Standardisation as a tool for knowledge valorisation: COST Academy training offers new insights
On 2 December the COST Academy, in cooperation with standardisation body CEN-CENELEC, organised a training raising awareness among a selected group of COST Action Chairs on the relevance and benefits of standardisation practices for their Action.
The training session was organised following the COST Connect ‘Action for Standards’ event that was held in November 2019, and a first training session on standardisation that took place in December 2020. The event was organised in collaboration with CEN-CENELEC and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), with both organisations playing a key role in the Academy’s training session.
The aim of the event was to provide participants with practical hints and tips from professionals in the field as well as to give an overview of the European standardisation system and associated rules.
The training event included the following sessions (click to view):
- Introduction to standardization and the European Standardization system (CEN-CENELEC)
- Integrating standardization in R&I activities (CEN-CENELEC)
- Standardization to enhance the scientific credibility of alternative methods (JRC)
- A presentation of the SPIDIA4P project, winner of the CEN and CENELEC ‘Standards and Innovation’ award 2021
- A presentation by Chair Prof. Carlo Battisti, on the standardisation activities of his COST Action (CA16114) RESTORE, REthinking Sustainability TOwards a Regenerative Economy COST RESTORE (eurestore.eu)
Mr Fabio Taucer, Senior Expert at the JRC and co-organiser of the ‘Action for Standards’ COST Connect, highlighted the workshops ‘Putting Science into Standards’ which are held in collaboration with CEN-CENELEC. These workshops discuss how to enhance the link between research and standardisation, and they bring together relevant stakeholders in Europe, including policy makers, SMEs and R&I players. A result of such a workshop could be, for example, cooperation between stakeholders in putting together a roadmap.
The most recent example is the ‘Putting Science into Standards – Organ on Chip: Towards Standardization’ workshop, held in April 2021.
While the JRC generally identifies suitable scientific topics that could potentially be addressed in the ‘Putting Science into Standards’ workshops, the COST community is invited to propose topics in which our scientists would be happy to take the lead.
Further information
COST Action participants who would like to find out more about how they can integrate standardisation activities in their Action are encouraged to get in touch with CEN-CENELEC: Research@cencenelec.eu
Read more
COST Connect article – Standards make the world go round
COST Connect article – Growing innovation through effective standardisation