Bologna: New perspectives on the relevance of social sciences and humanities

The workshop discussed strategies for increasing the impact of social sciences and humanities (SSH) under Horizon 2020, the EU’s almost €80 billion research programme. Participants said SSH should take on a new reflective and generative role and strengthen the interaction between policymaking and research strategies.

Also, SSH should have a leading role in merging technological innovation with a human centred perspective. This will help open new job markets, create new educational models and tackle societal problems.

The discussion was focused on the contribution of SSH to the joint effort of the scientific community towards interdisciplinary research, which is one of the main goals of the Horizon 2020 programme, but also on the impact and economic value of SSH research.

Participants shared their experience with projects where research methods and expertise in SSH, in collaboration with other disciplines and with the business sector, have led to practical applications.

It also addressed specific themes included in the Societal Challenge 6: social innovation, sustainable lifestyle and food, ICT and social inclusion, culture and creativity, healthcare and education, public policies, labour and welfare.

Solving today’s societal challenges

Many countries are slow to recover from the 2008 crisis, mostly due to a lack of resources in all sectors. While austerity measures are adopted all over the world, societal challenges are intensifying. Youth unemployment, elderly healthcare, migration, poverty and social exclusion are putting tremendous pressure on public institutions which now have the daunting task of finding innovative solutions.

The University of Bologna has undertaken a large-scale internal initiative called European Perspectives (EuPer). The cluster brings together more than 500 researchers from across a broad range of disciplines: social innovation; lifestyle; creativity and culture; policies, institutions and governance; inclusion and diversity.

This interdisciplinary exercise allows researchers to exchange knowledge, create synergies and build collaborative projects.

Innovation is strongly needed to tackle real-world complexity and social sciences and the humanities can play a crucial role.

The workshop, ‘Rethinking the role of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH): towards a reflective and generative perspective’, was organised in collaboration with the Brussels representation of Emilia-Romagna region.  

Conclusions will be shared with the EU academic community and related stakeholders.