From the Forward Look 'Ageing, Health and Pensions in Europe', a Final Report was published in July 2010 and a Science Policy Briefing in September 2010.
For more details on the project, see its webpage.
Central and Eastern Europe beyond Transition: Convergence and Divergence in Europe
This project proposes to set new frontiers in Social Science research on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Previous initiatives by the ESF have looked at the research infrastructure in CEE rather than the content of research agendas (e.g. the report ‘Status and Developments of Social Science Research in Central and Eastern Europe’, and the Member Organisations in Central and Eastern Europe - MOCEE project). However, following a workshop attended by many members of the Standing Committee for the Social Sciences from CEE states, it is suggested that in the social sciences, a rethinking of the European research agenda would usefully complement other efforts to overcome the structural and resource challenges faced by researchers from CEE. [more]
This project is managed by the Social Sciences (SCSS) Activity period: 2009-2010.
Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth
Undoubtedly, humankind is currently facing unprecedented changes in the Earth system that have arisen at a rapidly growing rate because of human activities: the unsustainable exploitation and consumption of natural resources and the accelerating perturbation of the environment. The systemic understanding of global change has expanded markedly, but societal drivers and consequences are still to be fully explored through problem-oriented approaches. The extensive knowledge base that scientific research has created, should contribute to the development of sustainable responses to global change. In this context, this Forward Look RESCUE has the overall aims of addressing the societal needs that require understanding of global change, including its human dimensions, and stimulating an appropriate and integrated response from natural, social and human sciences. [more]
This project is a joint ESF/COST activity involving the ESF Life, Earth and Environmental Science (LESC), Social Sciences (SCSS), Humanities (SCH) and Physical and Engineering Sciences (PESC), and the COST Domain Committees for Earth System Science and Environmental Management (ESSEM), for Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health (ISCH) and for Forests, their Products and Services (FPS). It is managed by LESC. Activity period: 2009-2010.
Media Studies: new Media and new Literacies
Compact Disc --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis
The Forward Look will focus on media literacy. As media are constitutive of key financial, social and cultural processes of contemporary life, to study media is therefore an important pathway into understanding fundamental processes in society. Issues related to media literacy illuminate some of the fundamental problems that media studies have tackled over the years but refracted through the lens of media coverage and its underlying currents of digitisation, globalisation and commodification. [web page under construction] More details coming soon...
This project is a joint activity between the Humanities (SCH) and Social Sciences (SCSS). It is managed by SCH. Activity period: 2009-2010.
ESF provides the scientific, administrative and technical secretariat for COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).