Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos, a Beatriu de Pinós researcher at the JHU-UPF Public Policy Center of the Department of Political and Social Sciences at UPF who is currently conducting a research stay at the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University (USA), has been selected in the ERC Consolidator Grants 2023 call. With the DIVERSE project (DIgitalisation for biocultural diversity and environmental justice), which will receive a significant grant of 2.1 million euros, Rodríguez-Labajos will theorize a new model of digital transformation from grassroots initiatives that seek social and environmental improvement.
Diverse Project: Creating a strategy to theorize a new model of digital transformation
The DIVERSE project proposes a multi-level empirical strategy (employing various methods, from expert interviews and compilation of databases around the world to case studies and biographical interviews on different continents) to theorize a new model of digital transformation. The research starts with a question: Does the digital divide deprive movements for environmental justice and the defense of biocultural diversity of the benefits of digitization? Indeed, several reports show that grassroots leaders are pursuing the use of different forms of digital technologies (e.g., forest monitoring with drones or digital local media), aware of their potential to reshape adverse material conditions and power relations. "Movements for data justice and data sovereignty continue to grow. A digital transformation from the grassroots, where there are people creatively deploying digital media against all odds, is perhaps not only making its way towards a just and diverse future but also towards an alternative model of digitization that is sorely needed today," says Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos.
More than 300 researchers were selected by the ERC to carry out their projects in 22 EU countries
In the 2023 call, endowed with 627 million euros, 2,130 candidates from various fields of knowledge participated, of which the ERC has selected 308. The winners of the grants will carry out their projects in universities and research centers across 22 EU member states and other countries associated with Horizon Europe. Among the EU countries, the largest number of grants awarded are in Germany (66), the Netherlands (36), France (23), and Spain (23).
Among the researchers selected in the 2023 call are representatives from 43 countries, mainly German (56), Italian (36), and Dutch (27). In terms of gender, it should be noted that for the third consecutive year, there has been a significant increase in the number of women selected (119), alongside 188 men and 1 non-binary person. The Universitat Pompeu Fabra is the institution in Spain (together with CSIC) that has benefited the most, representing a third of the total number of grants obtained by research institutions in Catalonia. Of the total of 23 Consolidator Grants obtained by universities and research centers in Spain, UPF has obtained the most along with CSIC, with each obtaining four grants. The five-year projects, with grants of nearly two million euros, will enable the researchers to strengthen their work and build their independent research teams, which will help them to establish themselves as leaders in their respective fields.
