Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - EU-PolarNet (Connecting Science with Society)

Teaser

The overall objective of EU-PolarNet is to establish an on-going dialogue between policy-makers, business and industry leaders, local communities and scientists to increase mutual understanding and identify new ways of working that will deliver economic and societal benefits...

Summary

The overall objective of EU-PolarNet is to establish an on-going dialogue between policy-makers, business and industry leaders, local communities and scientists to increase mutual understanding and identify new ways of working that will deliver economic and societal benefits. The results of this dialogue will be brought together in an Integrated European Research Programme (EPRP) that will be co-designed with all relevant stakeholders and coordinated with the activities of polar research nations beyond Europe. This programme will be accompanied by a feasible implementation plan to provide Europe with the capability to define the nature of environmental risks so that governments can design policy measures to mitigate them and businesses and other stakeholders benefit from the opportunities that are opening up in the Polar Regions.

Work performed

\"EU-PolarNet has divided its work plan into three phases to achieve its goals. The first reporting period was devoted to phase 1, which has provided the project partners with the necessary background information to enter the stakeholder dialogue and strategic research planning process. The second reporting period covered phase 2, which involved the identification of stakeholder needs for the research planning process by performing an intensive dialogue between these scientists and stakeholders. In the third reporting period, EU-PolarNet entered the last phase of its work plan in which it will combine the findings of Phases 1 and 2 in the Integrated European Polar Research Programme (EPRP) and its Implementation Plan. Especially, Task 1.4 and 4.3 have a peak in engagement in phase 3 to communicate the outcomes of the previous phases to the public and to decision makers.
The main results which have been achieved in the third reporting period
‐ Organisation and documentation of two workshops (D1.16 & D1.19) to strengthen international cooperation on Arctic and Antarctic research.
‐ Organisation of the second EU-PolarNet policy briefing on 26th September 2018 in the European Parliament in Brussels. The theme of the event was \"\"Breaking records: At the frontline of climate change: Key changes in the Polar Regions that call for European action.
‐ Implementation of a process that leads to the development of the EPRP tackling questions of high priority and high societal impact in polar research.
- A strategic analysis of current monitoring and modelling programmes in the Polar Regions have been done (D2.5) and a roadmap for optimisation of monitoring and modelling programmes has been pubished (D2.6)
‐ Coordination of the EU Polar Cluster and organisation of joint EU Polar Cluster events and maintenance of the EU Polar Cluster web presence on the EU-PolarNet website.
‐ A European Polar Infrastructure database has been launched and is available online and a printed and updated version of the European Polar Infrastructure catalogue has been produced
‐ A gap analysis highlighting the technical and operational requirements of the EPRP for satellite applications has been performed and published as D3.6.
‐ D4.14 “Completed stakeholder consultations, report on needs, gaps and opportunities produced” and the “White paper on status of stakeholder engagement in polar research” (D4.15) have been published.
‐ Several workshops between stakeholders and the scientific community have been organised by WP2 and WP4 as side events to conferences at which scientists and stakeholders meet. The societal needs which have been identified here, have been summarised and categorised. This information builds the basis of the EPRP.
‐ Major social media outlets has been utilized in order to create awareness on Polar Science and related issues as well as to facilitate the relations and communication with the wider public.\"

Final results

EU-PolarNet involved a vast amount of European and international researchers and stakeholders in the white paper process and also in the development of the Integrated European Polar Research Programme. All strategic research planning documents and also the different white papers EU-PolarNet has submitted/will submit have been developed jointly by European scientists and stakeholders. This has substantially increased the scale and ambition of European cooperation in Polar Research. Also in terms of coordinating access and interoperability of Europe´s polar infrastructure, EU-PolarNet seeks a coherent voice from the polar community in Europe and internationally. In the longer term, this coherent voice should convey agreed priorities which will hopefully define the development of new and interoperable instruments or a better access to infrastructure.
The establishment of the infrastructure catalogue and its associated database is a vital first step in achieving the impact entitled “Increase the coherent and efficient use of European resources”. The work of D3.6 (Gap analysis highlighting the technical and operational requirements of the European Polar Research Programme for satellite applications) is a key step towards enabling a better cooperation between the European Space Agency and Polar operators.
EU-PolarNet has developed strong links to all relevant international and European organisations and networks engaged in the Polar Regions and is continuously developing new partnerships. It hosted two workshops to improve international cooperation and outline joint research priorities in the third reporting period and involved several international scientists and stakeholders in the development of the EPRP.
EU-PolarNet contributed to policy advice by hosting an annual policy briefing in the European Parliament in Brussels. The event titled “At the frontline of climate change: Key changes in the Polar Regions that call for European action” brought pressing Polar issues to the European decision makers. EU-PolarNet presented its five white papers addressing priority questions in Polar research and fostered discussions on how European Polar research and climate policies can contribute to the protection and sustainable development of the Polar Regions. In answering several requests from the EC and supporting them e.g. in the preparation of the Second Arctic Science Ministerial, EU-PolarNet helps the EU to fulfil its international commitments in polar sciences.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.eu-polarnet.eu/.