July 2016 - AnaEE

EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTATION ON ECOSYSTEMS

FOURTEENTH EDITION

Dear reader, As we all disperse for a welldeserved break, I hope the present newsletter gives you a sense of the momentum we are generating together for the upcoming Pre-operational Phase. The extended ESFRI-AnaEE Preparatory Phase will come to an end next October and enter the Pre-operational Phase. To date, 5 countries have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI), demonstrating their will to support our unique panEuropean experimental research infrastructure in ecosystem science. We expect more countries to join and will look forward to meeting potential partners (Italy, Ireland and Spain, noticeably) to discuss their contributions to our research infrastructure. The call for hosts of AnaEE supranational entities opened on May 1st. The bid for the Central Hub closed on June 10th, as will the call for hosts of the 3 Service Centers, on September 30th.

France submitted the only application to host the AnaEE Central Hub. As a result, an independent Selection Committee will convene early in September in order to evaluate the French proposal and offer practical recommendations. A ceremony will be organized to officially launch the AnaEE Central Hub on October 10-11th, 2016. This will also be an opportunity for the AnaEE Assembly of Member States to agree upon proposed planning instruments to move AnaEE forwards. A global consultation will also allow all AnaEE partners, platforms managers and stakeholders to familiarize with the proposed Business Plan and selected AnaEE Central Hub.

Indeed, the evolution of our governance calls for further reflection on how we organize industrial partnerships and systematize our individual research infrastructures' applications for available structural funds. This strategic planning will facilitate sound decision-making across Europe and beyond, to develop AnaEE tools and methods for the greater societal good. More information will be made available through our website and our LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. For now, happy reading – I look forward to seeing you again in September to shape the beginning of a new phase for AnaEE together!

The core AnaEE team has welcomed two new recruits, Adriana Voicu and Margaux Dillon, who together embody the new directions under study for the future of AnaEE.

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INTERVIEW

Industrial partnerships: an interview with Dr. Mary Tye

Mari, we are delighted you accepted to share your insights into strengthening partnerships between ecosystems research infrastructures and industries. AnaEE is about to publish a Business Plan including a value proposition directly aimed at priority market segments, including agriculture, forest and water management, climate change adaption and green technology. Would you say such industries are ready for collaborations with the ecosystems research community? Some of these industries are at the forefront of developing adaptation solutions as they are also those most affected by changes in extreme weather, seasonality and water scarcity. While some adaptations that have been implemented to date have been ad-hoc, or considered in isolation of the effects on

other sectors, these groups are now more aware of the need to coordinate efforts. In a way, reduced economic resources have encouraged collaborations. People are more willing to work together on a cost-effective solution that brings multiple benefits across sectors or introduces new processes or analysis methods that are used to improve efficiency in another sector. With climate issues taking a higher priority as the impacts become tangible, this extends to working with the research community to identify where the risks are changing or new technologies may be emerging. Where do you see challenges arise in terms of dialoguing with industrial partners? In your opinion, are industries and researchers truly aware of how their respective visions overlap?


In short, no they aren’t aware of the overlaps! One of the reasons for this, and also the biggest challenge, is due to communication. For instance reinsurers, water resource managers, ecosystem researchers and forestry managers all have slightly different ways of receiving, perceiving and acting upon risk information. The first challenge to be overcome is one of establishing a common dialogue, or at least understanding what all of these perspectives are, before you can truly collaborate and advance novel solutions. Another challenge is to communicate the relevance of ecosystems research. Being able to frame the research in terms that resonate with the industrial partners (such as likely profits or market edge) is key to engaging them in an on-going two-way dialogue.

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INTERVIEW (Continued from page 2)

AnaEE aims to become an incubator of innovation. How would you envision a situation where industries send their technological hypotheses to be tested in experimental research facilities? This answer will seem very similar to my previous answer – but the key is communication and engagement. Industrial partners are experts in their specific field, often making decisions requiring tangible outcomes. Translating these outcomes into the specific research questions for experimentation and analysis is a skill more common to experimental researchers. Taking the time to work backwards from the problems that partners face and the decisions they make, to the research question will make it more pertinent to the industry and could lead to groundbreaking science that researchers hadn’t considered. Sustainability relies on restoring trust in our institutions and industries as interacting drivers of shared value, responsibility and innovations. Seeing as researchers retain a certain aura in the public mind, could a research infrastructure the likes of AnaEE lead the process of integrating stakeholder engagement in the governance of industrial innovations?

There is a definite need for bridging organizations which can bring together the key players in decisions such as resilience to extreme weather and effectively translate and mediate between these groups. Well-respected organizations are likely to be able to engage a diverse stake-holder group and drive innovations further than lesser known organizations. The core strengths of ECEP are its diversity of perspectives, collaborators, approaches and public and private interactions together with NCAR’s worldclass scientific reputation and transformative leadership role in developing and hosting community modeling resources, data development and communication capabilities. AnaEE has the potential to achieve a similar result through the breadth of knowledge represented at their facilities.

INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AND THE ECONOMY

There is a societal and scientific imperative in understanding how anthropogenic changes in the environment affect ecosystems, and the economies they sustain and the services they provide. Environmental research infrastructures (RI) are essential in optimizing resource management strategies, thanks to their unique ability to quantify changes in natural and managed ecosystems, plant ecophysiology and agronomic techniques, nutrient cycles and soil physics, water resources, etc. While RIs fulfill the need of delivering the necessary science data products, it is through political will of agencies and ministries that their vision can be translated into effective action.

Dr. Tye, thank you for your time. Environmental RIs remain a largely untapped resource for innovation worldwide. Yet it remains unclear just how experimental RIs might enter public-private partnerships and meet the private sector’s economic needs, whilst juggling competing demands to afford a competitive advantage and at the same time providing openly accessible data.

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INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AND THE ECONOMY (Continued from page 3) Environmental RIs have the capability to enable decisionmaking processes with regard to natural hazards, droughts, heat waves, chronic climate change and the subsequent vulnerability of ecosystems services, regional biodiversity and food security. Our goal at AnaEE (and elsewhere) is to leverage a scientific approach to better understand ecosystems resiliency, adaptability, transformability and recovery – in conjunction with economic models, business strategies and societal benefits. The current paradigm for engagement between environmental RIs and private entities is limited. We propose to switch the engagement paradigm between environ-mental RIs and private entities by bringing together private interests and surveying their requirements first, and then paring them with associated RIs, experiments and academicians. Re/insurance companies, agribusinesses and sensing and instrumentation industries have proven to be receptive to this novel engagement approach and are consequently natural partners for AnaEE. Indeed, co-designed and codeveloped experimental data could significantly reduce exposure to risk and advance

socio-ecological-economic resilience, by providing: (i) explicit decision-space and uncertainty estimates for (ecological) processes affected by climate change; (ii) comparative capability; (iii) diverse modeling platforms and tools for ecological forecasting and (iv) effective data flow management, including the adoption of common standards. However, Intellectual property rights and data sovereignty issues inevitably arise from working across geopolitical borders. Like the datasets themselves, the legal frame-works governing their use were developed separately, by public and private communities. There are nevertheless encouraging examples of collaborations successfully balancing data propriety and open access mandates, by developing addedvalue analytics and decisionspace tools, and federating web services to combine existing datasets and new experimental data. Bearing in mind the window for competitive advantage typically ranges from 1 to 2 years, one way of accommodating these competing interests is for any collaborative data product or service to enter the public domain beyond that period of propriety. This would also foster new sustainable business models, where private partners access the best available analytics from researchers.


This mutually beneficial approach remains relatively novel and challenges arise from key cultural differences between public and private stakeholder communities. Training, joint strategic planning and stakeholder engagement efforts will play an essential role in bridging gaps in cultures, languages and approaches — and ultimately be able to foster innovation together.

NEWS WITHIN OUR NETWORK Margaux Dillon joined the AnaEE project in June, as Communications and Lobbying Officer. Her role consists in managing and implementing the public relations and stakeholder engagement efforts of AnaEE’s members and ensuring the communications strategy reflects and ultimately meets the project's overarching goals. A key aspect of her work lies in securing further commitments from new institutional partners, as well as initiating the groundwork for industrial partnerships, in an effort to strengthen AnaEE as its governance evolves and enters the Pre-operational Phase. A certified sustainability practitioner, Margaux had previously worked for the Total energy major in a corporate responsibility capacity and coordinated corporate integrity and intercultural communications training programs in India and the United States. Committed to nurturing further synergies between the environmental research and industrial communities, she also actively supports historical monuments preservation in relations to natural risk resilience. Adriana Voicu came on board in July as a project officer and will be focusing on securing available structural funds for AnaEE research infrastructures. After completing a Masters in European Affairs from the Political Sciences Institute in Paris, Adriana gained a solid experience of European Research in coordinating various Clinical Research Projects for the Paris Hospitals and Healthcare Organization. Capitalizing on her broad understanding of research infrastructures and European Commission research financing schemes and procedures, she will lead the analysis and ultimate revision of national roadmaps. Adriana will be making recommendations for cost-effective collocations and integrated installations in the broader context of AnaEE entering its Construction Phase.

NEWS

AnaEE Italy

In order to set the stage for Italy’s key contribution and in hope of securing a Letter of Intent in the particular context of its expected application to host one of the three AnaEE Service Centers (by the September 30th deadline), a strategic workshop will be held in Rome on September 6th, 2016. AnaEE Coordinator Abad Chabbi will present recent achievements in terms of infrastructure and governance planning for the AnaEE Pre-operational Phase. Italian scientists having expressed their interest in joining AnaEE will also be invited to share recent developments in planning. CNR Director of Department Corrado Spinella will report on the ongoing interactions between AnaEE-Italia and the relevant Ministries. Further Environmental Science ESFRI projects the likes of ICOS and ACTRIS will also be represented.

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UPCOMING EVENTS WITHIN OUR NETWORK STRATEGIC ANAEE ITALIA MEETING SEPTEMBER 6th, 2016 | ROME, ITALY Representatives from the ESFRI, European Investment Bank (EIB), CNR Research Council and the relevant Ministries and research institutes will convene in Rome to discuss how to further Italy’s commitment to AnaEE. AnaEE Coordinator Abad Chabbi will present recent achievements in terms of infrastructure and governance planning for the AnaEE Pre-operational Phase – see page 5.

ANAEE CENTRAL HUB LAUNCH AND PRESENTATION OF THE BUSINESS PLAN OCTOBER 10-11th, 2016 | PARIS, FRANCE A short ceremony will be organized in Paris to officially launch the AnaEE Central Hub. This will also be an opportunity for the AnaEE Assembly of Member States to agree upon proposed planning instruments to move AnaEE forwards. A global consultation will also allow all AnaEE partners, platforms managers and stakeholders to familiarize with the proposed Business Plan and selected AnaEE Central Hub.

THIRD EDITION OF THE ENVRI WEEK NOVEMBER 14-18th, 2016 | PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC The 3rd edition of the ENVRI WEEK will be held in Prague and devoted to discussing Environmental Research Infrastructures. Organized twice a year (in November and in May), the ENVRI week hosts ENVRIplus project-related sessions, as well as several other sessions targeting different groups of stakeholders. In line with the reflection showcased in the present newsletter, a specific workshop will examine the ties between environmental sciences and the Economy – read more at http://www.envriplus.eu/2016/06/15/3rd-envriweek/.

NEWS

AnaEE in Scandinavia

Finland is expected to apply for an observer status in AnaEE. Our partner is currently working towards an integrated landscape analysis, which will allow AnaEE to be officially included in the updated national RI roadmap, expected by 2018. Meanwhile, a consortium of 16 observational field stations and experimental sites from all organizations and universities involved in ecological research have applied for funding for upgrades and construction of sites and platforms related to AnaEE. Decisions regarding funding will be made by Fall 2016. In Norway, the position of the National Research Council is that an infrastructure proposal should be submitted in relations to AnaEE (with a deadline of October 2016), so as to put AnaEE on the national roadmap (and sign the LoI). As a result, Norway is in the process of evaluating concepts and strengthening its consortium to submit a viable proposal. Platforms submitted by Norway to AnaEE remain at the core any effort to consilidate the natioanal research infrastructure.

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UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL EVENTS NATIONAL ECOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY NETWORK (NEON) SEMINAR SEPTEMBER 19th, 2016 | BOULDER, COLORADO, USA AnaEE Coordinator Abad Chabbi is invited to give a seminar on “The AnaEE Research Infrastructure: engagement strategies and the need of cross-continental collaboration” at NEON headquarters.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES ON RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES OCTOBER 3-5th, 2016 | CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA AnaEE coordinator Abad Chabbi is invited by the European commission to participate to the International Conferences on Research Infrastructures (ICRI) that will take place in Cape Town. The ICRI constitute a key global forum in the Research Infrastructures domain. As such, it will prove be a great opportunity to discuss AnaEE achievements and the necessary steps to move forwards into its Pre-operational Phase – read more at https://icri2016.co.za.

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION FALL MEETING DECEMBER 12-16th, 2016 | SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA The AGU’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco is the largest Earth and Space Science meeting in the world. Together with Michael Dietze, Andrew M. Fox and Hank W. Loescher, AnaEE coordinator Abad Chabbi will coordinate a session on “Forecasting a complex: Advances and opportunities in merging observations, experiments, and models”. The roundtable will consider how ecosystems and the services they provide are likely to change in the future and our decisions might affect this trajectory. This session aims to highlight developments and identify opportunities for cutting-edge forecasting research in biogeochemistry, bio-geophysics and ecology across both terrestrial and aquatic systems.

PLEASE CONTACT:

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON AnaEE

Margaux Dillon AnaEE Communications & Lobbying Officer [email protected] +33 1 76 21 61 98 www.anaee.com


TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL

1

INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIPS: AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. MARY TYE

2-3

INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AND THE ECONOMY

3-4

OUR NEWS

5

UPCOMING EVENTS WITHIN OUR NETWORK

6

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

7
