CEP running a webinar on the creation and use of foresight information for national State of Environment (SoE) reporting

CEP to deliver a webinar for Western Balkan countries to build interest and facilitate discussion on the use of foresight information in their SOE reporting

CEP is part of a team commissioned by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to design and lead a webinar for national experts from Western Balkan countries on 28th October 2021, as part of the project ’Strengthening the participation of the Western Balkans in the work of the European Environment Agency 2020-2021. Actions for Water and Foresight assessments’. The project is being led by the European Topic Center on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters (ETC/ICM).

CEP is responsible for the development of a checklist document for the assessment of the implications of Global Megatrends at the national level.  This checklist is intended to guide WB countries through the process of developing foresight content for national State of the Environment (SOE) reporting.

This checklist document represents a simplified version of the approach described in a methodological toolkit Mapping Europe's environmental future: understanding the impacts of global megatrends at the national level (Eionet report No 1/2017) also developed by CEP and published by EEA in 2017.  The streamlined process sets out clearly the steps that countries can take to complete a ’light-touch’ study suitable for preparing outlook information for SoE.

The webinar will present the checklist to national experts and elaborate how its implementation can help Western Balkan countries develop foresight content for national SoE reporting. The webinar will also provide an opportunity for participants to discuss and explore the proposed process and share expectations, and concerns for completing it.

Please contact Rolands Sadauskis (Project Manager) for further information on the project.

CEP is running a second workshop on the Influence of global megatrends in Slovenia

CEP WILL RUN A SECOND WORKSHOP ON THE INFLUENCE OF GLOBAL MEGATRENDS ON THE STATE OF ENVIRONMENT IN SLOVENIA

CEP is preparing an expert workshop which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 11th April, 2018 as a part of the project Influence of global megatrends on the state of environment in Slovenia, carried out for the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning and the Slovenian Environment Agency. This project is being delivered by CEP and is adapting and implementing a method toolkit previously developed (by CEP) for the European Environment Agency.

The workshop will bring together national experts from various fields to discuss and assess the risks and opportunities for the state of environment and policy arising from the most relevant implications for environment in Slovenia of global megatrends (GMTs), as analysed by the European Environment Agency in their European Environment State and Outlook Report (SOER) 2015. The workshop will focus on two GMTs: GMT 7 (intensified global competition for resources), and GMT 9 (increasingly severe consequences of climate change). The event will also be an opportunity for the participants to follow-up on the discussion held at the scoping workshop in November 2017 in Ljubljana, the aim of which was to identify and prioritise the implications of GMTs in Slovenia.

For further information on the project please contact Rolands Sadauskis (Project Manager). CEP's Owen White is the Project Director.

CEP assesses the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital

CEP COMMISSIONED BY THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (EEA) TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE BASE ON SOCIETY’S NATURAL CAPITAL IN SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT — STATE AND OUTLOOK 2020 (SOER 2020)

CEP has been commissioned to lead a specific contract, let under the CEP-led framework service contract on forward-looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions for the European Environment Agency (EEA), to provide expertise for Assessing the knowledge base on society’s dependence on natural capital in support of SOER 2020.  CEP is also leading one of the two explicit tasks in this project which will take stock of and synthesise available knowledge on how green infrastructure (GI) / nature based solutions can contribute to sustainability challenges for maintaining natural capital and ecosystem service capacity. This will include assessing the knowledge base on whether GI / nature based solutions are cost-effective investments that can serve similar functions to grey infrastructure and even provide more benefits for local economies, the social fabric and the broader environment. This task is linked to the other specific task under the contract exploring society’s dependence on natural capital, which is being led by CEP’s partner Trinomics.

This contract is an opportunity to gain a better understanding of societal dependence on natural capital (i.e. biodiversity, ecosystems and their services) and to highlight its importance for Europe, and further incorporate these findings into the EEA’s upcoming SOER 2020 report. 

For more information on this project please contact Ric Eales or Peter Phillips.  

CEP's Owen White is the overall Framework Contract Manager and can provide general information on the framework.  CEP's Dr Bill Sheate is the Framework Contract Director.

CEP to update the knowledge base for understanding global megatrends

CEP commissioned to review and update the knowledge base related to global megatrends

CEP has been commissioned to lead the fourth Specific Contract, let under the CEP-led framework service contract for the European Environment Agency (EEA), to provide Assistance to the consolidation and update of the knowledge base on global megatrends and resource nexus in support of SOER 2020.  CEP is also leading a specific task in this project to review and consolidate the knowledge base underlying EEA’s global megatrends.  This specific task is linked to other tasks being led by Futureline / SEI Stockholm (development of the knowledge base underpinning the concept of “resource nexus” within European consumption and production systems), and the University of Barcelona looking at the analysis of the resource demand implications associated with long-term trends and the synergies and trade-offs between selected European policy frameworks.

The CEP task draws on previous work by CEP on reviewing and updating GMTs and understanding their implications at the national and regional level in Europe.  This fourth contract provides an opportunity to bring together a number of key forward looking analyses and to develop an understanding of resource use and policy interactions and trade-offs in support of SOER 2020.

For more information on this project please contact Owen White or Rolands Sadauskis.

CEP's Owen White is also the overall Framework Contract Manager and can provide general information on the framework.  CEP's Dr Bill Sheate is the Framework Contract Director.

CEP ran workshop on global megatrends in Slovenia

CEP delivered workshop in Slovenia exploring the implications of global megatrends for the state of environment in Slovenia

CEP led an expert workshop in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 7th November 2017, as part of the project Influence of global megatrends on the state of environment in Slovenia. The work was undertaken for the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, and the Slovenian Environment Agency.

The workshop brought together 28 experts in a scoping exercise intended to identify and prioritise the implications of global megatrends (GMTs), as analysed by the European Environment Agency in their European Environment State and Outlook Report (SOER) 2015. The workshop in Slovenia focused on two GMTs: GMT 7 (intensified global competition for resources), and GMT 9 (increasingly severe consequences of climate change). The implications identified were assessed in terms of the likelihood of their occurrence, the magnitude of their effect and the timescale over which they may occur.

The outputs of this workshop will inform a following second workshop to be held in 2018 as part of this project that will focus on the risks and opportunities for the state of environment in Slovenia arising from the GMT implications identified, and any existing policy gaps and needs.

CEP is leading the work related to global megatrends, adapting and implementing a method toolkit previously developed (by CEP) for the European Environment Agency.

Please contact Rolands Sadauskis (Project Manager) for further information on the project. CEP's Owen White is the Project Director.

CEP delivering EEA workshop on urban sustainability

CEP delivering workshop to support the EEA develop their thinking on urban sustainability as an input to SOER2020.

For the first time, the European Environment Agency (EEA) will be explicitly addressing urban sustainability in the European Environment State and Outlook Report for 2020 (SOER2020). As part of CEP's current framework contract with the EEA on forward-looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions, CEP in partnership with LSE Cities is currently undertaking a specific contract on urban sustainability to support this aspect of SOER2020. Specifically, the project is reviewing the EEA knowledge base on urban sustainability and developing a conceptual framework to guide the EEA's work in this area, including for SOER2020.

On Thursday 26th October, CEP's Dr Peter Phillips and Rolands Sadauskis are running a one-day workshop with EEA experts in Copenhagen to go over the results of the knowledge review and critically appraise, refine and validate the proposed conceptual framework for urban sustainability. 

CEP-led consortium awarded EEA framework contract on forward looking studies

CEP-led consortium awarded EEA framework contract on forward looking studies

A consortium led by CEP has been awarded a four year single supplier framework contract by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to provide expert assistance on forward looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions. The contract will support the EEA in preparing the next report on the European environment’s state and outlook in 2020 (SOER 2020).  

This exciting opportunity for CEP builds on our work for the EEA over the last 15 years, including on the SOERs in 2010 and 2015. This specific contract adds to CEP’s track record of work related to forward looking analysis for both the EEA and the European Commission, including recent projects on identifying emerging environmental risks and the implications of global megatrends for Europe.

The scope of the work under the framework contract will include developing contextual and forward looking analyses of Europe's sustainability challenges and in increasing understanding about the environmental characteristics of core societal systems, opportunities and barriers to sustainability transitions, and the implications for EU policies. A particular focus will be on strategic and long-term policies and visions relating to the low-carbon and circular economy, natural capital and the sustainable development goals (SDGs), for example.

The CEP-led consortium includes experts from leading consultancies, research organisations, universities and agencies from across Europe.

For more information please contact Dr William Sheate (Contract Director) or Owen White (Contact Manager).