The European Commission has recently approved the project proposal "ECOPOTENTIAL", submitted under the EU research programme "Horizon2020".

The main objective of this project led by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) is to making Earth Observation and Monitoring Data usable for ecosystem modelling and services. This will also be done in selected Protected Areas in Europe, with a strong focus on mountain ecosystems, including a specific pilot site in the Carpathians. The project will make an important contribution to the work of the Group on Earth Observation (GEOSS) as well as UNEP Live.

UNEP is part of a 47 organizations-partnership, which include major organizations in Europe such as ESA, EEA, DLR and CNR. The total budget of the project is almost EUR 15 million. UNEP’s involvement and preparation in this project was led by the UNEP Regional Office for Europe in cooperation with GRID Geneva and involving also other GRID European centres in Warsaw and Arendal.

The "ECOPOTENTIAL" project is one of the first projects with UNEP involvement in the new Research Programme of the EU ("Horizon2020") that recently opened its calls. The new "Horizon2020" programme does not solely focus on research activities but also aims to support the application of the evidence gained in decision making.

Contact:
Matthias Jurek, matthias.jurek@unvienna.org

Thierry Lucas, thierry.lucas@unep.org

For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/