Europe is being transformed by changes that impact the livelihoods and wellbeing of its citizens. Such changes present important opportunities for the EU to innovate and shape forward looking inclusive societies and economies, while avoiding the mistakes of the past and promoting an inclusive recovery that strengthens economic and social resilience. However, demographic changes, digitalisation, automation, new ways of working, environmental degradation, armed conflicts, energy dependency, the transition to a low carbon economy, health threats and globalisation all pose multidimensional, interconnected and complex social and economic challenges. At the same time, there has been an increase in inequality, poverty and social exclusion, a polarisation of skill needs in the labour market, and a slowdown in convergence in income and employment in most European countries. Inequalities, including housing inequalities, threaten social and territorial cohesion, economic growth and wellbeing. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have magnified the pervasive inequalities across European societies, with significant differences in the way losses and costs of these crises are distributed in society. To seize the opportunities emerging from socio-economic transformations, including the digital and green transitions, in a strongly connected and integrated world, these challenges need to be better understood and tackled.

Population ageing increases social protection spending on pensions, health and long-term care and restricts the capacity of the redistributive system to reduce inequality. Policies need to support a transition towards more environmentally-friendly ways of producing and providing private and public services, while ensuring all regions and individuals equally benefit from these transitions and that no one is left behind, in particular when it comes to employment and access to essential services. The European Pillar of Social Rights^[1] tries to pave the way towards fair and well-functioning labour markets and social protection systems. Access to social protection for those in need should be ensured, while making sure that everyone can participate in economic, social, political and cultural developments. Social protection supports individuals in emergencies that they can no longer cope with on their own and, in addition, protects them by means of long-term measures – whether in the event of illness, accident, disabilities, need for care (including childcare and long-term care), unemployment or old age. Moreover, mitigation and adaptation strategies are essential to make sure population movements shaped by these transitions are positive for all areas, and do not contribute to deepening the divide between regions or countries.

Education and training are key long-term factors in preventing and reversing inequalities and promoting equal opportunities, inclusion and social mobility. However, the educational outcomes of young people are still determined to a large extent by the socio-economic status of their parents rather than by their own potential. Without connecting to other social policies, education and training systems may not be able to compensate for all societal inequality, however they have a vital role to play in breaking these patterns and creating a fair and inclusive society. In this context, it is important to reflect on the nature of economic growth and the need to better capture the different dimensions of social progress, including sustainable economic policy paradigms. It is increasingly important to distinguish between the different purposes of measurement: economic activity, social and cultural well-being and sustainability, and to develop relevant indicators. This is particularly the case as the pervasive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the economic performance and socio-economic fabric of many countries in Europe, bringing also to the fore mental health related issues, loneliness and their socio-economic impacts affecting the well-being of citizens.

Migration has been a critical component of the makeup of European societies, requiring comprehensive and coordinated European responses in order to ripen its benefits, both inside and outside the EU. The task of research is to better understand migration in a global and EU context, assist in its governance, support security and help the socio-economic as well as civil-political inclusion of migrants in European societies. It can enhance policies, and in particular the EU's agenda on migration as it is expressed in the New Pact for Asylum and Migration^[2].

The implementation of the research activities in the two calls of this Destination will contribute to a comprehensive and reflective European strategy for inclusive growth, including social, economic, ecological and historical dimensions. It will also contribute to promote research actions and outputs that help design, implement and monitor a socially just and inclusive green and digital transition, notably in relation to social and economic transformations, inclusiveness, skills development and sustainability. Furthermore, actions will deal with the long-term challenges in education and training, talent and labour market and the resilience of our societies. This will strengthen the resilience of the EU and of its citizens, and will ensure that no one is left behind, despite instability and in the face of old and new risks. It will equally support productivity gains and their fair distribution, as well as boosting social and economic resilience that is essential to face situations of unexpected crises such as in the case of COVID-19 or the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The overall knowledge generated, including a holistic understanding of societal well-being, will feed into the design of policy strategies in line with the above mentioned objectives and will facilitate the assessment of policy needs and outcomes in the field of the societal and economic transformations.

The Destination calls for proposals that may help in reaching these key strategic policy objectives in the EU. It invites proposals to do so by integrating feedback loops with stakeholders and policymakers that may help in developing suggestions and recommendations throughout their lifecycles. These proposals should take into consideration the stakeholders associated to the decisions that are suggested, and should also account for the context in which decisions are made. Therefore, in order to maximise and facilitate the uptake of group-sensitive recommendations in policy, they should include analyses of political and financial trade-offs associated to the recommendations produced, reflecting also on contextual changes needed to implement proposals developed. Proposals are also invited to build upon previous research funded by Horizon 2020, valorising its experience and findings.

Expected impacts:

Proposals for topics under this Destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following targeted expected impacts of the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan:

• Social and economic resilience and sustainability are strengthened through a better understanding of the social, ethical, political and economic impacts of drivers of change (such as technology, globalisation, demographics, mobility and migration) and their interplay.
• Inclusive growth is boosted and vulnerabilities are reduced effectively through evidence-based policies for protecting and enhancing employment, education, social fairness and tackling inequalities, including in response to the socio-economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/economy-works-people/jobs-growth-and-investment/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-principles_en

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/migration-and-asylum-package-new-pact-migration-and-asylum-documents-adopted-23-september-2020_en

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