This foresight report, commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, summarises a range of potential realities Europe may face in the 2030s and seeks to support the preparation of the European Union’s future policies in research and innovation. Drawing on a broad range of sources about megatrends shaping the world today – and entailing major environmental, economic and security risks  -  the report illustrates specific ways in which research and innovation could enable Europe to realise a positive scenario as compared to keeping these trends unmanaged and uncontrolled

The report refers to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the role of Horizon 2020 in supporting their fulfilment, the importance of collaboration in research and innovation, especially in finding novel solutions for critical challenges, using research to better understand these challenges, and exploring scientific frontiers to make more resilient societies in the long run. In the light of growing complexity of the world, the report stipulates that society will be required to develop more options for coping, which will be fundamentally driven by new discoveries, inventions, and ideas - in sum, research and innovation.

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