[Gbif-europe] Fwd: FW: Contact for preparation of a joint COST project proposal on Invasive Alien Species and citizen science

[Anne-Sophie Archambeau]

Dear all, 

here is a message from Kyle for discussion 

best regards 

anne-sophie

From: Ana Cristina Cardoso <ana-cristina.cardoso at ec.europa.eu>
Date: Monday, 8 May 2017 at 17.56
To: "bernat.claramunt at uab.cat" <bernat.claramunt at uab.cat>,
"dcogalniceanu at univ-ovidius.ro" <dcogalniceanu at univ-ovidius.ro>,
"elena.tricarico at unifi.it" <elena.tricarico at unifi.it>,
"emarchante at uc.pt" <emarchante at uc.pt>, "Gaia.Agnello at mfn-berlin.de"
<Gaia.Agnello at mfn-berlin.de>, "hele at ceh.ac.uk" <hele at ceh.ac.uk>, Kyle
Copas <kcopas at gbif.org>, "melanie.josefsson at naturvardsverket.se"
<melanie.josefsson at naturvardsverket.se>, "Peter.Brown at anglia.ac.uk"
<Peter.Brown at anglia.ac.uk>, "quentin.groom at plantentuinmeise.be"
<quentin.groom at plantentuinmeise.be>, "tim.adriaens at inbo.be"
<tim.adriaens at inbo.be>, "zenetos at hcmr.gr" <zenetos at hcmr.gr>
Subject: Contact for preparation of a joint COST project proposal on
Invasive Alien Species and citizen science 

Dear Colleagues, 

We are contacting you about the preparation of a joint project proposal
on Invasive Alien Species (IAS) and citizen science (CS) to be submitted
to the COST Association under the currently open call. 

It is widely recognised that the effective management of biological
invasions, including the implementation of legislation such as the EU
Regulation on IAS, requires accurate, detailed, and timely information
on occurrences and distribution of IAS for their efficient prevention,
early detection, rapid response, and also for evaluating the
effectiveness of management measures. 

In recent years, the contribution of citizens in the context of IAS
monitoring has escalated worldwide, in association with the development
of supporting telecommunication tools and the internet. 

A recent Communication of the Commission (COM(2017)198 final)
acknowledges the benefit that nature protection can obtain from engaging
citizens in the implementation of environment legislation. 

Engaging citizens entails knowledge exchange, training, awareness
raising and involvement in monitoring and implementation of control
measures. In addition, awareness raising and educational aspects of
engaging citizens in scientific research can also positively affect
behavioural change. 

The workshop on "Citizen Science and Open Data: a model for Invasive
Alien Species in Europe´, held in Brussels on 8th February 2017,
delivered key recommendations for researchers, policy makers and
implementing authorities, indicating future research and policy
directions/ opportunities regarding CS and IAS: 

In the project proposal we would develop, we suggest to give a follow up
to these key recommendations: 

ORGANISATIONAL AND GOVERNANCE ISSUES 

- Ensure the long-term sustainability of CS projects, e.g. by
identifying and acknowledging local "IAS champions", providing feedback
to participants to maximize their involvement, developing reward
systems, anticipating technological advances, and refining the CS
projects to the users' needs. 

- Promote reuse and sharing of interoperable CS data, avoiding
duplication by enhancing the use of standards in CS data (e.g. Darwin
Core) and licensing, at least at EU level. 

- Encourage dissemination of existing tools, by promoting free and open
IAS smart apps, re-usable source code, ease translation into multiple
languages (e.g. as in JRC's Invasive Alien Species Europe), and aligning
and coordinating CS efforts within Europe and beyond. 

TECHNICAL ISSUES 

- Enhance timely CS data flows, in particular for issuing alerts on IAS
of Union concern to MS competent authorities. 

- Improve quality assurance and decrease bias of CS data about IAS
through a) automated mechanisms where possible, b) exploit trends in
filtering systems to select data with specified confidence level, c) use
of dedicated training, including guidance on validation criteria for the
IAS of Union concern coming from CS initiatives. 

- Coordinate and aggregate validated CS data about IAS to open
repositories, such as GBIF and EASIN, where managers can find all data
in one place and analyze them through web services 

STRENGTHENING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CITIZENS, SCIENTISTS AND
POLICY-MAKERS 

- Tackle the scepticism of governmental authorities in relation to CS
data by highlighting successful showcases. 

- Promote available expertise and share guidelines about the use of CS
for IAS related matters across all MS. 

-  Increase public participation in targeted IAS field campaigns that
use good experimental designs and appropriate methods and tools,
including the smooth use of smart apps (e.g. collecting as less personal
information as required). 

- Address legal and ethical issues by clearly stating the terms of
participation, and following data protection obligations. 

The next deadline for collection of proposal is the 7th September 2017,
for instructions on participation see
http://www.cost.eu/participate/open_call 

We have roughly 4 months, including the summer holiday period, to
complete and submit a proposal. This entails the development of the
compilation of a technical annex, establishing the participant's network
and completion of e-COST profiles. Therefore, and to guide the
preparation of the proposal, we suggest the following schedule: 

    9th May: 1st contact, request of participation intent and propose
timetable of proposal development 

    16th May: feedback on email of 9th May, including interest
participating to the proposal and to the drafting meeting at JRC 

    9th June: Draft proposal shared 

    21st June (indicative date): Drafting meeting at JRC 

    ... 

    31st August: final draft proposal 

I am looking forward to receiving your feedback. 

With best regards, 

Ana Cristina

ANA CRISTINA CARDOSO (PH.D.) 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
DG Joint Research Centre 
Directorate D- Sustainable Resources 
Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources 

Via E. Fermi 2749, Building 27 (TP 270) 
I-21027 Ispra (VA)/ Italy 
Tel: +39 0332 785702 
Email: ana-cristina.cardoso at ec.europa.eu 

http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ [1] 
http://mcc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ [2] 

-- 
 

Links:
------
[1] http://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
[2] http://mcc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.biodiversity.be/pipermail/gbif-europe/attachments/20170510/5fa33264/attachment-0002.html>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.biodiversity.be/pipermail/gbif-europe/attachments/20170510/5fa33264/attachment-0003.html>