"Cimulact brings together people from all walks of life who are concerned about the future of Europe and who wish to communicate their dreams, hopes and concerns. The University of Malta is delighted to be given the opportunity to actively contribute to this exciting project," said Professor Sandra M. Dingli, the University of Malta representative for the Cimulact project, funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020.

Cimulact's main objective is to increase the relevance and accountability of European research and Innovation. The project partners designed and tested a bottom-up methodological approach for consulting citizens. Workshops were held in 30 European countries and scenarios for the future of Europe were developed, based on the views of over 1,000 citizens. These scenarios are now being further developed, following a workshop in Milan in April which included citizen and expert representatives from each of the 30 participating countries including Malta.

A second consultation phase is being held in October. This will involve citizens, stakeholders, experts and policy makers. During the workshop, the research scenarios that have been developed will be discussed, enriched and prioritised. The topics allocated to the Malta workshop include digital inclusion, promoting wellbeing, environmental sustainability and citizen empowerment, among others. An invitation to the workshop and more information on the topics selected for Malta is available at: https://www.um.edu.mt/create/eu_projects/cimulact. The workshop is free but prior registration is necessary.

An online consultation has also been developed in an attempt to obtain as wide a range of views as possible on priorities and concerns for Europe's future for which research may be prioritised. For those who wish to participate in the online consultation, it is available at: http://www.consultation.cimulact.eu/

Lars Klüver, director of the Danish Board of Technology Foundation, the project coordinators, said: "We ask citizens, stakeholders and experts to look at that [the developed research scenarios] and make it even better, so it lives up to their needs and solves their concerns."

The research scenarios that emerge from the current consultation phase in 30 European countries will reflect the hopes, concerns and dreams of European citizens. These will be presented to the European Commission and they are expected to influence future funding priorities.