INNOVATORS
Now is the time to rethink our relationship with nature, putting climate, environment and
natural resources at the heart of future policies. Protecting and restoring nature is the
greatest long-term investment we can make for present and future societies. To create the
impact needed, we must develop and deploy innovative solutions resulting in a sustainable
and circular economy and society.
Covid-19 is a great wake-up call. Not only does it give us an example of what a health (or
climate) emergency can be like. It also shows us it is an opportunity to rethink our way of
life and our economic model. Most importantly however, the crisis showed that we can
mobilize citizens and resources in an unprecedented way to face a common challenge. The
Corona crisis also made clear how obvious the link is between policy and science, research
and innovation. No doubt, economic and political strength will depend more than ever from
leadership in technology and innovation. The US and China are the benchmarks.
Having organized more than 500 debates around innovation related topics, aiming to
make innovation the top priority for Europe and Chefsache, we have seen encouraging
developments in recent years, like one pillar in Horizon Europe being entirely dedicated
to innovation. While this is a step in the right direction it is not enough. For a long time, we
have been thinking of constructs such as a single market for innovation or a European
innovation ecosystem, something that we do jointly across Europe and that helps to
increase Europe’s innovation performance. Now we finally have it: ‘A European Innovation
Area’. While it is still a nice idea and only put forward very recently by the EU Commissioner
for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, it has already
gained traction. During the 12th European Innovation Summit we identified many barriers
and actionable ideas to strengthen the European Innovation Area. And we will continue this
conversation for years to come.
Europe is a knowledge superpower. It has a unique knowledge base developed by almost
two million researchers and an annual investment of 200 billion euro that translates very
successfully into high numbers of patents and scientific publications. Unfortunately, the
great knowledge produced is not sufficiently turned into innovative solutions and fast-
growing, world-leading companies.
Roland Strauss
Founder Knowledge4Innovation
QUESTION: QUO VADIS INNOVATION IN EUROPE?
ANSWER: TOWARDS A EUROPEAN INNOVATION AREA