Governance
ENVRI community is not a project or a legal entity, but a common forum for co-creation and joint development of environmental research infrastructures. The collaboration has been so far supported by three cluster projects funded by the European Union. ENVRI community represents not only mature research infrastructures on the ESFRI level but includes also those research infrastructures in the environmental sector which are evolving and maturing, and furthermore includes national and regional projects and infrastructures. In that respect, the ENVRI community is developing towards an integral representation of Earth system science in Europe, even beyond the ESFRI level.
Collaboration Mechanisms
The field of environmental sciences is large. It covers highly diverse research domains and is related to a complex fabric of environmental challenges in societies. The ENVRI community reflects this complex landscape with many RIs being, by their nature, cross-, multi- or inter-disciplinary, and some being specialized in one domain. Some are dedicated to observations, while others perform experiments, and there are those RIs that are mainly data infrastructures. Some are established RIs that have already achieved a high internal organization and have a legal structure, while others are still projects and networks that are undergoing the process towards a mature RI.
BEERI
The ENVRI Cluster has established the Board of European Environmental Research Infrastructures (BEERI) as its governing body to account for the complex landscape of environmental sciences. BEERI was established during the cluster project ENVRIplus and is currently maintained as part of ENVRI-FAIR. Today, BEERI is available as a body for
consultation and science-based input to policymaking in the fields named above. The ENVRI Community and its governing body BEERI, are currently exploring additional models of access that would enable scientists to use RIs as platforms for mission-related research. The body also discusses potential pathways towards sustainable collaboration among the participating RIs. The baseline of potential collaboration mechanisms discussed within BEERI is the sustainable continuation of independent research
infrastructures, which have developed and will further develop and expose research services and tools in their respective scientific fields.
Memorandum of Understanding
The environmental research infrastructures organised in the ENVRI community prepare a Memorandum of Understanding to foster cooperation, joint activities, exchange of experience and mutual support in its framework and encourage cross-disciplinary research activities as well as the continuing operation of the ENVRI-hub. Given the current level of organisation, a continuing funding scheme for further collaboration of the ENVRI cluster within Horizon Europe is an indispensable prerequisite for the sustainability of the ENVRI community cooperation, the further development of the ENVRI-hub and the consolidation and further development of cross-cluster interdisciplinary scientific activities.