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R.A. Longhorn
larger organisations such as industrial research councils, the European Science
Foundation, etc.).
This is an area in which the AGI’s Marine and Coastal Zone Management
SIG (Special Interest Group) could become usefully active, in cooperation with likeminded groups or associations at national or pan-European level. Without concerted
action now and in the formative stages of the detailed work plans for the Fifth
Framework Programme, marine and CZM research may not be progressed.
To complicate matters, there are many other pan-European initiatives relating
to CZM, IT research, training and applications development requirements, which are
not directly sponsored by the main EU institutions. (Remember that we are not
considering here purely national initiatives, or those of any single educational or
research institution, unless it has a primary trans-national element).
The whole community of actors involved in coastal zone research and
management must strive to ensure that the developers of such international
programmes or initiatives receive learned, useful, timely input from the national
academic and political representations who work with the various implementing
organisations, e.g. divisions of the UN (UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO, FAO), the World
Bank, and the EU Institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, Councils
of EU Ministers, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, European Environment Agency, etc.). Is there a mechanism for such
technical and political input today? I believe not, and this should be considered for
future implementation.
As regards participation in the preparation for the Fifth Framework
Programme for RTD of the EU, it may already be too late to exert any major influence
on development of the initial work plans, as these will have been decided at
Commission, Council and Parliament level by September 1997. However, as has
happened in both the preceding Framework Programmes (3rd and 4th), changes or
additions are not only possible, but highly likely as the work programme proceeds. To
effect such changes, the marine and coastal zone research community, which covers a
wide range of disciplines, must find a means to examine the individual work
programmes in detail, then pool their concerns and appoint a spokesman/group to act
on their behalf at high government level. Organisations such as EUROGI and AGILE
stand ready to assist in this non-trivial task.
References
Burrough, P, Masser, I., and Craglia, M. (GISDATA Steering Committee) and
Longhorn, R.A. (May 1997). European Research and Education in GI and
GIS: AGILE - Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in
Europe: A Proposal
R.A. Longhorn
larger organisations such as industrial research councils, the European Science
Foundation, etc.).
This is an area in which the AGI’s Marine and Coastal Zone Management
SIG (Special Interest Group) could become usefully active, in cooperation with likeminded groups or associations at national or pan-European level. Without concerted
action now and in the formative stages of the detailed work plans for the Fifth
Framework Programme, marine and CZM research may not be progressed.
To complicate matters, there are many other pan-European initiatives relating
to CZM, IT research, training and applications development requirements, which are
not directly sponsored by the main EU institutions. (Remember that we are not
considering here purely national initiatives, or those of any single educational or
research institution, unless it has a primary trans-national element).
The whole community of actors involved in coastal zone research and
management must strive to ensure that the developers of such international
programmes or initiatives receive learned, useful, timely input from the national
academic and political representations who work with the various implementing
organisations, e.g. divisions of the UN (UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO, FAO), the World
Bank, and the EU Institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, Councils
of EU Ministers, European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, European Environment Agency, etc.). Is there a mechanism for such
technical and political input today? I believe not, and this should be considered for
future implementation.
As regards participation in the preparation for the Fifth Framework
Programme for RTD of the EU, it may already be too late to exert any major influence
on development of the initial work plans, as these will have been decided at
Commission, Council and Parliament level by September 1997. However, as has
happened in both the preceding Framework Programmes (3rd and 4th), changes or
additions are not only possible, but highly likely as the work programme proceeds. To
effect such changes, the marine and coastal zone research community, which covers a
wide range of disciplines, must find a means to examine the individual work
programmes in detail, then pool their concerns and appoint a spokesman/group to act
on their behalf at high government level. Organisations such as EUROGI and AGILE
stand ready to assist in this non-trivial task.
References
Burrough, P, Masser, I., and Craglia, M. (GISDATA Steering Committee) and
Longhorn, R.A. (May 1997). European Research and Education in GI and
GIS: AGILE - Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in
Europe: A Proposal