Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DOORS (Developing Optimal and Open Research Support for the Black Sea (DOORS))
Período documentado: 2021-06-01 hasta 2022-11-30
The Black Sea is the largest internal sea of the world, border between continents and civilisations, receiving its waters and alluvia from some of the biggest rivers in Europe, with a combined width of drainage basins several times bigger than the sea itself. Even though one of the seas of the European antiquity, it is also one of the least studied and understood.
H2020 DOORS aims to put in practice the Black Sea Research and Innovation Agenda. It is implementing three Work Programmes: a System of Systems (SoS), a data cube that gives open access to information on the Black Sea state of the environment and processes with harmonized information from different types of data sources (in situ, EO, modelling); a Blue Growth Accelerator (BGA) to support enterprise in the field of Blue Growth; and Knowledge Transfer and Training (KTT) to share best practice and build capacity.
DOORS aims to better understand the natural processes from the river mouths and the coasts to the deeper part of the sea, identify means to exploit its ecosystem services within sustainable margins and train the people who will benefit from all the knowledge and will be able to make a Healthy and Productive Black Sea.
H2020 DOORS aims to put in practice the Black Sea Research and Innovation Agenda. It is implementing three Work Programmes: a System of Systems (SoS), a data cube that gives open access to information on the Black Sea state of the environment and processes with harmonized information from different types of data sources (in situ, EO, modelling); a Blue Growth Accelerator (BGA) to support enterprise in the field of Blue Growth; and Knowledge Transfer and Training (KTT) to share best practice and build capacity.
DOORS aims to better understand the natural processes from the river mouths and the coasts to the deeper part of the sea, identify means to exploit its ecosystem services within sustainable margins and train the people who will benefit from all the knowledge and will be able to make a Healthy and Productive Black Sea.
DOORS worked on analysing existing data on the Black Sea to establish harmonised methodologies and identify knowledge gaps and produced an inventory of existing databases hosting Black Sea data including an assessment of FAIR compliance. Harmonisation is needed to facilitate policies and strategies at basin level, plan better the measurements, sampling and modelling analysis and present and future needs, taking into account the existing best practices. The involvement of the different groups of stakeholders from the beginning of the activities was a major challenge. It was properly planned to define the specification of the SoS (delivery mechanisms, information services and products, data visualisation). The first steps (detailed list of data requirements and definition of areas for Use Cases) to create the SoS demo version have been developed with engagement of stakeholders from all Black Sea countries (except Russia). They were able to specify their needs and provided the input to develop and test the Use Case definitions and the requirements of the SoS. Critical to the improvement of quality of Earth Observation-derived water quality products was the development of the Optical Water Type framework - to establish reliable trends in water quality in key areas of interest. Existing data, modelling capacities and new data were planned to work in harmony for the duration of the project. A complete re-planning of the cruises has been done (calendar and trajectories) have been made - to still allow collection of new data with new sensors and platforms, but throughout the southern half of the basin. Two coastal cruises took place in the Western Black Sea, to investigate the dynamics of methane at two different coastal environments, and to test sensors. Further support came from an expedition to assess climate change in autumn 2021 by IFREMER in Western Black Sea. This cruise gathered NGH samples, new seismic profiles and new piezometer data to monitor excess pore pressure within the slope sediment.
A significant amount of work needed for SoS data requirements was done on numerical model harmonisation, regarding major characteristics of the Black Sea (e.g. increase the level of coordination among the different models covering all geographic areas, from the hydrographic basins feeding the Black Sea waters, the coastal zone and the Black Sea basin itself), to provide a consistent and complete picture as possible of its present state. Tools, common modelling approaches, period chosen and focus areas together deliver a characterisation of the Black Sea environment, integrating with in situ measurements and remote sensing in the DOORS SoS.
The establishment of the Blue Growth Accelerator (BGA) took place, with the purpose to deliver the Blue Growth in the region. DOORS also focused on the identification, mapping and assessment of Ecosystem Services (at the basin scale, with interaction between partners from all countries in the consortium) and on the identification of existing and emerging Blue Growth sectors (e.g. aquaculture, fisheries, coastal/marine tourism, marine biotechnology, marine renewable energy and shipping) in the Black Sea countries. We have also worked on the methodology for selection of the start-ups/entrepreneurs to be supported by the BGA, and a draft list of the start-ups and entrepreneurs has been prepared.
Regarding the capacity building, DOORS has a Programme for Knowledge Transfer and Training (KTT) to create mechanisms that enable education, support exchange and use of scientific knowledge between stakeholders and end-users.. The activities included the mapping of all current institutional capacity for the delivery of training programmes in all the Black Sea countries and proposal of best practices in Europe.
Finally, we have a dissemination and communication strategy to maximise project impact and make it known among stakeholders from industry, research community, general public, and the media. The execution of dissemination and communication activities has been aligned with the technical development of the project and the communication needs of each stage in relation to the needs of other WPs. A plethora of activities were chosen and included: the creation of the DOORS brand; supporting materials including leaflets and pop-up banners; developing a strong presence and engagement in social media; creation & development of the project website including weekly written articles and news; creation of the first newsletter (more to follow); participation in events (online and in-person); photography and video outputs; a marine litter online campaign and a podcast episode.
A significant amount of work needed for SoS data requirements was done on numerical model harmonisation, regarding major characteristics of the Black Sea (e.g. increase the level of coordination among the different models covering all geographic areas, from the hydrographic basins feeding the Black Sea waters, the coastal zone and the Black Sea basin itself), to provide a consistent and complete picture as possible of its present state. Tools, common modelling approaches, period chosen and focus areas together deliver a characterisation of the Black Sea environment, integrating with in situ measurements and remote sensing in the DOORS SoS.
The establishment of the Blue Growth Accelerator (BGA) took place, with the purpose to deliver the Blue Growth in the region. DOORS also focused on the identification, mapping and assessment of Ecosystem Services (at the basin scale, with interaction between partners from all countries in the consortium) and on the identification of existing and emerging Blue Growth sectors (e.g. aquaculture, fisheries, coastal/marine tourism, marine biotechnology, marine renewable energy and shipping) in the Black Sea countries. We have also worked on the methodology for selection of the start-ups/entrepreneurs to be supported by the BGA, and a draft list of the start-ups and entrepreneurs has been prepared.
Regarding the capacity building, DOORS has a Programme for Knowledge Transfer and Training (KTT) to create mechanisms that enable education, support exchange and use of scientific knowledge between stakeholders and end-users.. The activities included the mapping of all current institutional capacity for the delivery of training programmes in all the Black Sea countries and proposal of best practices in Europe.
Finally, we have a dissemination and communication strategy to maximise project impact and make it known among stakeholders from industry, research community, general public, and the media. The execution of dissemination and communication activities has been aligned with the technical development of the project and the communication needs of each stage in relation to the needs of other WPs. A plethora of activities were chosen and included: the creation of the DOORS brand; supporting materials including leaflets and pop-up banners; developing a strong presence and engagement in social media; creation & development of the project website including weekly written articles and news; creation of the first newsletter (more to follow); participation in events (online and in-person); photography and video outputs; a marine litter online campaign and a podcast episode.
During this period DOORS:
1. Produced an inventory of data that gives an overview of the existing data/metadata by parameter categories, and the status of data/metadata provision of different parameter groups.
2. Produced the Use Cases definitions for SoS, that defines the framework for developing each Use Case, from which to build each Use Case with key Stakeholders.
3. Increased the level of coordination among the different models applied in order to provide a consistent and as complete as possible picture of the present state of the Black Sea in order to verify that the model implementations responds to the needs that had been declared by the Black Sea stakeholders.
4. Provided a mapping and assessment of Ecosystem Services (ES) and identify existing and emerging Blue Growth sectors in the Black Sea countries (e.g. aquaculture, fisheries, tourism, marine biotechnology, marine renewable energy and shipping)
5. Identified for the first time, the current institutional capacity within the Black Sea Education and Research arena, in order to develop professional educational programmes that can energise Blue Economy sectors in the Black Sea region. The information helps assessing the capacity building ability of the higher education institutions in the Black Sea region.
6. Developed a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and delivered a first draft of the Stakeholder Mapping and Requirements report. A major outcome is also the interactive online tool to view the ocean observing capabilities in the Black Sea across several Marine Research Infrastructures and data aggregation services.
1. Produced an inventory of data that gives an overview of the existing data/metadata by parameter categories, and the status of data/metadata provision of different parameter groups.
2. Produced the Use Cases definitions for SoS, that defines the framework for developing each Use Case, from which to build each Use Case with key Stakeholders.
3. Increased the level of coordination among the different models applied in order to provide a consistent and as complete as possible picture of the present state of the Black Sea in order to verify that the model implementations responds to the needs that had been declared by the Black Sea stakeholders.
4. Provided a mapping and assessment of Ecosystem Services (ES) and identify existing and emerging Blue Growth sectors in the Black Sea countries (e.g. aquaculture, fisheries, tourism, marine biotechnology, marine renewable energy and shipping)
5. Identified for the first time, the current institutional capacity within the Black Sea Education and Research arena, in order to develop professional educational programmes that can energise Blue Economy sectors in the Black Sea region. The information helps assessing the capacity building ability of the higher education institutions in the Black Sea region.
6. Developed a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy and delivered a first draft of the Stakeholder Mapping and Requirements report. A major outcome is also the interactive online tool to view the ocean observing capabilities in the Black Sea across several Marine Research Infrastructures and data aggregation services.