The Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) "Viitorul", on behalf of the consortium representing the research project ”REDEMOS: Reconfiguring EU Democracy Support – Towards a sustained demos in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood”, received diplomas from Ministry of Education and Research for the outstanding results obtained within the program. The REDEMOS project is funded by the European Union through the "Horizon Europe" research and innovation program. At the event on October 24, 2024, 16 groups of researchers from different institutions in the Republic of Moldova participated in the award ceremony, which took place in the presence of representatives of the European Commission, who were on an official visit to the Republic of Moldova.
The premiere took place in the context of the third meeting of the Joint Committee for Research and Innovation between the Republic of Moldova and the EU, established in accordance with the provisions of the Association Agreement of the Republic of Moldova to the "Horizon Europe" Program. The committee meets at least once a year, in Chisinau and Brussels.
The Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education and Research, Adriana Cazacu, spoke at the opening of the ceremony about the impact of the program for the development of the field of research and innovation in the Republic of Moldova. "Our country's participation in the Horizon Europe Program is of great importance for the representation of the Republic of Moldova in the research and innovation structures of the EU and promotes the positive image of national science, attracting talented young people, experienced researchers, investors and representatives of the business environment in the national research and innovation system", said Adriana Cazacu.
To date, 300 projects have been submitted to the "Horizon Europe" Program, of which 245 were eligible. At the same time, 51 grants were signed with a net contribution from the EU of 5.63 million euros, the success rate of the Republic of Moldova being 20.33%, which is much above the general average rate of 16%.
Horizon Europe is the EU's framework program for research and innovation for the period 2021-2027. It supports excellence in the scientific field, including by supporting the initiatives of scientists. The program has an estimated budget of around 100 billion euros.
The international research project ”REDEMOS: Reconfiguring EU Democracy Support – Towards a sustained demos in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood”, which runs from January 2023 until December 2025, is directed by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and brings together a total of 11 academic and research institutions – six universities, four independent think tanks (including IDIS "Viitorul") – and one small and medium-sized enterprise from across Europe.
This multi-annual, multi-million research project takes an in-depth look at the full range of political and governance regimes in the EU's eastern neighbourhood, from flawed democratisation in some countries to democratic regression and even repressive authoritarianism in others. REDEMOS aims to break new ground and suggest a comprehensive and transformative overhaul of the conceptualisation, policy-making and implementation of democracy in the EU's eastern neighbourhood.
The overall objective of REDEMOS is to develop a set of innovative policy tools to make EU democracy support policies more efficient, effective and sustainable. The anticipated project outputs will range from a holistic dataset summarising past democracy support actions and programmes to a set of working papers, policy documents, blog articles, visual reports, as well as workshops, conferences and more. Together with the participatory nature of the REDEMOS project, its results will be geared towards increasing citizens' involvement and participation in shaping future democratic structures in the EU's eastern neighbourhood.
The international research project REDEMOS is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101061738. The Associated Partner University of Surrey has received funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee under grant number 10040721. The Associated Partner University of St. Gallen has received funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, UKRI and SERI. Neither the European Union nor UKRI or SERI can be held responsible for them.
