1. Eionet, the EEA & SOER 2015 – An introduction Martin Fowell (UK Eionet National Focal Point team) NFP@defra.gsi.gov.uk

2. Agenda for the talk An introduction to the EEA-Eionet The UK NFP team & UK Eionet SOER 2015 2

3. European Environment Agency European Environment Agency (EEA) and European environment information and observation network (Eionet) was initially established in the early 1990’s. The original founding regulation (COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No. 1210/90* of 7 May 1990) has been adapted overtime most recently in 2009: No 401/2009 of 23 April 2009No 401/2009 of 23 April 2009

4. What is the EEA? The EEA isThe EEA is not an independent information provider a regulator, implementer or enforcer an analyst and assessor a research organisation a builder of bridges between science and policy a funder there to support policy processes and inform the public a policy maker

5. EEA Structure Complete EEA organisational chart (as at March 2015): http://www.eea.europa.eu/about-us/who/organisational-chart

6. Geographical coverage 33 Member countries (EU28+5); 6 Cooperating countries (West Balkan)

7. What is Eionet? Eionet - a network of more than 400 institutions from 39 countries represented by 1,800 experts ETCs - European Topic Centres (6) NFPs - National Focal Points (33+6) NRCs - National Reference Centres (24 topics)

8. European Topic Centres I 8 Defined in EEA Regulation Centres of thematic expertise Work for the EEA under contract / grant agreements to perform specific tasks identified in MAWP and AWPMAWPAWP Consortium of organisations from EEA member countries with an identified lead organisation Potential activities include: data indicators reports meetings services

9. European Topic Centres II 9 Aether Joint Nature Conservation Committee UKCIP Hadley Centre Joint Nature Conservation Committee UK has a presence in several ETCs

10. The National Focal Point Primary link between the EEA and the countries Defined in the regulation that all participating countries have an NFP institution The NFP can be a single person or a group of people Usually based in the Environment Ministry or a centralised national environment agency tri-annual NFP meetings 10

11. What does the NFP do? Co-ordination of the national network (UK Eionet) – Organising consultations – NRC recruitment – Encouraging/managing NRC participation (data/meetings) – Domestic meetings – Domestic contribution to SOER 2015 11 Promotion of EEA activities and products within the country Support to UK Management Board (MB) member Participate in NFP working groups aimed to tackle specific issues.

12. National Reference Centres (NRCs) 12 Not mentioned in EEA Regulation (referred to Article 4 on ‘Main Component elements’) NRCs are institutions rather than individuals Thematic expertise on environmental (or related) issues As many or few as required to cover the range of different types of expertise required for each role:

13. The UK EIONET network 13 3 fresh water – SEPA, Env Agency, Nat Resources Wales, NI Env Agency Nature & Biodiversity – Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Energy, GHG emissions – DECC Defra scientists and statisticians have a role in many other NRC groups such as climate change impacts, air quality noise, waste and recourse efficiency Transport –DFT 24 NRC roles - structure reviewed (March 2014) to be in line with MAWP 2014-2018 NRC profile description NRC profile description

14. For more information on EEA-Eionet Eionet connects http://www.eea.europa.eu/pub lications/eionet-connects EEA general brochure http://www.eea.europa.eu/pub lications/eea-general-brochure

15. SOER 2015 The EEA mandated in its governing regulation to publish a State of the Environment Report every five yearsState of the Environment Report Report addresses the state of, trends in and prospects for the environment in Europe Latest report launched in Brussels last week Suite of products: 2 physical reports 87 short online briefings eea.europa.eu/soer

16. SOER 2015 – country briefings All countries to produce a 4 pages country briefing – Nominally based on national State of Environment report – No UK level SOE → need a creative solution – Tackles 4 questions Q1 -What main areas/sectors/themes are addressed in the national SOE report? Q2 -What were the key findings of the SOE report? Q3 -What are the main policy responses to key challenges / environmental concerns in your country? Q4 -What country specific issues in SOE would you like to highlight?

17. UK contribution to “a year of dialogue” pt. 1 17 The EEA publicise SOER 2015 within Europe Countries are tasked with dissemination and outreach within their territory. March UK Eionet meeting became a SOER event: Jock Martin presented SOER from the European perspective; Four different NRCs talked about SOE reporting in each of the four UK countries; Tony Dolan (Irish NFP) spoke about air quality issues in Ireland; and The event was opened up to the full Defra network;

18. UK contribution to “a year of dialogue” pt. 2 18 University roadshow York 11 March – White Rose Universities Lancaster 12 March – NW universities Leicester (June) – a SOER2015 / Corine Land Cover launch event Oxford (tbd) – ETC Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation event SEWeb & EEA conference run by SEPA 13 March Wales and NI still up for discussion

19. Thank you Sign up to receive to receive notification of all new EEA products at: http://eea-subscriptions.eu/subscribe Martin Fowell (UK Eionet National Focal Point team) NFP@defra.gsi.gov.uk