KEPLER is a multi-partner initiative, built around the operational European Ice Services and Copernicus information providers, to prepare a roadmap for Copernicus to deliver an improved European capacity for monitoring and forecasting the Polar Regions. Our motivation is to put the public and stakeholders at the centre of Copernicus. This follows the recommendations of the ‘Copernicus User Uptake’ review, and its 4 themes of: 1) Raising awareness for the Copernicus programme, 2) Informing and educating Copernicus users, 3) Engaging Copernicus users in public and private sector, and 4) Enabling access to Copernicus data and information. These well tailored themes form the core components of KEPLER. However, as the Polar Regions are changing, so too are the challenges and opportunities. Because of these shifts we have included two additional themes that encompass the evolving needs. These are needed to provide opportunities for better understanding the environment, research opportunities, establishing new industry sectors and startups, and importantly empowering citizens: 5) Identification of research gaps regarding integration/assimilation, and 6) Improved sea-ice mapping and forecasting. Through these 6 themes KEPLER aims to release the full potential of Polar Regions Earth Observation, including from ESA and EUMETSAT, by identifying and eliminating the barriers that impede the use of the tremendous resource that is Copernicus. This combines 2 key elements of the call: a) bringing together key European stakeholders and competent entities, and b) growing the Copernicus brand and user-base through providing enhanced scientific and technical support. Our objective with KEPLER is to provide a mechanism that enables the broad range of Polar Regions stakeholders to be equipped with the most accurate and relevant, environmental information so that they can seize the many benefits that Copernicus products generate for society and economy.

Even popularly thought, landscapes are much more than visual sceneries. Instead, they are environments for dialog between nature and culture. The 2004 European Landscape Convention (ELC) is the first international treaty to be exclusively concerned with the protection, management and planning of all dimensions of landscape, and not restricted to exceptional landscapes but also considering everyday landscapes.The Landscape Approach (LA) is a bottom-up, collaborative and community-based approach to landscape planning and management, with the aim of balancing competing demands in a way that is best for human well-being and the environment. It means creating solutions that consider food and livelihoods, finance, rights, restoration and progress towards climate and development goals. LA opens opportunities to discuss and negotiate from the more concrete shared reality, with the outline of values, expectations and acceptable trade-offs for each type of user and stakeholder, in order to envision future landscapes upon the principle of non-regressive policies of the ELC.Living and thriving landscapes are increasingly related to wellbeing and quality of life, and the public administration cannot manage them with traditional sectoral thinking. Hence, many private corporations, NGOs, landowners and citizens, are developing or getting involved in experiences to regenerate or manage landscapes in environmentally friendly ways. It is a novel trend by which communities and stakeholders are gaining ownership over the spaces that conform the green and blue infrastructures of ordinary surroundings, but also a solution for endangered or highly valuable and very sensitive natural areas at international scale.Even if the ELC has affected the national landscape legislation, the basic ideas of the LA are seldom implemented in landscape practices. As a consequence, landscape remains prone to social conflicts, as landscapes’ multifaceted nature and multistakeholder legitimacy are insufficiently considered.The partners of the consortium are willing to tackle the question, how actors and stakeholders can collaborate into the governance of a landscape. Thus, the main aim of the project is to enhance landscape awareness and collaborative governance of cultural and natural landscapes through innovative learning interventions in higher education. The specific objectives of the project are:- To promote integrated landscape approach in land use and environmental management.- To enhance civic engagement to bring-on pro-environmental behavior towards every day landscapes and threatened landscapes.- To innovate in citizen science and participatory methods as tools for landscape planning and management.- To design innovative learning environments and interventions for landscape education in order to ensure collaboration and knowledge creation.The project activities will culminate in Learning Labs organized in the partner countries. In the Labs, HE students will be offered a close-up experience about community-based landscape planning, management, and conservation initiatives with stakeholders, like local authorities, environmentalist NGOs as well as local citizens. While working on concrete situations of action students are guided to collaborative knowledge creation together with stakeholders and generating new knowledge, skills and innovations.In addition to the main target group of HE students and teachers, the project recognizes other target groups, like policy-makers, local and regional authorities, environmental planners and managers, environmental NGOs and citizens.Expected results of the project have been foreseen into societal, scientific and educational results:Societal results:- Exploitation of integrated LA through interactive applications and participatory methods ease off the deployment of collaborative landscape governance- Awareness of landscape values increases and citizens are more engaged to act for their local landscapes- New knowledge and improved flow of communication between policy-makers, authorities and citizens- Citizen science application is an open-access tool for every interested userScientific results:- Contribution to the theoretical discussion of the holistic nature of landscape- The rise of the methodological awareness when studying landscape - Elaboration of the connection between the LA and the citizen science- Emphasis towards the idea of open scienceEducational results:- New transferable HE landscape education methodologies, applications and materials - Enhanced skills and competences of the students and teachers involved in the project activities- New pedagogical innovations based to the socio-constructivist learning theory- Increased ability of involved students to comprehend and act on the multifaceted processes of landscape governance- Innovative learning environments and interventions play significant role in landscape education

In this transdisciplinary and trans-sectorial project, we examine effective biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation led by Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) through protected areas (PAs) and “Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs). We seek to understand how these areas, through the active local commitments to restoration and governance vitality, qualify as OECMs. Working with different sectors of society (local communities including the Sámi, academics, administrative actors, etc.) we bring together social and ecological methods to examine the success of locally-led restoration projects. Ultimately, we ask a critical and profound question: what are the ecological, cultural, social and spiritual values that inspire local communities to restore and protect these areas? Why are they important and how are such values determined and reflected in national and international policy contexts?

Arctic PASSION will address the urgent need for coordinated and accessible Earth observation and information services for the Arctic region. Despite significant international effort in the past, elements of the current pan-Arctic observing network still remain fragmented, disconnected, or have other critical shortcomings. Our aim is to overcome these shortcomings and to advance towards a fully integrated pan-Arctic Observing System of Systems (pan-AOSS). Working under the SAON framework and in partnership with rights-and stakeholders, Arctic PASSION will strengthen international scientific observations, community-based monitoring, and Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge within an observing system. We will co-create an innovative pan-AOSS that truly represents the diverse range of needs of the different user-groups and decision makers. The resultant pan-AOSS will provide its users with unrestricted access to the latest-available Arctic observations, including better access to Copernicus Arctic products. It will empower Arctic communities, policy makers and industries to make knowledge-based decisions. These will benefit society and support the adaptation and sustainability of the objectives of the UNFCCC, the IPCC and associated protocols. Arctic PASSION will also fill critical gaps in observations and improve the archiving, handling and interoperability of Arctic data systems. It will use these improvements to develop and implement eight new EuroGEO Pilot Services that will support emergency preparedness, food security, and responses to climate and socio-economic changes in the Arctic. The combination of the work performed by Arctic PASSION will provide compelling evidence to GEO to update Arctic GEOSS’ Community activity’ to the higher level of GEO ‘Regional Initiative’. Our legacy will be a stronger European voice in Arctic observing, and a more inclusive pan-Arctic observing system that supports a prosperous, sustainable and environmentally secure Arctic.