Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024.

Horizon Europe Strategic Plan is a policy at EU level which is the first strategic plan setting out the key strategic orientations for the targeting of investments in the programme's first 4 years: (I) promoting an open strategic autonomy by leading the development of key digital, enabling and emerging technologies, sectors and value chains to accelerate and steer the digital and green transitions through human-centred technologies and innovations, (II) restoring Europe’s ecosystems and biodiversity, and managing sustainably natural resources to ensure food security and a clean and healthy environment, (III) making Europe the first digitally enabled circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy through the transformation of its mobility, energy, construction and production systems, and (IV) creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society, prepared and responsive to threats and disasters, addressing inequalities and providing high-quality health care, and empowering all citizens to act in the green and digital transitions. Moreover, this strategic plan identifies the European co-funded and co-programmed partnerships, the missions and covers international cooperation and other aspects.
Research and innovation actions will be taken to make innovative high-quality health technologies and health care both available and affordable for all citizens, by advancing knowledge and capabilities, improving the understanding of health and diseases, developing innovative methodological and technological solutions to better manage health and diseases, and designing sustainable approaches for the digital transformation and delivery of integrated, person-centred and equitable health and care services. Public awareness will be raised on healthier lifestyles and behaviours, healthier diets, healthier environments, improved evidence-based health policies, and more effective solutions for health promotion and disease prevention. International cooperation will be strengthened on main health-related areas, such as AMR. Social and economic resilience and sustainability will be ensured by addressing the challenges in the fields of employment, education, social fairness and inequalities, including in response to the socio-economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Disaster risk management will be improved and the resilience to disasters will be increased through research and innovation actions, and thus losses from natural, accidental and man-made disasters will be reduced. Transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society and economy will be enabled through advanced climate science, pathways and responses to climate change for mitigation and adaptation, and behavioural transformations. Clean and sustainable transition of the energy and transport sectors towards climate neutrality will be facilitated by innovative crosscutting solutions. Climate neutrality will be achieved by reducing GHG emissions, maintaining natural carbon sinks, and enhancing the sequestration and storage of carbon in ecosystems. Innovative production and manufacturing processes and their digitalization, new business models, sustainable-by-design advanced materials and technologies enabling the switch to decarbonization in all major emitting industrial sectors, including green digital technologies, will be promoted for clean and climate-neutral industrial value chains, circular economy and climate-neutral digital systems and infrastructures.
Innovative solutions for a minimized, circular use of natural resources and the mainstreaming of circular systems will be developed to increase resource efficiency along and across value chains. In addition to that, innovative circular approaches will be applied to enable sustainable management of soil, water resources and nutrients, enhance their value, allow society to better cope with the impacts of floods and droughts and reduce the high economic costs related to soil and water remediation and soil, sediment and water pollution prevention, control and removal. Biodiversity loss will be reduced and ecosystems and their services will be preserved and sustainably restored on land, inland water and at sea through improved knowledge and innovation. The potential of sustainable bioeconomy will be unlocked through innovative bio-based solutions to replace fossil-based, carbon intensive and harmful materials with innovative, climate-neutral, bio-based, circular, non-toxic materials and chemicals. Food and nutrition security will be ensured for all through knowledge, innovation and digitalization in agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture and food systems, which are sustainable, resilient, inclusive, safe and healthy from farm to fork.