WP leader: INBO, Geert de Blust
WP8 is meant to bring together the knowledge within the consortium and the exchanges with institutions outside the consortium on institutional arrangements, the cost effectiveness of a proposed surveillance and monitoring system. It will be the basis for the science policy interface that has to be built. Therefore we will evaluate the work done in the other work packages and the results will be used to design a management procedure for a time- and cost efficient monitoring system.
The economic aspects of WP2-7 will be investigated for the enhancement of factors of importance to a cost efficient monitoring system. The tested results of the management and costs aspects of trials carried out in WP6 will be analysed especially with respect to regional and local variations in monitoring costs and their relation to different available parameters
We will in this work package elaborate the following issues concerning a European monitoring system the following processes:
- The modular structure of a proposed monitoring system;
- Cost aspects of management, required functionalities such as IT-tools, training;
- Governance structure;
- Communication structure;
- Nature and extent of required (institutional) commitments;
- Potential division of institutional tasks;
- Requirements and procedures for formalization of the system;
- Multi-step approach and strategic plan for implementation (“next steps...”) building on existing transnational networks and their respective infrastructures (LTER, ICP forest/integrated monitoring etc.)
This work package concentrates on the organizational and economic aspects of the monitoring system. Close cooperation with the other work packages will be established, in order to examine and assess these aspects in the different technical components they elaborate. Besides, the analyses of established monitoring systems and discussions with experts and stakeholders will gain insight in current institutional and economic arrangements of existing surveillance and monitoring strategies. We will use the knowledge that exists in other existing monitoring systems as collected in the EUMON database and available through partners.
A workshop with involved parties, the Habitat Commission as well as regionally responsible authorities will be organized. Special attention will be paid to the institutional arrangements of these systems.
The field trials (WP 6) of habitat and (selected) species monitoring, together with the investments in associated management, training and preparation, will be used as special case studies for cost effectiveness analysis. Analysis of the results will yield accurate data on the efficiency of the applied methodologies, related to regional and local variations in parameter availability and real monitoring costs.
As appropriate techniques and methodologies for the monitoring system, elaborated in the different work packages, become available and their cost aspects are clear, a workshop with stakeholders and monitoring parties will be organized in order to further discuss the feasibility of the system. This will allow to deliver a methodology tailored to consumers’ needs. At this stage, collaboration with GEOSS is a prerequisite to assure the adoption of the methodology in the global strategy.
Finally, the results of the different tasks will be integrated and compiled into a report that present the design of and a strategy to establish a cost-effective biodiversity monitoring system for Europe.
