European Academies' Science Advisory Council

Last updated
European Academies' Science Advisory Council
AbbreviationEASAC
TypeRegional Association of National Academies of Science
Area served
The European Union, Norway, Switzerland and the UK
Membership
28 National Academies of Science, Academia Europaea, ALLEA
President
 Wim van Saarloos (NL), [1]
Vice presidents
 Brian Norton (IR), Mirko Orlic (HR), Lise Øvreås (NO), Michael Broberg Palmgren (DK), Birgitta Henriques-Normark (SE)
Website https://easac.eu

The European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC) is a regional association of National Academies of science. Its members are 25 National Science Academies of the Member States of the European Union (EU), and the National Science Academies of Norway, Switzerland and the UK. [2] Malta and Luxembourg do not have National Academies of Science. [3] A pan-European Academy (Academia Europaea) and a network of all Academies from across the continent of Europe (ALLEA) also have membership. EASAC was founded in June 2001 [4] and was headquartered at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle (Saale) until 31 December 2022. [4]

Contents

EASAC was set up as a mechanism of collaboration for its member Academies, in particular for providing “science-for-policy” advice to the institutions of the EU. [5] [6] This means that through EASAC scientific advice is offered jointly by the Academies to the European Commission [7] and the European Parliament [8] EASAC's work also aims to help inform national policy-making across Europe, and engage European media and societies. [5] EASAC aims to provide science-based analysis and recommendations on questions that are of relevance to EU policy thinking and development, e.g. on plastics in the circular economy, [9] genetically modified crops, [10] climate change and health, [11] forest biomass for energy, [12] or decarbonisation of transport. [13]

The association is funded by EASAC member Academies. [14] Since 2012 the IAP - The InterAcademy Partnership has also provided funds to EASAC which functions as IAP’s regional affiliated network for Europe. [15]

EASAC Core Programmes and "Science-Policy Dialogue"

The three core programmes of EASAC are Biosciences (including Public Health), Energy and Environment. [16] They explore areas where scientific evidence can help to inform the development of policy-making in the European institutions and, when relevant, also global policy-making. [16] Project remits require both considerations of the implications of the scientific evidence for policy formulation and the evaluation of the adequacy of the relevant science base. [17] Each programme is run by a Programme Director and a Steering Panel consisting of scientists nominated by EASAC member Academies. Members of the three EASAC Steering Panels are chosen for their experience in the respective field and together they advise EASAC on specific projects and help build relations with other expert scientists in the EU.

Biosciences

The aim of the Biosciences Programme is to inform policy-makers through scientific analysis on topics such as health, agriculture, and the progression of novel technologies with potentially multiple applications. The scope of the programme includes e.g. biotechnology, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, personalised medicine, and biosecurity. [18] The Steering Panel is co-chaired by Andre Knottnerus and Bert Rimae. The Biosciences Programme Director Rosa Castro is responsible for the programme's general organisation, project management, delivery and quality control, and day-to-day business.

Energy

The Energy Programme provides scientific assessments and advice to EU policy-makers in the areas of energy and climate change-related topics. The programme covers a range of issues of concern to the EU, including energy resources, energy systems integration, renewable energies, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, electricity grid management, and energy security. [19] The Energy Steering Panel is co-chaired by Professor Hanna-Leena Pesonen and Professor Neven Duic. Energy Programme Director Dr. William Gillet is responsible for the programme’s general organisation, project management, delivery and quality control, and day-to-day business. [20]

Environment

The Environment Programme provides scientific assessments and advice to EU environment policy communities on topics including climate change, air and water quality, wastes and resources, biodiversity, ecosystems, and sustainability. [21] The Steering Panel is co-chaired by Lars Walløe (NO) and Andras Baldi (HU). Environment Programme Co-Directors Professor Mike Norton and Professor Thomas Elmqvist are responsible for the programme’s general organisation, project management, delivery and quality control, and day-to-day business. [22]

Science-Policy Dialogue

Since 2012 EASAC has engaged with its member Academies in a number of activities under the headline of "Science-Policy Dialogue". [23] These have generally focused on sharing of good practice of member Academies on questions such as the management of working groups and engagement with policy-makers and the media. As a result of the first such activity, a document on Good Practice Guidance for Managing Dialogue Between Academies of Science and Policy Communities was published in 2013. [24] In 2017-2018, EASAC's members reflected on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and how the European and global networks of Science Academies could contribute to the United Nations SDG process. [25] Since 2020, EASAC has organised a series of virtual 'Science Communications Webinars', focusing on the contribution of the European Science Academies to the efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. [26]

Organisational structure

EASAC Organigram EASAC Org Structure.png
EASAC Organigram

Council

The Council is EASAC's assembly and governing body. It is composed of 30 scientists, nominated by, and representing, EASAC members. Council members are expected to regularly consult with their Academies about EASAC business to make decisions on their behalf at Council meetings. [17] Council sets EASAC's direction, agrees on the initiation of projects, monitors their progress, and reviews and approves reports and other types of documents for publication. It meets every six months, at the Academy of the EU Member State which will take over the EU Presidency about one month later. [17]

Bureau

The Bureau comprises the EASAC President, Vice-Presidents, and the past and incoming Presidents (for one year after and before tenure, respectively). Since 2012, Bureau has co-opted the Chairs of EASAC’s Steering Panels as members. [17] EASAC Bureau meets at least four times per year and is accountable to Council: it is responsible for implementing Council’s decisions and ensuring EASAC business runs smoothly. It is supported by the EASAC Secretariat, which is managed by the Executive Director and also comprises the Programme Directors, Management Officers and others. [17]

Secretariat

Originally managed and hosted by the British Royal Society, the Secretariat was hosted by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle until 31 December 2022. EASAC’s Brussels Office at the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium is also part of the Secretariat. [27] As of January 1, 2024, the EASAC Secretariat is hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and is based in Vienna. [28]

The Secretariat is responsible for maintaining the working process of EASAC's groups, including the organisation of meetings of Council, Bureau, Programme Steering Panels, and working groups. It oversees management of EASAC working groups' outputs towards publication, launch and dissemination of EASAC reports, statements, and commentaries. It liaises with EU policy-makers, EU institutions, and other EU and national agencies of relevance to EASAC's work. The Secretariat maintains contact with EASAC member Academies and liaises with other Academy networks. The Secretariat also manages EASAC's communication activities, such as press releases, newsletters, website, and social media pages. [29]

Members

Cooperations

EASAC cooperates with a number of other organisations and networks, most notably IAP.

IAP

EASAC is the affiliated network for Europe of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). The IAP is the global network of more than 140 National Academies of science, medicine and engineering. [30]

A part of IAP's work is done through its four regional networks in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe. Through IAP, EASAC connects with national science academies around the globe. EASAC has collaborated with all the three other regional networks of IAP: the Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA), [31] the InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS) and the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), in particular on the project "Food and Nutrition Security and Agriculture" (2017-18). [32] EASAC research also provided the basis for IAP projects such as the recent "Climate Change and Health" project, which aims to produce regional assessments similar to the EASAC report, and a global synthesis in late 2021. [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Environment Facility</span> A multilateral environmental Foundation that protects the climate

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, and sustainable cities in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. It is the largest source of multilateral funding for biodiversity globally and distributes more than $1 billion a year on average to address inter-related environmental challenges.

The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association that promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies such as the National Scientific Committees and the representation of Belgium in international scientific organisations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Science Foundation</span>

The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes science in Europe. It was established in 1974 and its offices are located in Strasbourg, France (headquarters).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academy of sciences</span> National academy or learned society

An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are national, or royal as a form of honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calestous Juma</span> Kenyan academic

Calestous Juma was a Kenyan scientist and academic, specializing in sustainable development. He was named one of the most influential 100 Africans in 2012, 2013 and 2014 by the New African magazine. He was Professor of the Practice of International Development and Faculty Chair of the Innovation for Economic Development Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Juma was Director of the School's Science, Technology and Globalization Project at Harvard Kennedy School as well as the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic World Academy of Sciences</span>

The Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS) is a non-profit organisation of scientists and technologists that works for the promotion of science and technology in the Islamic world. It was founded in 1986.

The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) is a global network consisting of over 140 national and regional member academies of science, engineering, and medicine. It was founded in 1993 as the InterAcademy Panel (IAP). In 2000, the IAP founded the InterAcademy Council (IAC) and the InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP). The partnership was established in 2016 when it merged the three inter-related networks into IAP for Health, IAP for Science, and IAP for Policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth System Governance Project</span> Social science research programme

The Earth System Governance Project is a research network that builds on the work from about a dozen research centers and hundreds of researchers studying earth system governance. It is a long-term, interdisciplinary social science research alliance. Its origins are an international program called the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change. The ESG Project started in January 2009. Over time, it has evolved into a broader research alliance that builds on an international network of research centers, lead faculty and research fellows. It is now the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottmar Edenhofer</span> German economist

Ottmar Georg Edenhofer is a German economist who is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on climate change policy, environmental and energy policy, and energy economics. His work has been heavily cited. Edenhofer currently holds the professorship of the Economics of Climate Change at Technische Universität Berlin. Together with Earth scientist Johan Rockström, economist Ottmar Edenhofer is scientific director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), representing the interdisciplinary and solutions-oriented approach of the institute. Furthermore, he is director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC). From 2008 to 2015 he served as one of the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III "Mitigation of Climate Change".

Derrick-Philippe, Baron Gosselin is a Belgian engineer and economist. He is chairman of the Belgian Nuclear Sciences Research Center SCK CEN and vice-chairman of the Royal Higher Institute for Defence (RHID). He is on the board of the Von Karman Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christoph M. Schmidt</span> German economist

Christoph Matthias Schmidt is a German economist. He has been President of RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Essen since 2002 and also holds the Chair for Economic Policy and Applied Econometrics at the Faculty of Management and Economics at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He was a member of the German Council of Economic Experts from 2009 to 2020 and its chairman from 2013 to 2020. Since 2019 he has been a member, and since 2020 co-chairman, of the Franco-German Council of Economic Experts. From 2011 to 2013, he was a member of the Enquete Commission "Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life" of the German Bundestag. From 2020 to 2021 he was a member of the "Corona-Expertenrat" of the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia. He has been a member of acatech – Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften since 2011, a member of the presidium since 2014, and vice president since 2020. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Mainz Academy of Sciences and Literature and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Hag Ali Hassan</span> Sudanese mathematician and physicist (born 1947)

Mohamed Hag Ali Hag el HassanOMRI GCONMC FAAS FIAS FTWAS is a Sudanese-Italian mathematician and physicist who co-founded numerous scientific councils. He is the President of The World Academy of Sciences and Sudanese National Academy of Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All European Academies</span> Sciences and humanities federation

All European Academies (ALLEA) is the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It was founded in 1994, and brings together more than 50 Academies of Sciences and Learned Societies from over 40 member countries of the Council of Europe. Since May 2018, the President of ALLEA is Antonio Loprieno. ALLEA is financed by annual dues from its member academies and remains fully independent from political, religious, commercial or ideological interests. The ALLEA secretariat is based on the premises of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Berlin.

Soil governance refers to the policies, strategies, and the processes of decision-making employed by nation states and local governments regarding the use of soil. Globally, governance of the soil has been limited to an agricultural perspective due to increased food insecurity from the most populated regions on earth. The Global Soil Partnership, GSP, was initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its members with the hope to improve governance of the limited soil resources of the planet in order to guarantee healthy and productive soils for a food-secure world, as well as support other essential ecosystem services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Loughhead</span> British businessman

Prof John Neil Loughhead is a British engineer and businessman. He is Industrial Professor of Clean Energy at University of Birmingham, Chair of the Redwheel-Turquoise ClimateTech Investment Committee, and Council member at the University of York. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, and of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He was formerly Chief Scientific Adviser to Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and to Department of Energy & Climate Change. He was appointed OBE for services to Technology in 2011 and CB in 2018. In 2014, he was voted as one of the Top 500 Most Influential People in Britain by Debrett's and The Sunday Times.

The European Union's scientific collaboration beyond the bloc describes the European Union's frameworks for bilateral cooperation and specific projects in science and technology, with countries and regional blocs situated beyond the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific Advice Mechanism</span> Service created by the European Commission

The Scientific Advice Mechanism is a service created by the European Commission which provides independent science advice on request directly to European Commissioners.

Christina Moberg is a Swedish chemist who is a professor of Organic Chemistry at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. She was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2017.

The Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS) is an independent academic institution, founded on 2 November 1983. KNAS collaborates with the Government of Kenya, scientific organisations, the scientific community, and the public to promote the use of scholarly and scientific knowledge and technology for national development. KNAS encompasses all scientific disciplines, including humanities and technology. It is associated with the International Science Council, the InterAcademy Partnership, and the Network of African Science Academies.

References

  1. ↑ "Prof. Wim van Saarloos elected next EASAC President". EASAC.eu. October 5, 2021.
  2. ↑ Partnership (IAP), the InterAcademy. "European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC)". www.interacademies.org.
  3. ↑ "EASAC: The European Academies' Science Advisory Council" (PDF). ec.europa.eu.
  4. 1 2 "EASAC". Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina.
  5. 1 2 "EASAC - European Academies' Science Advisory Council | Knowledge for policy". knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu.
  6. ↑ Wilsdon a, James; Doubleday, Robert, eds. (April 2015). "FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR SCIENTIFIC ADVICE IN EUROPE" (PDF). CSAP.cam.ac.uk.
  7. ↑ "Climate change and its impact on food and nutrition security" (PDF). Europarl.Europa.eu.
  8. ↑ "Health Working Group (ENVI) Public Webinar Climate Change and Health Wednesday, 28 October 2020, European Parliament FINAL PROGRAMME" (PDF). Europarl.Europa.eu.
  9. ↑ "Packaging plastics in the circular economy" (PDF). EASAC.eu. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  10. ↑ "Planting the future: opportunities and challenges for using crop genetic improvement technologies for sustainable agriculture". EASAC - Science Advice for the Benefit of Europe.
  11. ↑ "The imperative of climate action to protect human health in Europe". EASAC - Science Advice for the Benefit of Europe.
  12. ↑ "Commentary on Forest Bioenergy and Carbon Neutrality". EASAC - Science Advice for the Benefit of Europe.
  13. ↑ "Decarbonisation of Transport: options and challenges". 2019-03-20.
  14. ↑ "How we are financed". EASAC - Science Advice for the Benefit of Europe.
  15. ↑ "Annual Report" (PDF). InterAcademy Partnership. 2019.
  16. 1 2 "How can science help to guide the European Union's green recovery after COVID-19?" (PDF). Royal Irish Academy. May 2020. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "A Guide to EASAC Governance and Operations" (PDF). EASAC.eu.
  18. ↑ "Call for Experts: Regenerative Agriculture". Royal Irish Academy . January 4, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Professor Hanna-Leena Pesonen nominated to EASAC Energy Steerin Panel | Suomen Tiedeakatemiat".
  20. ↑ "Royal Irish Academy Represented on EASAC Energy Steering Panel". Royal Irish Academy . October 3, 2018.
  21. ↑ "EASAC Perspective on Transformative Change: Resistance and Challenges to Green Deals should not be Underestimated". News Powered by Cision.
  22. ↑ "The Royal Irish Academy host the EASAC Environment Steering Panel". Royal Irish Academy . September 24, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Science-Policy-Dialogue". EASAC.eu.
  24. ↑ "EASAC Guidelines: Good Practice in the Dialogue between Science Academies and Policy Communities". InterAcademy Partnership .
  25. ↑ "IAP and EASAC Regional Workshop on the SDGs". www.interacademies.org.
  26. ↑ "Academy of Europe: Communicating+science+during+the+Covid-19+pandemic". AE-Info.org.
  27. ↑ Partnership (IAP), the InterAcademy. "The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB)". www.interacademies.org.
  28. ↑ "Faßmann: OeAW new host of European Academies Science Advisory Council". Austrian Academy of Sciences. November 11, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Secretariat". EASAC - Science Advice for the Benefit of Europe.
  30. ↑ "About IAP". www.interacademies.org.
  31. ↑ "AASSA - The Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia". aassa.asia.
  32. ↑ "Opportunities and challenges for research on food and nutrition security and agriculture in Africa" (PDF). Network of African Science Academies. 2018.
  33. ↑ Partnership (IAP), the InterAcademy. "Climate Change and Health". www.interacademies.org.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.