Representatives of CoARA’s 15 National Chapters gathered in Porto on 22-23 February for the coalition’s first Exchange Forum on best practices and challenges related to the reform of research assessment in national contexts. The event was attended by member organisations involved in a National Chapter or interested in forming or joining one.
CoARA member organisations follow a shared direction to reform research assessment, as outlined in a common Agreement, and have committed to implementing its core principles within their organisations. For the successful implementation of CoARA’s commitments, translating these principles into the diverse geographical, regional, institutional, and disciplinary contexts in which member organisations are situated is key. National Chapters are country-level facilitators: they form hubs for coordinating actions and for mutual learning while respecting member organisations’ autonomy.
CoARA’s first Exchange Forum
The CoARA National Chapters Exchange Forum was set up to cultivate a dynamic exchange of insights and experiences among existing and prospective CoARA National Chapters and inspire CoARA members to initiate new National Chapters. This very first edition was hosted at the Alfândega Congress Centre in Porto by INSEC TEC, FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, and the University of Minho, and co-organised by Science Europe.
Conversations towards a diverse but coherent CoARA
During the two-day conference, participants discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by local contexts of research assessment systems, as well as the ways National Chapters could respond to them, drawing from the experiences of more established chapters. Participants also delved into topics such as streamlining participation in CoARA Working Groups, supporting member organisations in preparing their action plans, being grounded in researcher communities, and also efficiently working together with national and European policy actors. They also addressed the expansion of CoARA’s outreach in national contexts, sharing good practices to foster a multilingual CoARA and to assess the impact of National Chapters.
“The event provided us with a truly special opportunity to meet face-to-face with some of the key contributors to CoARA for the first time. These conversations are vital for our collective effort of moving CoARA forward from Agreement to action. We are building upon this to develop further opportunities for exchange among other key enablers of the reform.”
Prof. Rianne Letschert, Maastricht University, CoARA Steering Board Chair
“The focus of these two days went beyond exploring synergies among the National Chapters; it also celebrated the diverse geographical contexts, the different starting points and approaches they bring to the table. Continuous dialogues among National Chapters and other CoARA actor groups are crucial in fostering diversity and mutual inspiration, which are key values for CoARA. Besides, these dialogues serve to promote coherence within CoARA, mitigating potential contradictions across assessment systems, types, and purposes.”
Dr. Lidia Borrell-Damián, Science Europe, CoARA Steering Board Member
“The countries whose National Chapters participated in this event have already undertaken substantial efforts to integrate responsible research assessment in their research cultures. It is exciting to see how CoARA boosts these country-level efforts and how, in turn, work around National Chapters feed into the shared vision and joint implementation of CoARA. National Chapters play a key role in facilitating these two-way dynamics. In a way, they serve as homes of CoARA in a given country.“
Dr. Erzsébet Toth Czifra, CoARA Programme Manager
Outputs of the conference will be available on the CoARA communication channels soon. As a next step, in order to sustain the dialogue across National Chapters and streamline the key discussion points into actions, key take-aways of the conference will be turned into a joint report with input and agreed action items from the National Chapter coordinators.
Portugal, Sweden and UK chapters bring total count to 15
Out of the 46 countries represented in CoARA by member organisations, 12 National Chapters had previously been established in Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine. National Chapters’ applications in Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom have recently been validated and presented at the Exchange Forum. Gathering respectively 18, 25 and 17 member organisations, they bring the overall number of chapters to 15.
“We are pleased to see the Portuguese National Chapter being validated by the CoARA Steering Board earlier this week. In Portugal, research institutions are strongly dedicated to transforming the research assessment culture. This effort aims to broaden recognition of researchers’ activities and contributions and define new evaluation criteria. The newly established CoARA National Chapter of Portugal will be instrumental in coordinating efforts, exchanging experiences, and supporting Portuguese CoARA members in implementing the change they have committed to when joining CoARA.”
Dr. Bruno Béu FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
CoARA calls on members to create further National Chapters
The call for CoARA members to form National Chapters was launched on an ongoing basis, and invites further members to take part, under the conditions outlined in the call document.
CoARA members apply to establish National Chapters on a voluntary basis, inviting at least half of the CoARA members from the respective country to participate. With a two-year mandate, they take on the responsibility of creating specific outputs to support their members in implementing the Agreement in their national contexts.
We would like to express a special note of thanks to Prof. João Claro, Vice Chairman and CEO of INESC TEC, and his team for the incredible efforts that went into organising and hosting the inaugural CoARA National Chapters Exchange Forum in Porto.
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Press Release: Building a Stronger Network: CoARA National Chapters Convene for a First Exchange Forum
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