Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure Implementation Project

Project Information

ACTRIS IMP

Grant agreement ID: 871115

DOI

10.3030/871115

Project closed

EC signature date 20 November 2019

Start date 1 January 2020

End date 31 December 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Research Infrastructures

Total cost

€ 4 999 997,50

EU contribution

€ 4 999 997,50

Coordinated by

ILMATIETEEN LAITOS
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - ACTRIS IMP (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure Implementation Project)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

ACTRIS IMP was a 4-year project aiming to facilitate and support the implementation of the research infrastructure ACTRIS, both at the national and European level. ACTRIS IMP enabled the fast progress in implementation of the legal structure and governance of the RI, development of operational workflows, data streams, National Facility labelling process as well as the engagement of the wide ACTRIS community. The partners of this project represent the scientific community in the fields covered by ACTRIS, and the consortium involved 35 Beneficiaries, 15 Linked Third Parties and 49 Associate Partners.

By the end of the project, the following main conclusions can be outlined:

• Upon the establishment of ACTRIS ERIC and further development of the governance and operations, ACTRIS is reaching its operational phase as planned.
• ACTRIS was positioned in the European and global landscape, and the ACTRIS recommendations were aligned with the international stakeholders.
• Substantial progress was made in positioning ACTRIS in the European innovation landscape, including the Innovation strategy and events directed to private sector.
• The operational framework for ACTRIS Central Facilities was implemented and the first activity plans were approved by the GA.
• The work done in WP4 and WP5 fostered the development of the National Facility labelling process, which is a major step in upgrading the National Facilities to reach the operational phase. The NF labelling process was established, and the first initial labels were granted during the project.
• The fast and successful development of the access platform and user management system has brought ACTRIS to the front of access providers among the European RIs.
• The project resulted in a mature research infrastructure with harmonised managerial and data flow management processes between the Topical Centres, Data Centre and the Head Office.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main results obtained by the end of the third reporting period are:
• ACTRIS ERIC was established as a legal entity with 17 member and observer countries, and its two first General Assembly meetings were held.
• The labelling of the National Facilities has started, with ~30% of the National Facility components completing step 1a and receiving the initial ACTRIS label.
• The communication structures and tools were created to support the information flow and engagement of the community.
• ACTRIS contractual framework was implemented, including e.g. the agreements between ACTRIS ERIC and Central Facilities, and collaboration agreement with the JRC.
• The systems for user access were tested within the dedicated TNA programme and completed as a full service to the users.

Target groups for exploitation and dissemination of ACTRIS IMP results comprise a wide range of communities including: (i) research communities world-wide in atmospheric science and related areas; (ii) national and international bodies with responsibility for the environment; (iii) policy-makers at the national and international level; (iv) private companies; (v) ministries and funding agencies; (vi) educators, and (vii) civil society. The plans for ACTRIS communication, as well as for exploitation and dissemination of results were both updated during IMP as part of planning of IMP outreach activities. The latter brings attention towards key aspects, including the methodology for identifying ACTRIS’ exploitable outputs, the identification of pertinent end users, transfer activities, and intellectual property management. A dedicated communication portfolio and the public relations strategic master plan were also developed during ACTRIS IMP. The plan for dissemination and exploitation of the project results to the target groups concerns data, protocols and methodologies, various meetings, stakeholders and policymakers, international dimension, private sector and internal and external communication. As part of the exploitation and dissemination activities, ACTRIS IMP also developed guidelines for public relations and the best practices for engaging ACTRIS user groups.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

ACTRIS IMP had a positive impact on the service provision for generating and disseminating knowledge, on boosting science and technological development, creating human capital, jobs and welfare for the benefit of society, and addressing environmental and societal challenges following the European Research Area (ERA) principles of optimal transnational cooperation and competition.

The preliminary results for the 2020-2023 period show that the ACTRIS continues to contribute to the development of human capital, especially as the Central Facilities have continued the recruitment of the personnel to carry out the operations of the ACTRIS.

ACTRIS IMP reported on the socio-economic impacts of ACTRIS through quantification and, to a lesser extent, monetisation of the societal benefits of ACTRIS, which was accomplished by means of a survey in two of the ACTRIS countries, Greece and Finland. While almost 90% of respondents in Greece and 80% of respondents in Finland have classified climate change and air pollution as important or very important environmental problems, only 57% of the Greek respondents and 38% of the Finnish respondents agreed that is very important to develop infrastructures allowing for the systematic monitoring of the atmosphere. A significant part of the sample in both surveys (58% in Greece and 46.5% in Finland) would be willing to pay an amount of money in their annual tax in order to create a fund that will finance further development of ACTRIS RI and full operationalization of its features.

Running in parallel to ATMO-ACCESS, ACTRIS IMP also continued the rich history of access and service provision within the ACTRIS domain, including the development of the new mode of hybrid access. To ensure scientific excellent and high standards, selection criteria for access were tightened, with 79% of use projects accepted for access provision. 95% of the total number of users originated from the public-academic sector, with 5% of the users coming from the private sector. Early career scientists represented approximately one-third of the users. 78% of access during ACTRIS IMP was provided via the remote and hybrid types.

During the last years ACTRIS has secured the core funding for the operations by the member and observer countries, with annual budget approximately 2 M€ for the ACTRIS ERIC, 15 M€ for the Data Centre and Topical Centres, and 80 M€ for the ACTRIS National Facilities. This funding secures the operations and the necessary human resources for several years ahead.

Considering research infrastructure partnerships with industry and more generally the private sector, three innovation workshops were organised during the project with over 300 participants from more than 30 countries, with a very good representation from the private sector.

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