Cardiff University lends expertise to new Horizon Europe project
9 January 2024
Cardiff University researchers will participate in a new €9.75m project to gather key social science outputs to inform the NextGenerationEU recovery plan and European Union youth policy.
Funded by the European Commission, the Infra4NextGen project will re-purpose and customise existing research services to support the five themes of the NextGenerationEU programme.
NextGenerationEU aims for Europe ‘to build a greener, more digital and more resilient future’ with a focus on five key areas: Make it Green; Make it Digital; Make it Healthy; Make it Strong; and Make it Equal.
Cardiff University will lead on the ‘Make it Green’ workstream by producing an inventory of existing data captured on cross-national surveys, including Eurobarometer, European Quality of Life Survey, the European Social Survey, GGP, the EVS, and the International Social Survey Programme and collecting new data.
The team will analyse and summarise the existing data from these surveys to produce a series of policy-relevant resources with commentary presented in a dedicated online portal.
Cardiff University lead on the project Professor Wouter Poortinga of the Welsh School of Architecture and the School of Psychology said: “I am excited to contribute expertise to the ‘Make it Green’ pillar of this important project.
Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are major threats to the wellbeing of younger generations. This project will help to inform better environmental policymaking for the benefit of young Europeans and young people from other parts of the world as well.
The team’s initial analysis will be supplemented with new data collected later in the project via an online platform accessible across 11 European countries.
Professor Rory Fitzgerald, Director of the European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure Consortium and Coordinator of Infra4NextGen, welcomed the award: “Social science research infrastructures in Europe have a wealth of data relevant to the NextGenerationEU priorities and EU youth policy.
“That data is currently scattered and sometimes burdensome to access. This exciting new project brings together Europe’s leading social science initiatives to produce harmonised policy relevant outputs that will be of use for policy makers and academics alike.
“By providing more accessible, effective and tailored data summaries and complementing this with new data from the web panel and deliberative forums, Infra4NextGen will help to support evidence-based policy making and more informed debate.”
