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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DANUBIUS-PP (PREPARATORY PHASE FOR THE PAN-EUROPEAN RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE DANUBIUSâ€“RI â€œTHE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES ON RIVER-SEA SYSTEMS)

Teaser

Summary

River-Sea Systems (RSS) - river basins and coastal waters that they influence - are of major importance for food & energy production, transport, and societal wellbeing. They face natural and anthropogenic perturbations at local, regional and global scales. European research on RSS, including the transition zones between freshwater and marine environments, is fragmented by discipline and geography.
DANUBIUS-RI (International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems) will be a pan-European distributed research infrastructure (RI) building on existing expertise to support interdisciplinary research spanning the environmental, social and economic sciences. It will provide access to a range of sites, facilities and expertise - a â€˜one-stop shopâ€™ for knowledge exchange, access to harmonised data and platform for interdisciplinary research, education and training.
DANUBIUS-PP (H2020 Grant Agreement 739562) is raising the RI to legal, financial and technical maturity by:
(i) establishing political and financial commitments from countries and national stakeholders;
(ii) growing reputation and linkages within Europe and Internationally;
(iii) developing the science and innovation agenda;
(iv) developing architecture of the organisational and administrative components of the RI and its legal identity;
(v) agreeing operational requirements of the RI and its legal identity.

Work performed

Seven technical elements of DANUBIUS-PP have been defined, essential for the construction and operational phases: project management and planning; scientific programme and user needs; legal, governance and organisation; technical; financial and economic; communication; and outreach. These elements are addressed by ten work packages (WPs). The work performed so far has been in accordance with the projct timeline.
WP1 Project Management and Coordination covers internal organization and decision-making. Several bodies have been established: General Assembly (GA), composed of representatives of all partners for decision making and work plan assessment; Steering Committee (SC), composed of WP leaders to assist the Project Coordinator with activities and monitoring; Scientific and Technical Advisory Board (STAB), to provide independent advice to the GA and Project Coordinator; and Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR), to provide active involvement of partner governments in the development of the RI.
WP2 Science and Innovation Agenda is developing the scientific rationale framework for DANUBIUS-RI. The WP has engaged with the wider community, convening a dedicated session at the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union in 2018 and publishing a synthesis paper in the International Journal of Water Resources Development. It has delivered a detailed summary of the research needs of European RSS and a summary of environmental, social and policy challenges across the freshwater-marine continuum.
WP3 Defining the DANUBIUS-RI legal entity sets up the basis for its legal personality. Following extensive analysis of the options, the GA selected the ERIC as the most suitable legal framework. Related documents are in preparation.
WP4 Developing the funding model of the DANUBIUS-RI has investigated non-research needs, available sources of funding for the construction and operation of the RI and funding models. Despite challenges in defining services for non-researchers, investigations have provided better visibility of available financial opportunities and common patterns for building a sustainable funding model.
WP5 Architecture defines the architecture of the RI. The Hub, Nodes and Supersites have been fully described and a working model of the RI provided. A procedure and strict rules for admission of Supersites has been tested. Deliverables on the Data Centre and TTO have been drafted. The ICT e-infrastructure and e-Learning Office have been developed.
WP6 DANUBIUS Commons will enable cross disciplinary performance and creation of high quality compatible data and products. A key task is to elaborate the initial set of principles. Important steps have been made toward the establishment of the Commons, with awareness of international experience on standards of excellence and theoretical knowledge, on principles and criteria for the selection of methodologies.
WP7 Data protocols and handling defines the types of both digital and non-digital data and the guidelines and methodologies for their collection, format and storage. Best-practice guidelines and methodologies for non-digital and digital samples have been reviewed, together with an analysis of conceptual models for data flow.
WP8 ICT e-Infrastructure and digital data cloud storage has focused on connectivity with users. Remote access service arrangements of other RIs have been reviewed, the first version of remote access service offers drawn up and analysis of options for the link between the Data Centre and other components undertaken. A relationship has been developed with the e-IRG Group the related interaction plan is well on track.
WP9 Capacity building is developing a common language, a human resources strategy, and guidance on stakeholder and citizen engagement. An ontology reference document defines the shared domain of discourse, defines primary objects of relevance in a common language and conceptualizes inter-relational links. An HR strategy enables unde

Final results

DANUBIUS-RI will support a new scientific concept: support of excellent interdisciplinary research at RSS scale, bringing together freshwater and marine communities. A special focus is on understanding processes in transitional environments. The main impacts of DANUBIUS-PP will occur during the second half of the project, but the foundation for an outstanding undertaking has already been laid. There is now a more detailed and better known image of DANUBIUS-RI. By actively engaging other initiatives, DANUBIUS-RI is already establishiing its position in the landscape of European environmental RIs. DANUBIUS-PP is involved in the INFRA EOSC Call, together with the ENVRIplus Consortium. It is sharing experiences with the scientific community, whilst learning needs of all users. Work on the Research Needs has involved significant researchers and stakeholders from the project and outside.