Category: News

ENVRINNOV Training Session #2 — A Great Success!

The second ENVRINNOV training session of 2026 took place online on 24 February, 2026, bringing together more than 20 participants for an insightful online webinar. Led by Marie-Aude Richard from Réseau C.U.R.I.E, the session explored key aspects of innovation management within research infrastructures, including innovation potential mapping and core principles of technology transfer.

The variety of RIs present at the session was interesting, as it reached people beyond the ENVRI community.

We now look forward to the third and last session on May 6th 2026, at EGU 2026 in Vienna, where we plan a dedicated focus on intellectual property and technology transfer.

If you are attending EGU 2026 and you’d like to attend our session, you can sign up here.

ENVRI-Hub NEXT Contributes Expertise to WMO iClimateAction Initiative

In the photo, left to right: Cathrine Lund Myhre (ACTRIS), Marta Gutierrez (EGI Foundation), Alex Vermeulen (ICOS), Anca Hienola (Finnish Meteorological Institute), Paolo Laj (WMO). Photo courtesy of WMO and iClimateAction. 

Over the past several months, ENVRI-Hub NEXT representatives have played an active role in shaping discussions within the WMO’s iClimateAction (iCA) initiative, contributing key expertise on Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) and technical developments from the ENVRI-Hub platform.

The engagement began in the autumn of 2025 with a series of technical webinars designed to prepare participants for an in-person joint meeting of the GCOS-WGClimate-iClimateAction, hosted at ESA in Harwell, UK, from 9 to 13 February 2026. These sessions aimed to give participants a shared understanding of the current landscape of climate data and knowledge systems, enabling focused discussions on gaps, priorities, and next steps.

“Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) are critical to understanding global climate impacts. The climate observation data value chain is a complex ecosystem currently undergoing rapid evolution driven by the AI revolution. ENVRI-Hub NEXT will support the iClimateAction activity by facilitating the assessment and exploitation of the diverse climate observing systems the ENVRI community offers.” – Marta Gutierrez, EGI Foundation, ENVRI-Hub NEXT Project Director

ENVRI-Hub NEXT Webinar: Harmonising Access to ECV Observations

On 15 January 2026, ENVRI-Hub NEXT presented its work during the second iClimateAction webinar. Marta Gutierrez (EGI Foundation) introduced the ENVRI community and the ENVRI-Hub NEXT project, with technical contributions from Anca Hienola (Finnish Meteorological Institute) and Ulrich Bundke (Forschungszentrum Jülich).

The presentation highlighted how ENVRI brings together Europe’s major environmental research infrastructures, collecting ground-based observations across the atmosphere, land, oceans, and ecosystems. These observations play a critical role in the climate data value chain. However, a persistent challenge is that high-quality data often remains difficult to find and use together due to differing formats, access protocols, and terminologies across infrastructures.

ENVRI-Hub NEXT addresses this by providing a common access layer that connects these distributed infrastructures without centralising their data. A key focus is on Essential Climate Variables (ECVs): scientists from different research infrastructures work together to map their existing measurements to the ECVs defined by GCOS, ensuring that data from diverse sources can be compared and combined reliably.

The discussion also emphasised usability. For many users, downloading entire datasets is neither practical nor necessary. ENVRI-Hub NEXT is therefore developing targeted access capabilities, allowing researchers to extract precisely the data they need—by location, time period, or variable—and use it directly within their analysis tools, without needing to master each infrastructure’s system in detail.

Bringing ENVRI Perspectives to the Harwell Meeting

Building on this webinar, Marta Gutierrez, Anca Hienola, Alex Vermeulen (ICOS) and Cathrine Lund Myhre (ACTRIS) represented the ENVRI-Hub NEXT consortium at the in-person GCOS-WGClimate-iClimateAction Joint Meeting in Harwell, UK (9–13 February 2026). There, they shared perspectives from the ENVRI community, contributing to discussions aimed at strengthening the technical basis for future climate reporting, planning, and coordination under the next phase of iClimateAction.

The meeting brought together specialists in climate observations, data, and knowledge systems from GCOS, WMO, GEO, and partner organisations, working collectively to support the delivery of the new GCOS Status Report.The ENVRI community contributed with the expertise and key contributions from the in-situ networks they operate and the ECVs that they have to offer.

This engagement underscores ENVRI-Hub NEXT’s commitment to advancing global interoperability for climate research, ensuring that Europe’s environmental research infrastructures are not only connected but actively contributing to international frameworks and policy needs.

Learn more about iClimateAction: https://wmo.int/iclimateaction

Help Us Improve the ENVRI Innovation Hub

The ENVRI Innovation Hub (EIH) online platform developed through the ENVRINNOV project, brings together a collection of tools, templates, policies and practical resources to support co-creation for the development of new technologies and services across the Environmental Research Infrastructures (ENVRI) community.  

We are now looking for volunteers to help us make sure the platform is as useful, practical, and easy to use as possible. 

We warmly invite members of the ENVRI community to join our testing group. This can be particularly relevant to those working in the management and administration of Research Infrastructures (RIs), innovation officers, industry liaison officers, those working in external relations, strategy or the development of new services as well as researchers working in R&D. 
Your experience and feedback will help us shape resources that genuinely support your work and the wider community. 

To join our test group, complete the short sign-up form below. Testing is expected to begin in March 2026, and we will share more details with participants closer to the time. 

ENVRI Innovation Hub (EIH) online platform- call for testers – Fill in form 

Thank you in advance for helping us strengthen the ENVRI Innovation Hub and support innovation across the community. 

More information about ENVRINNOV is available on the project website: https://envri.eu/envrinnov/ 

Sign up here.

ENVRINNOV is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. 

Food, Health, and Environmental RIs tackle emerging priorities

The FHERITALE project (Food, Health and Environment Research Infrastructures to Tackle Emerging Priorities) aims to help shape a more integrated European research landscape for the study of artificial materials, including micro- and nanoplastics, bioplastics, plastic additives and engineered particles.

A key goal of the project is to move beyond fragmented approaches and support coordinated, cross-domain services that connect food systems, environmental monitoring and human health within a shared One Health perspective. As such we have began developing a directory of Research Infrastructure services, many from the ENVRI community, to help inform researchers of the inter-disciplinary approaches that are available to them.

For more information visit https://fheritale.eu/survey-outcomes

If you think you provide a service not represented in the survey results, contact us via fheritale@instruct-eric.org

ENVRINNOV- Two training sessions coming in 2026!

Following the success of our first session on “ENVRI and Industry: How to Better Collaborate for Innovation”, we are excited to announce two new training sessions, within the context of the ENVRINNOV project, designed to enhance knowledge and expertise in innovation and technology transfer within research infrastructures. The training will be given by Mrs Marie-Aude RICHARD, professional trainer at Réseau C.U.R.I.E.,  a French network uniting stakeholders in the valorization of French public research.

Trainer’s profile : LinkedIn

Session 1 – 24 February 2026 1:30pm – 3:30 pm CET (online) – Innovation Management in Research Infrastructures

Topics Covered:
● Introduction to Innovation in European Research Infrastructures
● From Research Results to Impacts: Key Concepts
● Mapping Innovation Potential within Collaborative Projects
● Key Principles of Technology Transfer

Session 2 – 6 May 2026, EGU, Vienna (Room 2.61) 10:45-12:45, followed by free lunch break until 1:45pm – Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer

Topics Covered:
● Overview of Intellectual Property Rights
● Intellectual Property Management in Publicly Funded Research
● The Technology Transfer Process
● Case Studies

These sessions are designed to equip you with practical knowledge and tools to navigate the evolving landscape of research innovation. Whether you join us online in February or in person at EGU 2026, we look forward to exploring these critical topics with you!

We can’t wait to see you there!

ENVRI Innovation Map presented at the ENVRI board meeting

Representatives of CARE-C at the Cyprus Institute, who lead the coordination of the ENVRINNOV project, recently presented the first version of the ENVRI Innovation Roadmap to the European Environmental Research Infrastructures (ENVRI) board at a meeting held on 7 October 2025 in Marseille, France.

More specifically, the Director of CARE-C, Prof Jean Sciare and the Centre’s managing coordinator Mrs Marina Papageorgiou, presented the initial ENVRI innovation Roadmap, including the ENVRI Innovation Hub (EIH), developed by the ENVRINNOV consortium.

The Innovation Map aims to provide a shared direction for strengthening the innovation capacity, visibility, and impact of the Environmental Research Infrastructures (ENVRI) community. It outlines the steps towards more coordinated action to support the development and uptake of new technologies, services, and tools that address the evolving needs of science, policy, and industry.  To achieve this, the establishment of the ENVRI Innovation Hub EIH) is essential, in order to set up a shared support structure, which can provide flexible, tailored innovation management, facilitation, and support services that reflect the diverse and evolving needs of the ENVRI community.

During the meeting, in which several different Research Infrastructures (RIs) across Europe took part, attendees provided initial feedback and agreed next steps.

The ENVRI Board is the core, representative body of the ENVRI Community, formally established in July 2024 to replace its predecessor, BEERi. It brings together research infrastructures (RIs) across Europe that meet specific criteria—such as being operational, multi-national, and/or part of the ESFRI Roadmap. Its main roles are to coordinate and promote ENVRI activities, serve as a “go-to” advisory body for expert advice, facilitate interaction among RI directors, and liaise with key stakeholders, including the European Commission, Parliament, and international bodies. The Board also works to highlight how the work of its member RIs connects with policy, to stimulate collaboration across clusters, and to strengthen shared practices in environmental research infrastructures.

“Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union, nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”

ENVRINNOV leads session at the 2025 INTERGEO Conference

As part of ENVRINNOV’s mission to establish synergies with key actors of the Research and Innovation ecosystem, and plan for the successful implementation of the ENVRI Innovation Roadmap, project partners took part in the INTERGEO Conference in Frankfurt, Germany, on 7 October 2025.

The ENVRINNOV-led session brought together experts from European environmental research infrastructures to discuss how long-term environmental data can be better integrated into geospatial applications, supporting science-based decision-making and sustainable development.

The session, hosted by Mariana Salgado (ICOS ERIC), included talks by three experts from leading Environmental Research Infrastructures (ENVRIs):

    • Jaana Bäck (eLTER RI) – ‘Long-term ecosystem data for geospatial applications’
    • Tuukka Petäjä (ACTRIS ERIC) – ‘Atmospheric data and remote sensing synergies’
    • Leo Rivier (ICOS ERIC) – ‘Carbon flux data validation’

Together, the speakers showcased how ENVRIs contribute to advancing open science and innovation in the geospatial domain. Their presentations addressed three main themes:

  1. What ENVRIs offer: Open-data principles and the diversity of research infrastructures, such as ICOS’s flux towers, ACTRIS’s aerosol observations, and eLTER’s long-term ecosystem monitoring.
  2. Data and project highlights: Live demonstrations of key geospatially relevant datasets and current innovation projects.
  3. Innovation gaps and opportunities: How the geodesy and geoinformation communities can further leverage ENVRI data beyond academia—for example, in commercial applications.

Following the presentations, participants took part in the interactive “Hack the ENVRI DATA” challenge, proposing practical applications of ENVRI data — from urban planning to precision agriculture. The exercise encouraged lively discussion on data accessibility, usability, and opportunities for closer collaboration between environmental and geospatial communities.

INTERGEO is the world’s leading trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation, and land management, offering a key platform for cross-sector exchange and innovation.

The session was jointly organised by ICOS, eLTER, and ACTRIS under the umbrella of the ENVRINNOV project. By demonstrating the potential of shared data and tools, the ENVRINNOV session at INTERGEO 2025 showcased how greater cooperation between the environmental and geospatial sectors can lead to new insights and better-informed decisions for a sustainable future.

 

 

“Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or REA. Neither the European Union, nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”

 

Towards an Integrated Future for Environmental Science: ENVRI-Hub NEXT Reaches 18-Month Milestone

The ENVRI-Hub NEXT project has completed its first 18 months, marking a significant milestone in the development of the next-generation open-access platform for Europe’s environmental research infrastructures (RIs). Since February 2024, the project has transitioned from planning to active implementation, laying a robust technical and collaborative foundation for a more integrated and powerful environmental science community.

“Reaching this 18-month milestone is a testament to the incredible collaboration across our consortium,” said Marta Gutierrez, EGI Foundation, ENVRI-Hub NEXT Project Director. “We have successfully established the foundations for an integrated and operational ENVRI-HUB offering the best of what environmental RIs and e-infrastructures have to offer together”

This milestone reflects the hard work of the entire consortium and the growing engagement of our community. Here’s a look at some of the key achievements.

Solid Technical Foundations: The Hub Takes Shape

A major focus of this period has been the agile development and integration of the core services that will form the operational ENVRI-Hub.

  • A Refreshed and Cohesive Gateway: Work is underway to harmonise the ENVRI-Hub central gateway. This update will better showcase the latest developments from individual components like the Catalogue of Services and Knowledge Base, providing the community with a simpler and more intuitive point of entry to the entire ENVRI-Hub ecosystem.
  • A Unified Entry Point for Data and Services: The Catalogue of Services (CoS) has been significantly expanded and enhanced. It now provides a centralised, FAIR-compliant gateway to discover and access data and services from across the ENVRI cluster. New features include an API library for developers and a user-friendly graphical interface, making it easier than ever to find the resources you need.
  • Smarter Discovery with AI: The ENVRI Knowledge Base has been upgraded with a new, modern architecture. It now indexes a vast amount of content from participating RIs and is pioneering the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) to power a dialogue-based search. This allows you to ask complex, natural language questions to find relevant research assets, publications, and datasets.
  • Streamlined Access to Essential Climate Variables (ECVs): A cornerstone of our mission is to facilitate research on climate change. We have developed a dedicated ECV-data-access Python library and integrated ECV-focused functionalities directly into the CoS. This enables researchers to quickly filter and access services and data related to specific Essential Climate Variables, streamlining the path from data discovery to analysis.
  • An Analytical Playground for Researchers: The project has deployed a containerised Analytical Framework, providing a flexible JupyterHub-based environment. This “Virtual Research Environment” (VRE) allows our developers and test users to compose and execute analytical workflows using data and services from multiple RIs seamlessly. The envrihub Python library is the central development, offering a unified, programmatic way to interact with the Hub’s resources directly from code.
  • In addition, we explored the technical feasibility of integrating the ENVRI-Hub and its components with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), and we are currently in talks with the EOSC Beyond project to take this task one step further.

A Growing and Engaged Community

Technology is only one part of the equation. A successful Hub is built with and for its users.

Launch of the ENVRI-Hub User Group: In February 2025, we officially launched the ENVRI-Hub User Group, which has already grown to include over 50 members from diverse backgrounds. This group is vital for the co-creation of the Hub, providing early feedback to ensure our development meets real-world needs. The first official online meeting was held on 25 September 2025.

A Cohesive ENVRI Identity and Presence: We have consolidated the ENVRI branding and given the ENVRI Community website a visual update, creating a central, recognisable home for all our activities. In collaboration with our sister project ENVRINNOV, we jointly manage communication channels. This includes the ENVRI newsletter and our social media presence, which has now moved its primary engagement to LinkedIn and Bluesky. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest project updates, news, and opportunities to engage with the community.

A Strong Presence at Major Events: ENVRI-Hub NEXT helped coordinate the successful joint ENVRI Community booth and scientific sessions at the EGU General Assembly 2025 in Vienna, showcasing the power of our collaborative community to thousands of researchers. The booth featured representatives from a wide range of ENVRI-related projects.

We have also initiated our public training activities in May, with a joint webinar co-organised with the EOSC-EVERSE project on “Research Software Quality Assessment”, and expect to host more in the coming months.

The Road Ahead: From Staging to Production

The first 18 months have set the stage for an exciting future. Ulrich Bundke, FZJ, ENVRI-Hub NEXT Technical Coordinator, added: “The successful staging deployment proves our technical architecture is sound. In the next phase, we will focus on hardening this environment for production, adding more content and starting public operations.” 

As we move into the second half of the project, we will focus on refining these services based on your feedback, onboarding more data and services, and preparing for a wider public release.

This progress is a testament to the power of collaboration. We extend a huge thank you to all the project partners, RIs, and community members who have contributed to this journey.

Explore Further:

2nd IRISCC Open Call for Access – Opening September 29, 2025!

The 2nd IRISCC Open Call will open on September 29, 2025, giving researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals the opportunity to access world-class research infrastructure services and facilities addressing climate change-driven risks.

Call Timeline:

  • Opens: September 29, 2025

  • Closes: November 28, 2025

Scope: General (non-thematic) – proposals are welcome from all sectors, including academia, government, and industry.

About the Call

Following the success of the first call, this round continues to offer access to leading research infrastructures across Europe. Participants can explore a wide range of services supporting research on hazards, exposure, and vulnerabilities related to climate risks.

ENVRI community Research Infrastructures participating include IAGOS, ACTRIS, AnaEE, EMBRC, eLTER, ICOS, IS-ENES, SeaDataNet.

In addition, you can access services from other RIs and domains such as EIRENE-RI, D4Science, EGI, ECMWF, OPTED and GESIS.

Check out all the RIs offering services through IRISCC: https://www.iriscc.eu/partners/

Funded by the European Union, IRISCC facilitates sponsored access to top research infrastructures to advance climate risk research.

🔍 Browse the Catalogue of Services: Catalogue of Services
📣 Apply to the Open Call: Open Calls

Access Modes

IRISCC offers three main access options:

  1. Transnational Access (TA) (Physical, Remote, Hybrid)

    • Submit a proposal through the Open Call.

    • Selected projects receive full access to facilities, platforms, and expert support.

    • Travel and subsistence funding up to €2000 per proposal.

  2. Virtual Access (VA)

    • Available anytime without a proposal.

    • Access high-quality datasets, virtual platforms, and analytical tools remotely.

  3. Fast-Track Access

    • Continuous submissions for Emergencies & Ukrainian Researchers.

    • Swift evaluation process for urgent access to critical infrastructures.

How to Apply

  1. Check Eligibility – Ensure you meet the criteria in our Handbook.

  2. Explore the Catalogue of Services – Browse available services and confirm feasibility with service managers.

  3. Submit Your Application:

  4. Use the Services & Make an Impact – Contribute to solutions for climate risk adaptation and mitigation.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications are assessed on:

  • Scientific & technical relevance

  • Novelty and innovation

  • Implementation quality

  • Bonus: cross-infrastructure collaboration

What’s Covered:

  • Full access to IRISCC services, installations, and data

  • Travel & subsistence up to €2000 per accepted proposal

This is a unique opportunity for anyone interested in cutting-edge infrastructure for climate-related studies, including marine, atmospheric, ecosystem, and environmental research.

Visit www.iriscc.eu to learn more and apply.

ENVRINNOV- Videos of Innovation Strategy Pilot Cases published

As part of the ENVRINNOV’s project mission to develop an Innovation Roadmap for the ENVRI community, outlining strategies and mechanisms to strengthen collaboration among key innovation stakeholders in the co-creation of new technologies and services, four pilot case studies were conducted.

These pilots, carried out by five Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) in the Atmosphere, Biosphere, and Geosphere domains, served as practical demonstrations of how collaborative innovation can be implemented across subdomains.

All pilot cases have been successfully completed (more details here) and an informative video has been developed by the respective organisation, for each case study. You can find all videos below:

 

  • Pilot Case: “Drone-sensor system to detect and quantify methane emissions” (led by CEA and the Cyprus Institute).

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsXfQUeHjZo&

  • Pilot Case: “Development of multi-function electronics to control in-situ instruments for trace species detection” (led by KIT)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5S84iGamXM

  • Pilot Case: “Scientific services – Atmosphere “(Led by University of Helsinki)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mQ0dXKr2E0

  • Pilot Case: “Scientific services – Biosphere, targeting the scientific community’s need for better estimates of environmental impacts of drought stress to ecosystem productivity” (Led by University of Helsinki)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pyhXyglEAQ

  • Pilot Case: “Intra-RI Technological Development”: facilitating the development of interoperable/harmonized technologies by RIs and their effective transfer within ENVRIs “(Led by UFZ)

Link: https://youtu.be/hLqu6Q_xZTg