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AnaEE NEWSLETTERAnaEE NL 15 | October 2016 | www.anaee.com | 1

EUROPEAN RESEARCHINFRASTRUCTURE FOR ANALYSISAND EXPERIMENTATION ONECOSYSTEMS

Dear reader,

Having all of us poured intodeveloping exciting newprojects, I hope the presentnewsletter will give you asense of ongoing efforts toprepare an effective transitionin governance for the AnaEEPre-Operational Phase.

On October 31st, the exten-ded AnaEE Preparatory Phaseends and the Pre-operationalPhase begins. Five countrieshave signed a Letter of Intentso far, demonstrating a clearcommitment to our pan-Euro-pean experimental researchinfrastructure in ecosystemscience.

As we travel far and wide tobring new partners into ourConsortium, we have focusedon the business case for fur-ther commitment in the Medi-terranean. In September, wemet with multilateral repre-sentatives in Italy and Spain…and would welcome a similar

opportunity in Turkey furtherdown the line.

A single application to host theAnaEE Central Hub wassubmitted by France. An inde-pendent Selection Committeeof international experts gathe-red to evaluate the Frenchproposal and offered extensi-ve recommendations. A for-mal response is under study toexamine how to align theproposal with the highest stan-dards of excellence in RIgovernance.

It is with great anticipationwe have invited you to join usin Paris to launch the AnaEECentral Hub on October 10 -11th, 2016.

We expect the AnaEEAssembly of Member States todiscuss and agree upon Termsof Reference for the Pre-operational Phase and forma-lize the Observer status, effec-tively bringing new countries

into our planning process, as earlyas possible.

A global consultation will also allowAnaEE stakeholders at large to fami-liarize with the proposed BusinessPlan and the AnaEE Central Hub.

As always, further information willbe made available through ourwebsite and social media.

For now, happy reading – I lookforward to seeing in the flesh at ourCentral Hub launch to shape thebeginning of a new phase for AnaEEtogether!

FIFTEENTH EDITION


The key to anticipating and pre-dicting the consequences of un-precedented changes in ourEarth system lies not only in abetter understanding of thecomplexity and drivers of eco-system processes, but also inacquiring the necessary know-ledge to plan for a changingfuture.

Without a sufficient grasp of theinterdependencies betweenecosystems and the environ-ment, Europe will remain unableto assess the impacts of anthro-pogenic change, mitigate therisks and plan accordingly. Forexample, further analysis hasyet to be conducted on process-level changes affecting ecosys-tems structures and functions,which would help optimize theproduction of nutritious foods,goods and services, in a wayboth environmentally sustaina-ble and on par with growingenergy and population de-mands. Expected changes aretypically non-linear or stochasticin nature and as such, a com-plete analysis requires newintegrated approaches wellbeyond those of a typicalresearch project. Fully integra-ted infrastructures would allowus to elucidate these unknownprocesses and develop newdecision-making tools. Thiswould also provide actionableinsights into greenhouse gas

mitigation, climate adaptation,water resource management,food security and changes inregional biodiversity and thefunctions they provide, to namea few.

The Analysis and Experimen-tation on Ecosystems project(hereby referred to as AnaEE) isa Research Infrastructure (RI)designed to provide the neces-sary research to advance ourecological literacy and analyti-cal and decision-making toolsfor societal benefit. At the coreof AnaEE are experimental facili-ties with the capacity to subjectecosystems to expected condi-tions and ascertain the role ofindividual forcing variables andtheir interactions on ecosystemsprocesses. AnaEE’s experimen-tal approach is therefore groun-ded in the integration ofManipulation, Measurement,Modelling, Mitigation andManagement.

AnaEE’s infrastructure includesstate-of-the-art experimentalapproaches from novel manipu-lation facilities and process-levelmeasurements, to innovativestatistical studies and models.Replicated experiments can bepaired in both controlledenvironments and natural in situconditions throughout Europe,being collocated with existinglong-term observational net-

works providing high-quality data toparameter our experimental modelsand extrapolate beyond the boun-dary of the experiment itself. AnaEEthus directly confronts the socio-ecological concepts of resilience,adaptability, transformability, reco-very and mitigation.

Expanding on its introduction to theESFRI roadmap in 2010, the AnaEEERIC will be established to become acornerstone in building a sustainablefuture for Europe as well as a viablebio-economy. AnaEE’s stakeholderengagement policies include buildinga global community of researchers,science managers, policy-makers, pu-blic and private sector innovators andcitizens. AnaEE partnerships lie at thenexus of the environmental, healthand food, policy, management anddecision-making domains. AnaEE’swide range of partners also providesthe infrastructure with a uniqueopportunity to leverage further re-sources, tools and expertise in multi-disciplinary integrative studies, inconjunction with economic models,business strategies and societalbenefits.

AnaEE also aims to transcend tradi-tional barriers to work together, byrealizing a broader vision of inter-national collaboration where AnaEEwould resonate in Europe and global-ly. The importance of global environ-mental research emanates from theinterconnectedness of worldwideproblems, issues and implications.

INTRODUCING THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE ANAEE BUSINESS PLAN

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AnaEE NEWSLETTER


Doing so allows us to pool ourknowledge together and sharelessons-learned in craftinglarge-scale research infrastru-ctures, as well as expand on ourresults and findings globally. Atthe EU level, AnaEE operates aspart of ENVRIPlus, to developinterfaces with other ESFRI-roadmap RIs including ICOS,ACTRIS and LIFEWATCH. Inter-national and inter-ESFRI part-nerships extend our sphere ofinference even further, which isso essential to addressing to-day’s global challenges. Suchcollaborations also reduce theduplication of efforts. World-wide, AnaEE cooperates withlarge scale international RIs toestablish a sustainable link bet-ween environmental researchinfrastructures, with AnaEE as amajor contributor. Taken inconcert, the European andinternational integration of RIswill develop our capacity toaddress cross-continental ques-tions and challenge our theo-ries, in ways previously impos-sible. This realigns EU eco-systems (and the services theyprovide) in the broader contextof the ever-increasing connec-tedness of the world.

AnaEE will end its PreparatoryPhase in 2016 and plans onbecoming an ERIC by 2018. Itwill be governed by a CentralHub that will coordinate accessto the National Platforms andcollaborating European facilitieswhich are the very fabric ofAnaEE. The hub will facilitatethe implementation of jointprojects and provide an inter-

face for multiple stakeholders,including NGOs, researchers,universities, ministries andother governmental authorities.AnaEE will consist of threeSupranational Service Centersin charge of (1) developingtechnology, harmonizing me-thods, building industrial part-nerships and facilitating know-ledge transfers, (2) data stan-dardization and modelling, and(3) the subsequent scientificsynthesis and dissemination.

More than a hundred NationalPlatforms were identified fortheir excellence. Because eachplatform has its own suite ofprotocols and instrumentation,they will proceed to any neces-sary upgrades prior to joiningthe AnaEE RI. This will bothoptimize platform cross-com-parisons (in a way that is bothconsistent and feasible) andultimately engage individualplatforms to take an active partin meeting AnaEE’s key chal-lenges. Each platform offerspossible convergences with oneor more of the following fourcomplementary programmaticstructures:

1. Natural, open-air platformshosting well designed in-situexperiments, representing alarge range of managed andnatural ecosystems acrossEurope’s different climaticand land use gradients;

2. Enclosed platforms actingas controlled laboratoryenvironments, such asEcotrons, to experimentally

test the resilience and transforma-tion of ecosystems in the face ofextreme events, natural hazardsand climate change;

3. Analytical platforms providingnovel techniques and high-techequipment to better characterizethe state of ecosystems and explo-re unknown processes and non-linear behaviour; and

4. Modelling platforms specializingin data analysis, integration andfore-casting. This requires thedevelopment and implementationof integrated data work flows andnew tools at the frontier of today’sscience for researchers, educators,decision-makers and public-privateenterprises. This variety of scien-tific models and tools provides acompetitive advantage to AnaEEscientists, institutions, SMEs… andfosters the integration of therelated stakeholder communities.

AnaEE will target thus the followinguser groups:

▪ First and foremost, AnaEE aims toenable the research community torespond to the challenges high-lighted by the ecosystem sciencecommunity, meet national andinternational imperatives andsupport the advancement of theEuropean Research Area.

▪ AnaEE will support industries, asinnovation developers and con-tractors or as customers insofar asthey mobilize national platforms astest beds.

▪ Governments and local adminis-trations will profit from AnaEE’sreporting, consulting and decisionsupport activities.

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enabled by the high qualityplatforms in AnaEE.

▪ Finally, educators will play akey role in developing to-morrow’s experts throughformal curricula, intern-ships, visiting scientists andthe overall promotion ofenvironmental literacy.

AnaEE activities target the de-velopment of a European bio-economy, with an estimatedworth of 2 trillion euros andaccounting for 22 million jobsin the EU (in the context of a 9%employment rate). Each euroinvested in EU-funded bio-economy research and inno-vation is expected to yield atenfold return by 2025. Thebio-economy market segmentsmost likely to be impacted byAnaEE results include agricultu-re and food security, forestry(including biomass), risk insu-rance and climate change adap-tation. AnaEE, in turn, will striveto develop green technologies,produce valuable data to in-form risk-management strate-gies and provide the scientifictools to advance R&D activitiesin the relevant fields.

Lastly, experimentation techno-logies and methodologies (i.e.Ecotrons, analytical platforms,integrated data workflows andmodelling factories) are thefoundations of AnaEE’s pro-grammatic structure. AnaEEwill continue to innovate withregards to such technologiesand optimize its business modelaccording to technological de-velopments. We expect theadaptive management of ouroperations will inform newdesigns of commercial andcustom-made instrumentation.

AnaEE’s innovation potentialstands to leverage the insights ofworld experts and benefit thefield of instrumentation andexperimentation (optical and re-mote-sensing techniques, Nano-SIMS technology, advanced spec-troscopy and potentially, cyber-infrastructures and next-gene-ration sequencing.

These activities will be extendedto new markets, such as cost-effective spectroscopy and gasmonitoring instrumentation, in-dustrial production applications,agribusinesses and the insurancemarket. AnaEE’s strategic ap-proach to nurturing industrialpartnerships will be based oncollaborations between its mem-bers and SMEs. Strategic effortswill be roadmapped and co-developed to become part of asustainable business model.Technology transfers and suppor-ting sustainable public-privateventures will also take advantageof the emerging technologiesdeveloped by the RIs.

Success will depend on a strong,shared governance. To that end,the AnaEE Assembly of Memberswill vote on strategic decisionsand oversee all management andoperations. The Director Generalwill work with all three ServiceCentres to ensure a close coope-ration with the operational ele-ments of AnaEE and all asso-ciated personnel, inclusive ofNational Node coordinators (oneper country) and platform re-presentatives (one per platformtype). In addition, AnaEE will seekexternal advice from experts onscientific, ethical and financialissues. Through the AnaEE pan-European infrastructure, nationalinvestments will derive all themore visibility and political

importance as AnaEE’s results informscience and society. The financialsustainability of AnaEE will bemaintained through the contributionsof committed Member States andcountries called upon to host thecentral services, in accordance withthe rules defined in the ERIC statutes.Member States supporting AnaEE willalso benefit from:

▪ An improved, optimized andcoordinated use of researchresources;

▪ A larger talent and resource pool,allowing for a greater return onresearch investment;

▪ Access to comprehensive datafrom different European eco-systems types and climatic zones;

▪ Greater possibilities for the deve-lopment of national researchprograms.

▪ Decision-making tools for naturalresource management, policy andgovernance.

In conclusion, the AnaEE ERIC’s keystrength is that it is the first attemptto coordinate research and experi-mentation on the environment at sucha scale. This will attract potential usersrequiring support to develop complexprojects on the one hand and researchand innovation on the other. AnaEEwill contribute both to national andEuropean policies and researchmandates. The AnaEE RI will offer asubstantial contribution to the overallenvironmental sustainability of oursociety and provide assistance inmeeting the many societal imperativesdepending on our capacity to developa predictive environmental under-standing of anthropogenic impacts.

Thus will the AnaEE ERIC directlycontribute to the ERA 2025 vision bybuilding further knowledge and under-standing, as we set out to craft futuresocieties.


SCALING REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AT THE NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LEVELS

Britain’s decision to leave theEuropean Union was not a voteagainst climate change, orsciences and innovation. Howe-ver, Leave victory has generateduncertainty regarding the EU’sratification of the Paris Agree-ment. In the broader context ofthe UK historically leading theglobal consultation on climatechange, the question is nowwhether or not a cross-partyconsensus on climate change willcontinue to exist.

Another of AnaEE’s partners in itsPreparatory Phase, Spain, facesa prolonged political impasse.According to the European Com-mission, however, Spain is one ofthe most robust economies ineuro-zone at the moment. Thevacuum generated by inconclu-sive General Elections thereforeweakens the prospects for struc-tural economic reform and thenormalization of public spen-ding. Still, a flexible economicsystem would likely enable Spainto integrate medium to long-term environmental risk mana-gement strategies and allocatefunds for experimental ecosys-tems research, which is arequirement for it to join AnaEEas a Signatory State.

This imbalance highlights a needeven greater than anticipated forgovernments and corporations tocollaborate in creating an alter-native regulatory environmentand meet the challenges of mo-

dern societies in times of climatechange. The COP21 has indeedstructured the public-private con-versation on climate change forthe last two years and nowrequires international scaling butalso a local dissemination, basedon transparent negotiations forall stakeholders involved, withparticular attention paid to thegeneral public, in order tocircumvent growing defiance forcorporate lobbying. AnaEE stron-gly believes in its capacity todeliver such solutions to its stake-holders, noticeably in the form ofpredictive scenarios targeted atpolicy-makers and industrial part-nerships to develop innovativesolutions to climate change.

This was the context in which theAnaEE coordination team trave-led to Seville to make the case forthe crucial mobilization of theMediterranean. Andalusia boastsan active network of publicuniversities conducting ecosys-tems research, a notable andbiodiverse portion of its territoryunder protection and theregional business community hasthoroughly invested in the bio-economy. The representativeswe met proved keen to prepareto be the first to face the on-slaught of climate change-relatedimpacts. Having identified anunder-representation of Medi-terranean ecosystems in thenetwork of pre-selected nationalplatforms at the core of AnaEE’s

research capacity, we are stu-dying all possibilities for Seville toact as a test-bed and play a keyrole in accelerating climate chan-ge policy-making from both thecentral government in Spain andbeyond, at the European level.

Given the challenges in thepublic-private debate and theopportunities to move forward,AnaEE could tap into the currentmomentum by:

1. Testing AnaEE’s capacity toscale regional efforts at thenational and European levels.Responses to climate changecoordinated at the regionallevel could likely lead toduplicate innovative designsand technologies in territo-ries facing similar challenges.

2. Join coalitions and leveragethe pan-European nature ofthe infrastructure to sendrepresentatives to local andregional events and work-shops, to better under-standthe incentive to support theirefforts, identify best prac-tices and network.

3. Approaching the consultan-cies often underlying cross-industry coalitions. AnaEEmight consider such collabo-rations as promising venuesfor its research expertise,vision for innovative solutionsand advisory services.

AnaEE NL 15 | October 2016 | www.anaee.com | 6AnaEE NEWSLETTER

HIGH-LEVEL ANAEE ITALIA CONVENTIONSEPTEMBER 6th, 2016 | ROME, ITALY

Representatives from the ESFRI, European Investment Bank (EIB), Research Council (CNR), ResearchCentre for Agriculture and Environment (CREA-AA), as well as the relevant Ministries and universitiesconvened in Rome to express keen enthusiasm for further involvement in AnaEE on Italy’s part. AbadChabbi presented recent achievements in terms of reinforcing AnaEE’s infrastructure and governanceand stressed the urgency in signing a Letter of Interest, for Italy to play a decisive role in implementingthe AnaEE Pre-operational Phase by means of hosting one of the project’s Services Centers.

STRATEGIC MEETING REGARDING A SPANISH COMMITMENT TO ANAEESEPTEMBER 9th, 2016 | SEVILLA, SPAIN

The AnaEE team was invited by the Superior Counsel in Scientific Investigations (SCIC) to present theproject to the Environmental and Land Planning Counsellor of Andalusia. Upon hearing keen interestin seeing regional research platforms join the AnaEE network, a roadmap was proposed to gather thecommitment of regional universities as a strong basis to scale the mobilization to the national level.Abad Chabbi again stressed the urgency in signing a Letter of Interest, for Spain to play a leadershiprole in the Mediterranean region and in implementing the AnaEE Pre-operational Phase.

SCALING REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AT THE NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LEVELS

CENTRAL HUB LAUNCH AND PRESENTATION OF THE ANAEE BUSINESS PLANOCTOBER 10 - 11th, 2016 | PARIS, FRANCE

A short ceremony will be organized in Paris to officially launch the AnaEE Central Hub. This will alsobe an opportunity for the AnaEE Assembly of Member States to agree upon proposed planninginstruments to move AnaEE forwards. A global consultation will also allow all partners, platformsmanagers and stakeholders to familiarize with the Business Plan and selected AnaEE Central Hub.

THIRD EDITION OF THE ENVRI WEEKNOVEMBER 14 - 18th, 2016| PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

The 3rd edition of the ENVRI WEEK will be held in Prague and devoted to discussing EnvironmentalResearch Infrastructures. Organized twice a year (in November and in May), the ENVRI week hostsENVRIplus project-related sessions, as well as several other sessions targeting different groups ofstakeholders. In line with the reflection showcased in the present newsletter, a specific workshop willexamine the ties between environmental sciences and the Economy; read more at http://www.envriplus.eu/2016/06/15/3rd-envri-week/.

UPCOMING ANAEE EVENTS

NEWS FROM THE ROAD


AnaEE – NEON: TOWARDS FORGING GLOBAL SYNERGIESSEPTEMBER 17th - 23rd, 2016 | BOULDER, COLORADO, USA

AnaEE Coordinator Abad Chabbi was invited at NEON headquarters to give a seminar on the AnaEEResearch Infrastructure’s engagement strategies and the need for cross-continental collaborations.The presentation focused on the practical modalities for AnaEE and NEON to work together in forgingthe cutting-edge global synergies which would enable further understanding of how ecologicalprocesses behave across ecosystems, landscapes and continents. Ecosystems research indeed strivesto inform the pursuit of actionable information, given the scientific and societal imperative in advancingecological forecasting and the experimental processes so essential to elucidating ecosystems non-linearand stochastic behaviors.Various high-level meetings and lectures underlined the need for a strategic roadmap to enable theNEON and AnaEE infrastructures, as well as their associated user groups (PIs), to formulate a concertedresponse to global challenges and increase international participation partnerships the likes of Horizon2020. Discussions with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Extreme Climate EngineeringPartnership and the Colorado State University currently collaborating with NEON highlighted aunanimous agreement on the impetus for a global, infrastructure-based approach to observing andforecasting ecosystem changes.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES ON RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURESOCTOBER 3 - 5th, 2016 | CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Abad Chabbi was also invited by the European Commissionto take part in the International Conference on ResearchInfrastructures (ICRI) in Cape Town. The ICRI is a key globalforum in the Research Infrastructures domain and as such,provided AnaEE with a welcome opportunity to discuss itsachievements and the necessary steps for the RI to shift intoits Pre-operational Phase.In line with his Boulder intervention, Dr. Chabbi advocatedfor global systems to face global problems. The consoli-dation of the ongoing cooperation with South Africa wasalso discussed as a mean to tackle food security andecosystems sustainability in the light of climate change.Both the South African Minister of Science and Technology,Dr. Naledi Pandor and the head of the EuropeanCommission General Direction of Research and Innovation,Dr. Robert-Jan Smits expressed keen enthusiasm for AnaEE’sadded value for both Europe and South Africa.

AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION FALL MEETINGDECEMBER 12 - 16th, 2016 | SAN FRANCISCO, USA

The AGU’s Fall Meeting is the largest Earth and Space Science meeting in the world. Together withMichael Dietze, Andrew M. Fox and Hank W. Loescher, Abad Chabbi will coordinate a session onForecasting a complex: Advances and opportunities in merging observations, experiments and models.The talk will consider how ecosystems and the services they provide are likely to change in the futureand how our decisions might affect this trajectory. The aim will be to highlight developments andidentify opportunities for cutting-edge forecasting research in biogeochemistry, biogeophysics andecology across terrestrial and aquatic systems.

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

ANAEE IN THE WORLD


EDITORIAL 1

INTRODUCING THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE BUSINESS PLAN 2-4

PARTNERING TO SCALE REGIONAL MOBILIZATION 5-6AT THE NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LEVELS

ANAEE IN THE WORLD 7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOR MOREINFORMATIONON AnaEE

PLEASE CONTACT:

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

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