Integration af miljø i ForskEL forskningsprogrammet

Research and development (R&D) programmes play an important role in determining the technologies of the future. Hundreds of millions of kroners and euros are allocated to certain projects that are seen to be important in the future. R&D programmes therefore can be seen as a crucial entry point in efforts of creating a more sustainable development. The current practice on R&D programmes seems however not to include systematic environ-mental considerations. In worst case, the R&D programmes risk developing technologies that are directly harmful. Integration of environmental concerns is, however, a challenging process, since information about consequences is limited, uncertainty about the development of research projects is considerable, and comparison of environmental consequences of the different projects is problematic.

The purpose of the project is to set a new agenda on environmental concerns in R&D programmes. The project focuses on ForskEL and reviews the current environmental integration in this programme in order to propose concrete measures for environmental integration in the programme administration. The review entails among others document analyses of the ForskEL applications in recent years and a qualified testing of measures in the 2013 ForskEL tender. The review and measures will be carried out in close cooperation with the coordinator of the ForskEL programme.