R&I Agenda

The upcoming Indtech 2024 (3-5 June, Namur, Belgium) conference on industrial technologies promises to be a significant event for the raw materials sector. One of the highlights will be the official presentation of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) on Raw Materials. This agenda, has been developed with the help of all Raw Materials stakeholders, in a collaborative approach that ensures that the agenda reflects the diverse perspectives and priorities of stakeholders across the raw materials value chain.

In a dedicated session next 4th of June ( 16:00h) titled "Changing the raw materials landscape: a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) for an EU co-funded Raw Materials Partnership" leaded by Dr. Dina Carrilho, the ERA-MIN 3 Coordinator, aims to reshape the raw materials landscape by outlining strategic research priorities and innovation pathways. Throughout the session, Dr. Dina Carrilho will provide a comprehensive overview of the SRIA and will lead discussions in a roundtable (speakers TbC) of the challenges and opportunities that are facing the raw materials sector and how the SRIA aims to address them.

All in all, attendees can expect to gain insights into the key priorities identified for advancing raw materials research and innovation within the European Union. The presentation of the SRIA at Indtech 2024 will mark a significant milestone in shaping the future of raw materials research and innovation in Europe due to it is a requirement for the next Partnership in Raw Materials.

The SRIA is a key requirement and a guide for the future EU Co-funded Partnership on Raw Materials for the Green and Digital Transition.

As an important stakeholder in the Raw Materials community, we would like to receive your feedback to the 1st draft of the SRIA through this survey:

The public consultation will be open until 5th of April, 2024. The survey is now Closed. We thank everyone for their opinions. We are collecting all the comments and we will let you know the results. 

Ten years have passed since the ERA-MIN Research and Innovation Agenda was published (ERA-MIN agenda 2013). The landscape has changed considerably since then, and experience from the ERA-MIN programme has brought new insights towards innovating the innovation system.

It is the key importance of define a new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) due to is the document that outlines the priorities, goals, and strategies for research and innovation activities within a particular field, industry, or organization. Then, it will provide a roadmap for how research and innovation efforts should be directed to achieve specific objectives, solve challenges, and take advantage on opportunities.

The aims for the new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) within the field of non-energy, non-food raw materials, are two-fold:

1. Identifying critical technological and structural challenges within the EU relating to raw material supply for the green and digital transition
2. Addressing needs for research and innovation to tackle the challenges, as well as prioritizing among strategically important core targets

SRIA workshops

Through different workshops were all the actors in the raw materials chain, from partners of ERA-MIN to scientific experts and stakeholders, will participate in this new document that will build the road for R&I in Raw Materials the forthcoming years.

(Please, for any additional comments or feedback the SRIA workshops, contact to Mr. Tobias Kampmann <tobias.kampmann@vinnova.se> )

SRIA workshops:

This workshop aims to collect feedback and expert opinions on the new Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) on raw materials supply for the green and digital transition. The SRIA will serve as a basis for a future international research and innovation partnership within the field of non-energy, non-food raw materials.

The workshop discussion will be based on the current draft agenda structure, and focus on identifying technological and structural challenges, as well as research and innovation needs, in six thematic areas:

• Resilient primary and secondary raw materials supply
• Efficient use of raw materials in design and production
• Sustainable use and reuse of products
• Effective policy development and governance
• Maximizing societal benefits
• World-class innovation capacity

SRIA workshops results

After receiving feedback in the first and second workshops, stakeholders and ERA-MIN/partnership representatives worked together in the third workshop to create a list of potential Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the partnership. In the fourth workshop, this list, which had several hundred suggestions, was carefully reviewed for relevance and possible improvements.

This process led to internal discussions within the ERA-MIN SRIA task force, resulting in the selection of the most relevant KPIs for the six themes. The goal was to align these KPIs with impact goals (long-term, up to 10 years after the partnership ends), outcomes (mid-term, within five years after the partnership ends), and short-term KPIs to be achieved during the 7-year EU co-funded partnership. The selection process considered the objectives and benchmarks outlined in the European Critical Raw Materials Act, along with other relevant policy documents such as the new ETP-SMR SRIA. Ambitious target values for the KPIs were set based on the partnership's format and lessons learned from the three ERA-MIN networks. For more detailed information about the co-creation process and feedback received during the workshops, please refer to the aditional information report.