The European Research infrastructure for science, technology and innovation policy studies (RISIS2) aims at building a data and services infrastructure supporting the development of a new generation of analyses and indicators. To develop a deeper understanding of knowledge dynamics and policy relevant evidence, the project goes beyond established quantitative indicators, developing positioning indicators, which take into account critical features of knowledge dynamics i.e. the importance of asymmetries in producers, in places and in themes. RISIS datasets are built keeping information on these three dimensions. To exploit them, new services dealing with actor identification, geographical information and thematic foci are developed, as well as semantic analytical capabilities. This project builds on RISIS1 (2014-18), which has demonstrated the relevance of such an approach and opened access to a first set of databases and services. RISIS2 gathers 19 partners aiming to transform the field of STI studies into an advanced research community. This step change is achieved by: (i) developing an e-infrastructure that supports full virtual transnational access by researchers, (ii) providing a vastly enlarged set of services tailored to field-specific needs (for problem-based integration of datasets, for exploring open data, and for supporting analytical capabilities of researchers), (iii) maintaining datasets dealing with firm innovation capacities, public research developments, R&I outputs and projects, and policy learning, (iv) developing new datasets on 4 key issues for research and policy (social innovation, non technological innovation, the role of PhDs in society, portfolios of public funding instruments). As reflected in the strong role of OpenAire in RISIS2, the infrastructure is fully inscribed into the open science movement. It is accompanied by a strong training, dissemination and communication effort to support the important widening of the community we aim at.

Mental illness is a major health burden worldwide and the health problems with the heaviest financial burden in Norway. Half of chronic mental disorders emerge before the age of 14, and mental health problems in youth are increasing. The Norwegian government has implemented the interdisciplinary topic "Health and life skills" (HLS) in primary and secondary education to provide pupils with competences to promote health and self-efficacy. School-based interventions may improve mental health and academic performance, but their effects depend on the quality of implementation. There are large variations in how HLS is implemented within and across schools due to lack of national guidelines and a reliance on teachers’ professional judgement. Delayed implementation for some grades and longitudinal nationwide registry linkages forms a natural experiment and rare opportunity to investigate the impact of diverse implementation methods of a politically determined, long-term and population-wide measure. The aim of this interdisciplinary study is to evaluate how variations in the implementation of HLS relate to the intervention’s effect on pupils' mental health, quality of life, school environment, academic performance and dropout. We will collect new HLS implementation data from 5,000 teachers/employees, 1,000 school principals and 180 school owners. Information from these key samples will be combined with prior linked data for 750 000 pupils from existing national registries and large surveys, including educational, health and background information. The research group includes researchers specialized in education, mental and public health, health promotion, classroom research, school surveys, register-based studies and advanced multi-level methods. The evaluation may affect further implementation and practice of HLS nationally and globally, and thereby promote pupils’ mental health and academic performance and thus also their future.

Trans4Demo is an evidence-based and impact-driven set of actions to address contentious politics arising from climate change and sustainable transitions. These conflicts are seen as a critical challenge for democratic systems, and their importance is expected to grow in the future. Authoritarian tendencies and right-wing populism have weakened social cohesion, making large parts of EU populations less willing to change their practices and hindering responses to climate challenges. The main objective of the project is to investigate the role and evolution of diverse forms of opposition and contentious politics of sustainability transitions, and their impact on democracy. We aim at delivering the temporality-sensitive conceptual framework, practical understandings, and policy recommendations to assist in democracy reinvigoration. By exploring these intersections, we identify specific scientific, consensus-based, and politically normative goals that political communities in diverse European contexts could pursue. Empirically, throughout the project, we will (1) focus on practical understandings of the role of various bottom-up mobilizations against the populist backdrop, (2) identify novel sites of constructive democratic engagement, and (3) address the role of trust in the democratic process, including the validity of electoral processes. Building on this, (4) we will provide sound, research-based policy recommendations that balance bottom-up and top-down perspectives for democratic renewal. To achieve these targets, we will employ triangulated and participatory methodologies, including case studies and future-oriented methods, developed in collaboration with societal actors involved in the project—from the initial design of the research agenda to fieldwork and dissemination activities.