ERA-NET project targets greater funding cooperation for Baltic Sea research
A total of 882 Baltic Sea research projects were carried out by the countries surrounding it in 2004, according to a new publication by an EU-funded ERA-NET project, but more cooperation is needed between national research funding organisations in the region. The BONUS ERA-NET project brings together the key research funding agencies from the eight EU Member States bordering the Baltic Sea (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany) plus Russia. The objective is to strengthen cooperation between these funding agencies and ultimately launch a joint research programme under Article 169 of the Treaty. The latest BONUS project publication covers Baltic Sea research and development (R&D) in 2004. It reveals that 71 per cent of the projects carried out last year were funded at national level, 25 per cent were financed by the EU, and a further three per cent were Nordic cooperation projects. The total funding from all three sources came to 52 million euro. The report reveals that all environmental issues in the Baltic Sea region received funding in 2004, with the largest amount (some 10 million euro) being spent on projects supporting the sustainable use of living resources, such as fisheries. Biodiversity and eutrophication - the over-enrichment of a body of water with nutrients - received some eight million euro, while other thematic issues studied included climate change, contaminants and loading and coastal problems. There was also a considerable investment of just over eight million euro in projects not linked to any particular environmental issue, for example for basic research. However, while the publication notes that networks of scientists and research institutes do exist in the Baltic Sea region, and that some international management agreements are already in place, there is a continuing lack of cooperation between national research funding organisations. To try and overcome this fragmentation, the BONUS project is aiming to create the conditions for a joint Baltic Sea research programme under Article 169 of the Treaty, involving the eight EU Member States and the Russian Federation. A draft framework for the 'BONUS-169 Baltic Sea science plan' has already been published for the purposes of wider consultation. The proposed joint programme aims at 'better coordinating the region's nationally funded research by more closely promoting, planning, funding, implementing and publicising pan-Baltic research.' The programme will be structured around eight themes, namely: natural forcing and climate change, eutrophication, sustainability of living resources, biodiversity, pollution and ecosystem health, socio- and ecological economics, synthesis and dissemination, and management and infrastructure. A further objective of the programme will be to educate and train new generations of young scientists and technicians. BONUS is an ERA-NET initiative funded with 3.03 million euro under the 'coordination of research activities' priority of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), and is coordinated by the Academy of Finland.
Countries
Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Sweden