“Alone you go faster, together we go further,” Dr. Marianna Simeone, Delegate of Quebec in Italy, opens the conference “Sharing a vision Quebec – Italy”, the event organised by the Quebec delegation in Italy and by the CNR for a cooperative scientific research

 

*Francesca Paolucci

 

ICT, green economy, aerospace, scientific research are just some of the themes on which the delegation of Québec (Canada) in Italy works to facilitate the knowledge and collaboration between Canada and Italy, through the organization of events and business missions.

Precisely on the issue of Scientific Research and the possible synergies between the two sides of the Atlantic, on 5th December, the delegation led by Dr. Marianna Simeone (Delegate of Quebec in Italy) organized, in partnership with the National Research Council (CNR), the conference “Sharing a vision Québec - Italy. A Scientific research in the field of Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change”, where Italian and Québec researchers met to discuss prospects of environmental research in Italy and Québec and to talk about the opportunities for collaboration between the two countries.

 

The special guest of the event, organized at the CNR in Rome, was Prof. Rémi Quirion, Chief Scientific of Québec, president of the three Québec’s research funds and councilor to the Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation in the field of the development of research and science. Prof. Quirion, known in the scientific world especially in the field of health sciences research, presented the Québec scientific research system, which is developed at both federal and provincial level and which mainly relies on a specialized university education, both theoretical and practical, based on the investment in dedicated infrastructures and on an ordinary propensity of Canada to the development of its natural resources. For this reason, Quirion said that 3% of Quebec's GDP is dedicated to Research and Innovation in all sectors of industry and in the strategic resource development, citing some of the specific plans to which these investments are dedicated: Maritime Strategy, Life Science Strategy, Aluminum Development Strategy, Digital Strategy, Aerospace Strategy.

It's enough to think that Québec, a Canadian province that spends on scientific research a value equal to an OECD country ($ 1.3 billion GDP in R & D), has planned a five-year plan (2017-2022), a strategic investment in scientific research, Stratégie québécoise de la recherche et de l'innovation (SQRI): $ 580 mln that will be used in specific measures for the realization of 7 leading projects, for the growth of Québec's experience in research and innovation.

Through the 3 pillars on which the economic vision of the Quebec government is based, that are represented by the innovative production, export and entrepreneurship, the Canadian province aims to achieve very ambitious objectives, such as, position itself among the 10 leader of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) within 2022, in research and innovation and, within 2030, to become one of the most innovative business engines in the world, fertile ground for talents and ideas and for the creation of solutions to the main societal challenges.

To achieve these objectives, Québec research also requires bilateral collaboration with other countries, to develop joint projects between researchers and share experiences and skills, in order to create a real scientific diplomacy. In this field, as in others, the Italian and Quebec realities seem to resemble themselves in form and substance, in the common intent of cooperating on an international level, with the hope of achieving a unique, innovative and long-lasting growth model.

On the other hand, the differences in the political-cultural context between Italy and Québec (Canada), determine different choices and priorities but common objectives, such as the fight against climate change, the protection of the environment, the re-invigoration of rich areas of natural resources, the prediction of natural phenomena, all possible objectives only through the formation and use of specialized resources, the creation of adequate infrastructures and sustainable development plans, the growth of innovation.

A collaboration between Italy and Canada in the field of scientific research could take even greater emphasis, thanks to the implementation of the provisions contained in the CETA, the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement, provisionally implemented from 21 September, which provides facilities for trade, for human capital and for the transfer of know-how, a set of rules for the benefit of both public and private R & D.

 

Prof. Archibugi and other representatives of the Italian scientific world have intervened, during the conference at the Aula Marconi of the CNR, in the various panels scheduled during the day, highlighting the importance of a participatory and continuous scientific research activity, today limited by the Italian economic difficulties, instrumental shortcomings, infrastructural and financial failures. The sessions provided important insights into the opportunities offered by Québec Research, but also on how to implement innovative research programs on climate change, the environment, biodiversity and sustainable development. Yves Bégin, scientific director of the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS) in Québec, an expert in Nordic environmental sciences and in particular of hydrology and the environment, presented the non-profit organization Ouranos, which draws on a network of about 450 researchers, experts, professionals and environmental policy makers, develops and coordinates multidisciplinary projects, basing their activity on strategic cooperation and professionalism. Italy responded by proposing the experience of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, illustrated by the President of the Foundation, Dr. Antonio Navarra, specialized in geophysical and volcanological research. The CMCC carries out studies and scientific models of our climate system and about the interaction with our society, in order to guarantee timely results for effective strategic plans.

 

The session on Research on Environment and Biodiversity was entrusted to the interventions of two excellent representatives of the world of science, Dr. Lorenzo Ciccarese, responsible for the Area for the Conservation of Species and Habitats and for the Sustainable Management of Agriculture and Forestry at the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) and Jérôme Dupras, Director of the Laboratory of Ecological Economics at the Institut des sciences de la Forêt tempérée (ISFORT). Finally, the panel on Research on Sustainable Development was improved with the reports of Prof. Mohamed Cheriet, Associate Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Research and Operations of Sustainable Development (CIRODD) and Prof. Agime Gerbeti, specialized in environmental law and, among other things, delegated for Italy to the European Commission and within various international organizations.

 

                                                                      * coordination and research Centro Studi Italia-Canada