Workshop on "long-term study influences on science and policy"

A workshop entitled "Long-term study influences on science and policy" will take place in Galway, Ireland, on 28-29 May 1994.

The purpose of the meeting is to produce an authoritative publication on long-term data studies and the relevance of such studies to scientific and political decision making. The objective will be to try to change the culture of funding for environmental research to permit stable funding of long-term studies.

Leading environmental scientists for many years have independently been pointing to the need for long-term studies. However, the trend has increasingly been geared toward short-term studies. This meeting aims to demonstrate coherently the scientific requirements and economic cost-effectiveness of long-term studies to promote a change in policy. As such, it will gather together eminent ecologists and policy makers from the EU and the USA to produce an authoritative publication. The following themes will be covered:
- Insights - case indicting where long-term data sets have or could have made significant improvements to environmental decision making;
- Detecting change - how long-term studies can assist in isolating anthropogenic changes;
- Design improvements - innovative improvements of long-term studies to make them more cost-effective and scientifically valid:
- Evolution of techniques;
- Theory;
- Historical and archived data.

The discussions will be recorded for the publication and will be a critical component of the workshop.
For further information please contact:

European Commission
DG XII/D-1
Dr. C. Nolan
200 rue de la Loi
B-1049 Brussels
Tel. +32-2-2961633; Fax +32-2-2963024