First ESF Scientific Forward Look Meeting on Earth System Science - Stockholm 31/01 - 01/02 2002

Earth System Science: Global Problems, Global Science - Europe's future role in global change research

The first Scientific Forward Look meeting aimed at providing medium to long-tem perspectives on multi-disciplinary science topics from a European viewpoint was held on 31 January to 1 February 2002 in Stockholm with participation of over 60 leading researchers from across Europe and national global change programmes.

The meeting recognised that Europe as a whole, makes substantial contributions to the global programmes but the effectiveness of this input could be increased and reinforced by common actions. This would ensure European leadership in the global programmes and allow for better use of resources available for the research at both national and European levels.

The meeting unanimously recommended that ESF should establish a European Global Change Committee involving leading scientists together with representatives of the global programmes (now under the banner of the Earth Systems Science Partnership) and other European institutions including the European Commission and national agencies. The aim of this structure will be to give European coherence to current research, especially within the European Research Area advocated by Commissioner Philippe Busquin; to stimulate new initiatives; to define new infrastructure needs and achieve its funding; and to reduce complexities in current funding mechanisms and procedures and strengthen the long-term sustenance of this major research endeavour.

The meeting also concluded that future flagship programmes should be initiated based on scientific excellence, addressing European regional issues in global change research but set always in the global context. Topics identified were the Arctic Basin and the sub-Arctic, and the Mediterranean region. The need for a close and intimate involvement of both the natural and social sciences was recognised as an important prerequisite in such endeavours and the difficulties of creating such multi-disciplinary approaches in the past were recognised. Similarly, there needs to be a renewed effort to ensure that policy makers at the European and national levels have more direct ways of having scientific advice fed into to the political and diplomatic processes. This will also depend on strong monitoring and operational data collection to provide the baseline for future research into our changing environment.

The meeting was organized in partnership by the European Science Foundation (ESF), The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) and The Swedish Research Council.

Professor Enric Banda, Secretary General of the ESF commenting on the conclusions of the meeting said: "I warmly welcome these conclusions and can commit the Foundation to work hard to achieve their implementation, in partnership with other agencies. The importance of sustaining European global change research is self-evident and we must use the opportunity to build on the present base and ensure European leadership in this area. I also want to thank FORMAS and the Swedish Research Council for their efforts in promoting this partnership and in working so closely with us”.

Category: Media Centre, Press Releases 2002