Impresssion from the event
Speakers at the PEERspectives seminar called for research that can guide policy, help put solutions into practice and prepare Europe for emerging risks.
A circular economy and restored ecosystems can help European societies withstand disruption. At the PEERspectives seminar in Brussels on 10 November, researchers and European policymakers made the case for treating environmental research as a strategic investment. They discussed how science could strengthen Europe’s competitiveness, resilience and security as environmental, economic and geopolitical pressures converge.
Pål Molander, PEER Chair and CEO of NIVA, opened the seminar by calling on environmental researchers to take a broader role in tackling societal and economic challenges as Europe’s policy priorities change.
“Environmental research must not only help define what Europe should avoid. Increasingly, it must also help show what Europe can and should do.”
Putting environmental evidence to work
Katrin Böhning-Gaese of UFZ chaired the first session, where Berien Elbersen of Wageningen Environmental Research examined the transition to a competitive and sustainable bioeconomy. Joachim Maes of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment drew on the PEER Reseach for Ecosystem Services (PRESS) project to show how mapping and assessment can inform European policy.
Leif Schulman, Director General of the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), took a comprehensive view of security. He described how clean energy, a circular economy, nature restoration and healthy ecosystems can strengthen the resilience of both society and the environment.
Responding to the presentations, Kurt Vandenberghe, Director-General of the European Commission’s DG Climate Action, called for research that answers policy questions and examines how challenges and opportunities interact across sectors. He framed environmental and climate action in terms of the conditions people and economies depend on.
“We’re not caring about the planet anymore. We’re caring about the livability of the planet for us as human beings and for our economy.”
Scaling up solutions and anticipating risks
James Morrison argued that Europe’s environmental ambitions and its long-term competitiveness depend on each other. Morrison, Director of the Healthy Planet Directorate in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, spoke during a discussion on the future of European environmental research chaired by Maria Sommer Holtze, Director of DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy at Aarhus University.
Morrison called for a more strategic European research agenda that integrates environmental and climate considerations across research fields. He also urged researchers to put scientific findings to practical use.
“We need to be much better at turning those into solutions that ultimately get started up and scaled up.”
Vadim Kononenko, Foresight and Policy Expert at the European Environment Agency, called on environmental scientists to extend their work on measuring impacts by anticipating change and complex risks that cut across systems. As policymakers face deep uncertainty, he said, foresight can help them identify solutions that make sense under several possible futures.
Stuart Wainwright, Chief Executive of UKCEH, closed the formal programme by reflecting on how PEER could support Europe’s ambitions through strong environmental research and collaboration across Europe. He concluded that PEER is always willing to support evidence-based policy making.
PEER marks 25 years of collaboration
The seminar was followed by a reception to mark PEER’s 25th anniversary. André van Lammeren, Managing Director of the Environmental Sciences Group (ESG) at Wageningen University & Research, invited participants to look back at the network’s beginnings and ahead to the next 25 years.
Jan Marco Müller, PEER’s first secretary, recalled how the network got started. He credited its success to trust, teamwork and the way the partners’ expertise complemented one another.
With around 6,000 researchers, the network has the scale to keep connecting science, policy and society, van Lammeren said. He sees PEER becoming a more active partner in European policy discussions while maintaining its role as a research network. A message from the network’s early days summed up the anniversary. “Keep on going.”
Watch the full recording of PEERspectives: Strategic Investments in Europe’s Competitiveness, Resilience and Security.