Research and Innovation cooperation for SusTAinability and reaching EU missioNs objeCtives

Addressing EU Missions and tackling complex sustainability challenges requires radical collaboration across sectors and disciplines, led by knowledge institutions to bridge local actions with European-wide networks for broader impact. The RISTANC project focuses on the implementation of the EU Mission Restore our Oceans in Slovenian seas, part of a transboundary region of the Northern Adriatic. It emphasizes a bottom-up methodology and social innovation to attract new commitments and funding sources in the regional innovation ecosystem, and to offer solutions with scalability across the EU. Our multi-stakeholder consortium pulls together expertise from across the social sciences, humanities, arts, and marine sciences, all integrated by holistic thinking. We design two demo solutions towards the objective of the Mission and support 5-8 projects by third parties (local communities, artists, innovators etc.). Key local stakeholders design and conduct locally-relevant transdisciplinary research, which is connected to two world-class universities to foster mutual learning and collaboration with other regions. We offer practical policy briefs for decision-makers at local, national, and EU levels. We develop a new microcredential course, offer trainings on transdisciplinarity, and review two study programmes going beyond a routine quality assurance – all to strengthen the capacity of the scientific community of researchers, and the management of knowledge institutions. Further, we launch 25+ art-science, ocean literacy, and public engagement activities to reach 1,200-2,000 citizens, civil society, and maritime practitioners. We take this to the EU level through strong dissemination across EU Mission platforms, transdisciplinary scientific and arts communities and science-policy interfaces to improve EU readiness to tackle future complex sustainability issues and to enhance knowledge about the diversity of local contexts in implementing Mission-oriented research.