Scotland’s Environment Web Environmental Data Portal Joanna Muse Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Why did we develop Scotland’s environment web? Fragmentation of information across different sources. Unable to compare data. Difficult to identifying common environmental issues. No comprehensive view of the environment. Technology shift – increasing use the web and mobile devices access information services. Cluttered and confusing landscape of web information and data. Data publication across the public sector – INSPIRE, Re-use of public sector information, environmental information, open data strategy.

Followed the principles of Shared Environmental Information System, where data is:   managed as close as possible to source; published once and shared with others for many purposes; readily available to easily fulfil reporting obligations; easily accessible to all users; compared at appropriate geographical scale and the participation of citizens; fully available to the general public and at national level; and supported through common, free, open software standards.

Scotland’s Environment website ( www. environment. gov Scotland’s Environment website ( www.environment.gov.scot ) is a shared data portal. It aims to be the trusted gateway to everything you want to know about Scotland’s environment bringing together environmental information and data in one place so that it is easy to search, discover, view, analyse and interpret. A factual online account of Scotland’s environment drawing on input and data from multiple sources; Access to open data via maps, analysis tools to support decision making and policy development; and Signposting to more detailed information and guidance on specialist topics and themes, published on partner and daughter websites.

Shared A hub that brings together environmental information and data into one place. Delivers more together in partnership, than we can achieve as individual organisations. Sharing skills, knowledge, expertise, data.

Trusted Users are concerned with accuracy, relevance and authority of data searched on the web. Because of the partners involved (Scotland’s leading environmental organisations), users are confident that this is a portal to trusted and authoritative information. Gateway Scotland’s environment website is not a data repository – it does not own, hold or publish data. The website harvests data from source – quick access to the most up to date published data. Services and applications that make information and data accessible from multiple sources for multiple users.

View, analyse and interpret Search and Discover A centralised hub to search for data from multiple sources. Users shouldn’t need to know who publishes data. Making data more widely discoverable. Saving time and effort that would otherwise be spent searching many different websites. View, analyse and interpret The website transforms open data into formats that make it easy to access, view and interpret. It helps to extend the reach and influence of valuable data assets collated and published by our partners. Makes data more accessible and usable by a wider audience. Use of data to improve policies, assessments, decisions, research, and engage with citizens.

Land Information Search Data tools Map Data Analysis Land Information Search

Data discovery catalogue – under development

Through partnerships and collaborations, Scotland’s environment web is an extended “network” of interconnected, trusted and authoritative sources of data and information. Users can choose the level of detail they prefer for data interaction.

Interaction at EU Level Scotland’s environment web supports public sector data publication - opens up access to data for policies, activities, decision making, sharing data, public access to data. EU INSPIRE Directive EU Directive on the re-use of Public Sector Information Public access to environmental information Open Data Strategy

Interaction at EU Level EU Biodiversity strategy and Habitats directive 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity Habitat Map of Scotland (EUNIS classification). NBN Atlas Scotland – species data, publicly accessible. Land use assessments, permitted activities and grant applications. Future - Sentinel remote sensing satellite data – biodiversity/habitats and environmental crime. Water framework directive Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 => River basin management plans More user friendly “Our Environment” topics on Scotland’s freshwaters and Scotland’s seas Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act Consideration of environment impacts of plans and policies – often by generalists. Search for “recommended” data by task. Data needs to be supported with guidance on interpretation.

Lessons learned from the Scotland’s environment web experience Working in partnership Achieve more together, than as individuals. Share knowledge and skills. Multi-disciplinary teams. Common challenges – shared solutions. Develop once and re-use. Multi-agency view. A forum to collaborate, one source of data from multiple providers.

Lessons learned from the Scotland’s environment web experience Data Not a data repository – avoid different versions of data. Dependency on data availability and format. Standardised vocabularies – DCAT – greater interoperability. New technologies can be hard to adopt (public sector). Innovation by 3rd parties. More data does not mean more information and knowledge – data transformation into tools need to be supported by guidance.

Lessons learned from the Scotland’s environment web experience Understand your users What are your user needs - focus on what your users want to do rather than the organisation’s objectives or the mechanics of delivering your service Who are they, what do they do, how do they do it? What questions do they have and what data do they need to answer? Develop a service they need and value. Ongoing review and iteration. You can’t be all things to all users

Scotland’s Environment Web www.environment.gov.scot