CEP-led Consortium delivers first set of European Environment Agency contracts

CEP-LED CONSORTIUM SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERS FIRST SET OF CONTRACTS UNDER EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FRAMEWORK CONTRACT

CEP is pleased to announce the successful completion of the first seven contracts awarded under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA) which provides assistance to the consolidation and update of the knowledge base on global megatrends and resource nexus in support of SOER 2020 (the European Environment State and Outlook Report).

Awarded in May 2017, CEP has overseen the preparation and delivery of seven projects awarded under the framework contract to date.  The seven projects have had the overarching objective of supporting the framing and content of SOER 2020 by consolidating the evidence and knowledge base across a range of topics as well as providing new analysis to assist in the framing of the content of SOER 2020.  Examples of stock-taking and updating of EEA’s knowledge base include in relation to outlooks across multiple environmental themes (second specific contract), planetary boundaries (third specific contract), global megatrends and the resource nexus (fourth specific contract), and an assessment of the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital (fifth specific contract).  The development of new assessment frameworks included the development of an integrated approach to support urban sustainability assessments (first specific contract) and research into the implications of sustainability transitions research for policy and governance (sixth specific contract).  The seventh specific contract provided a review of different perspectives on quality of evidence to inform EEA's future research.

All the projects were completed between September 2017 and March 2018 and have helped EEA by exploring what is, and is not, possible in terms of SOER 2020, which is intended to diverge from previous European environmental reporting by exploring environmental issues from a systems perspective and proposing a transitions governance approach to addressing Europe’s environmental challenges.

CEP led the delivery of four of the seven projects delivered so far, including overall project management, technical lead on research tasks, and preparing reporting to summarise findings to provide maximum support to the EEA in relation to SOER 2020.  CEP’s work on these projects has involved collaboration with a diverse range of partners including universities and research institutions, consultancies, national environmental agencies and European networks of experts (such as the Eionet network of foresight experts).

For more information please contact CEP’s Owen White, the overall Framework Contract Manager, or Dr Bill Sheate, the Framework Contract Director.