MLE on National Strategies and Roadmaps for International Cooperation in Research and Innovation

At the MLE kick-off meeting, national representatives from the 15 participating countries discussed and agreed on the final scope of the MLE, the topics to be addressed and the programme of country visits.  A draft modus operandi was discussed and finalised after the meeting.

The first country visit of the Mutual Learning Exercise covered two main aspects related to the enhancement of international R&I cooperation: the strategic configuration of national R&I internationalisation strategies, and synergies and task division between the international and national levels. The agenda included workshops and world café discussions.

This second country visit included workshop sessions on several aspects of STI agreements, covering: their role in STI strategies and in the international cooperation toolbox, success factors, and options for improvement, and STI agreements in the future. The visit enabled experts and country representatives to exchange knowledge and best practice on these topics, addressing questions such as: Does science diplomacy affect the set of STI agreements? Can STI agreements function as game-changers? What works best, a top-down model or a decentralised one?

The MLE participants made a third country visit to learn about experiences and good practice on the ground in international research and innovation cooperation. They met Swedish R&I stakeholders, such as Vinnova, Sweden’s innovation agency.

The final meeting of this MLE will discuss the final report and dissemination event for the participants’ findings and lessons learned, from good practices to national strategies for international cooperation in research and innovation. It will also allow for participants’ feedback on the whole process, as well as identifying and discussing the practical take-aways from the exercise.