SUMMARY

  This paper sets out evidence from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on the international policies and activities of the Research Councils. It highlights Defra's engagement with the Research Councils to promote UK participation in international collaborative research particularly through the various mechanisms available in the EU's Framework Programme. Specific areas of research are included as examples of where the Research Councils, Defra and others are collaborating, including climate change, global biodiversity change, flood management, air quality, and waste. This is not exhaustive and areas where there is direct Defra involvement only are covered—information on Research Councils' international bilateral activities, for example, is not included.

INTRODUCTION

  1.  The core purpose of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is to improve the current and future quality of life. Our mission has been defined as enabling a move towards "one planet living"—reducing the overall footprint of our society to a level consistent with long-term global sustainability. To be successful in this mission, we must deliver effective, fit-for-purpose policies and work with others to foster and enable change, using a robust and diverse range of evidence.

  2.  Work to meet this challenge includes our policy and scientific leadership on climate change and the natural asset base, to which work on sustainable development, eco-innovation, and understanding behaviour all contribute. Other areas of responsibility are contained in our Five Year Strategy, such as animal health and welfare, the sustainability and safety of the food chain, water, waste, marine and rural policy, and environmental risks.

  3.  The knowledge required for policy-making purposes comes from a range of expert disciplines and constitutes a major area of activity, with approximately £330 million of programme expenditure[4] and over 260 professional staff in the core Department and many more in our wider network. We draw on the research resources of our laboratory agencies—the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA). These agencies provide world-class, strategic expertise and facilities in areas of science with direct relevance to Defra's remit.

  4.  While a distinction can be made between some of the fundamental research undertaken by the research community through the Research Councils and the more applied research for policy funded by Defra, collaboration with others is becoming increasingly important, both in terms of those organisations who commission research of interest to Defra, and in promoting the better use of our funded research by other policy-makers and opinion formers. This is important because of the need to be more effective with our science budget and because of the role that must be played by other players in achieving our policy goals.

  5.  Collaboration includes that with the UK Research Councils, in particular: with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and its institutes with a view to developing better strategic understanding on land-based research and to facilitate adjustment to lower levels of Defra investment in traditional areas of agricultural science, taking a longer-term view of our evidence needs; the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with which we engage closely on a range of globally important issues, in particular on climate change; and with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), for example in establishing a joint post-doctoral fellowship scheme to increase our analytical capacity.

DEFRA'S RESPONSE

  6.  For Government departments with policy and regulatory duties that are heavily influenced by EU and international agendas, engagement in international science is important because it promotes the UK's policy interests directly and influences European and other international decisions. Being able to collaborate with others in addressing common policy challenges through joint research, exploit the complementary strengths of different national research programmes, or achieve the critical mass needed to fund large-scale projects is important. Where possible, therefore, the UK needs to increase its efforts to engage in collaborative research activities using the available mechanisms to overcome potential barriers[5].

  7.  One mechanism for promoting such collaborative activity is the Government's Global Environmental Change Committee (GECC), a UK Inter-Agency Committee, chaired by Defra, which reports to the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser through the Global Science and Innovation Forum (GSIF) and the Chief Scientist's Advisory Committee (CSAC). GECC helps to co-ordinate UK involvement in the science and technology of climate change and other global environmental change, both nationally and internationally. It aims to ensure that UK government policy is informed by a robust science base. BBSRC, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), NERC, ESRC and Medical Research Council (MRC) are members of GECC. The GECC's Global Biodiversity Sub-Committee (GBSC) has responsibility for identifying significant gaps in scientific understanding of global biodiversity change and for proposing options for addressing them, including through collaborative programmes with the EU and other international players. GBSC is chaired by Defra and membership includes NERC, ESRC and BBSRC.

  8.  The Research Councils play an important role in developing the "European Research Area", particularly through promotion of and participation in the Seventh EU RTD Framework Programme (FP7). The Research Councils were active during FP7 negotiations, and both BBSRC and NERC worked closely with their science communities and with Defra (and also the Food Standards Agency) providing significant input to the development of the Co-operation themes of most interest to the Department—"Environment (including climate change)" (ENV) and "Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology" (FAFB). This included input towards the development of the UK lines for negotiations and through direct influencing of other Member States and the European Commission. The inclusion of these themes in FP7 is an improvement on the preceding Framework Programme (FP6) and is a good result for Defra and the Research Councils, in that environment has its own theme with dedicated funding (€1.9 billion) and agriculture and fisheries have been re-introduced into a major theme (€1.9 billion).

  9.  With FP7 up and running and the European Commission's calls for proposals for the 2007 work programmes in place, the Research Councils play an important role in promotion of the programme and in supporting participation by UK researchers. Both NERC and BBSRC provide support to the National Contact Points (Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA)) for the FAFB and ENV themes, including the co-hosting of awareness-raising events. This is supplemented by the important work of the BBSRC managed UK Research Office (UKRO) in Brussels through its early publication of opportunities, education of potential UK participants and direct contact with the European Commission on issues such as simplification and rules of participation.

  10.  The Research Councils play an important role in the development of the FP7 work programmes themselves and in ensuring that UK priorities are covered as far as possible. Both NERC and BBSRC provide valuable input to the work of the Programme Management Committees for the ENV and FAFB themes respectively, working closely with Defra and FSA in these areas. Through the UK's Framework Programme Network the research councils are also able to make a valuable contribution to Framework Programme management issues and the development of the UK position on horizontal issues.

  11.  Research Council institutes have long been active participants in the Framework Programme and in collaborative activities with other research providers from across Europe and wider. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) introduced for the first time the possibility of financial support for the networking of funders of research through the "bottom-up"" ERA-NET scheme. This has provided opportunities for programme managers in Government departments and the Research Councils to share information on strategic activities and best practice with other leading European players in their fields, adding value to domestic research programmes and enabling the pooling of national budgets to fund projects of common interest. NERC and BBSRC have both been active in ERA-NETs covering significant areas of research such as (of relevance to Defra) biodiversity, marine science and plant genomics, with joint calls for transnational research already launched in some areas.

  12.  The Framework Programme is seen as a major tool for achieving the EU's 2005 Lisbon objectives, and the 2002 Barcelona Council aim of increasing the European research effort to 3% of the EU's GDP by 2010. However, it is highly unlikely that this target will be achieved due, in part, to the required increase in industry-funded research not being realised. In response to this the European Commission has encouraged the development of industry-led European Technology Platforms (ETPs), which have been established to define medium to long-term research objectives and priorities and consider strategic issues in areas where Europe's competitiveness depends on major technological advances. The ETPs are influential in terms of how funding within FP7 is being directed so it is important that they include an appropriate range of stakeholders. Research Councils have been involved in the stakeholder consultation by some ETPs, and it is important that they maintain an influencing role, such as through their participation on the ETPs on Global Animal Health, Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction and Plants for the Future.

  13.  In the area of flood management, Defra and the Environment Agency work closely with the EPSRC, contributing £1.5 million to the EPSRC's Flood Risk Management Research Consortium (FRMRC), which has a total budget of around £5m, and with NERC on its "Flood Risk from Extreme Events"" (FREE) research programme (£6m). FREE is compatible with and complements the applied research of the FRMRC, and both programmes look to engage with relevant research opportunities and initiatives funded by the EU, such as the Framework Programme, to achieve their objectives.

  14.  Defra funds a large amount of work which feeds into evidence that underpins development of international air quality policy. The most significant input is work undertaken to support the UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). As part of an agreement under the Convention, Defra funds around $300k pa on this activity through task forces, expert groups and international co-operative programmes. Generally, the UK is considered as one of the most proactive countries under the Convention and our contribution to the whole process has been significant over the years. Much of the Defra funding goes to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) and, although value from the NERC core funding of CEH is gained indirectly, the mechanisms for direct support from NERC for this work are not in place.

  15.  In terms of waste and resources research, Defra collaborates with the Research Councils at national level for example through EPSRC, NERC and ESRC representation on the Waste and Resources Research Advisory Group (WRRAG). However, potential for collaboration with the Research Councils at EU and international levels is largely untapped but presents an opportunity to bring together research outputs in specific areas. Defra is developing a web-based research portal on waste and resources research which will facilitate collaboration between the Research Councils and Defra and will be made available internationally. Links also exist on WRRAG to raise awareness of international research opportunities such as those through FP7.

  16.  In 2005, the EU resurrected the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) with a renewed mandate to play a major role in the co-ordination of agricultural research efforts across Europe. The Committee is taking this forward on a number of fronts, including the establishment of Collaborative Working Groups (CWG) that aim to exchange information on national programmes and develop joint calls for research. BBSRC is a participant on the CWG on Animal Health, which is co-ordinated by Defra and involves 21 SCAR partner countries. This is an area with considerable scope for increased national programme co-ordination not least because most disease threats are common to various EU Member States, and collaboration would allow an integrated approach utilising the different expertise in Member States, and the possibility of sharing costs in what can be an expensive area of research (eg containment facilities, genome sequencing etc.).

  17.  In conclusion, collaboration between research providers has long been supported by mechanisms such as the EU's Framework Programme, COST and programmes provided by organisations such as OECD, and the Research Councils have played, and should continue to play, an important role in supporting the UK researcher participation. Their influence on the development of FP7 work programmes should also continue to ensure that UK priorities are being addressed where appropriate.

  18.  In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on collaboration between research funding organisations and the coordination of national research programmes, and this impacts on the Research Councils and other funders directly. The potential benefits of better coordination of national programmes are wide-ranging, such as the avoidance of unnecessary duplication of effort, achieving the critical mass needed for large-scale projects, and the potential to address common challenges through a common evidence base, so participation by the Research Councils is important. Even where external financing for this is available (eg through ERA-NET funding) such collaboration can require significant investment of effort up-front so it is important that the resources needed for this are made available.

April 2007

5   "Examining the Design of National Research Programmes" commissioned by the European Commission as part of the wider activities of CREST in relation to the application of the Open Method of Coordination identified 21 barriers to programme coordination at the "policy level", "programme level" and "project level". Back