenen Adrien Braem Felina Wittke Catriona Firth Shawn McGuirk Rune Vistad Nia Glover Jordan Girardin

🌎✨ Launching the LAC Monthly Calendar of Mentorships! Strengthening regional capacity through peer learning and collaboration, this new ISC RFP-LAC initiative connects scientists and researchers across Latin America and the Caribbean through monthly, interactive mentorship sessions. https://lnkd.in/eU-yFvFS 🎓 October Session: “Buying a Stairway to Heaven? On the use of AI models in publishing research results” 🗓️ 28 October | 💻 Online | 9 am GMT-5 | Mentor: Prof. Vladan Devedzic, University of Belgrade 📢 Open to members of ISC-affiliated institutions, young academies, and partner networks in the region. Register here: Buying a stairway to heaven? On the use of AI models in publishing research results - International Science Council 👉 Learn more and join us: https://lnkd.in/e_2PgDTg #ISCLAC #Mentorship #Sciences #CapacityBuilding #PeerLearning #LatinAmerica #Caribbean