An article introducing the ENVRI-Hub was published in the April 2026 edition of ERCIM News (Issue 144), as part of the special theme “Open Science Experiences and Prospects”.
The article, titled “ENVRI-Hub: A Science Gateway for Open Environmental Research,” was authored by Federico Drago (EGI Foundation), Delphine Dobler (Euro-Argo ERIC), and Ulrich Bundke (Forschungszentrum Jülich / IAGOS AISBL) on behalf of the ENVRI-Hub NEXT project. It presents the recently upgraded ENVRI-Hub platform as a central science gateway for Europe’s environmental research, demonstrating how interoperable Virtual Research Environments can accelerate collaborative Open Science and make FAIR data actionable for tackling global challenges.
About the Special Issue
Guest edited by Leonardo Candela (CNR-ISTI) and Roberto Di Cosmo (Inria and University Paris Cité), the special theme explores the current state of Open Science across Europe. The editors note that while Open Science has become an operational requirement embedded in national strategies and funding conditions, fragmentation remains a key challenge. The issue brings together contributions on federated infrastructures, semantic frameworks, governance, skills, and operational experiences from major European initiatives.
The ENVRI-Hub article sits within a cluster of contributions focusing on operational experiences with federated science gateways, alongside pieces on the EOSC EU Node, the EOSC Core Innovation Sandbox, D4Science virtual research environments, and other initiatives.
About the Article
Our contribution describes how the ENVRI-Hub enables researchers to search for, access, and process datasets and services across Europe’s environmental research infrastructures. It highlights key components such as the Catalogue of Services, the AI-powered Knowledge Base, and the Virtual Research Environment interface, with a core focus on making Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) easily accessible and processable from all contributing sources. The article also emphasises the platform’s community-driven development and its alignment with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
The full ERCIM News Issue 144 is available online.