ACCENT-­‐Plus  Linking  Science  and  Policy  

Sandro  Fuzzi  Coordinator  

The  Project  •  THEME:  Networking  ac@vi@es  on  atmospheric  composi@on  and  climate  

change  for  research  collabora@on  and  policy  making  •  Coordina0on  and  support  ac0on  •  Funding:  998,352  Euro  •  Dura0on:  1  November  2010  –  31  October  2014  

The  legacy  of  ACCENT  •  The  proposal  builds  on  the  successful  efforts  of  the  

Network  of  Excellence  ACCENT  which  over  the  past  six  years  has  brought  together  the  atmospheric  science  community  engaged  in  global  change  and  air  pollu0on  studies    

•  Some  numbers  on  ACCENT  outcome:  –  three  major  European  Symposia  organized  on  atmospheric  composi0on  

change;  –  135  topical  workshops  organized;  –  33  exchange  programs  funded  –  mainly  concerning  young  scien0sts  –  

involving  127  researchers;  –  more  than  500  young  scien0sts  funded  to  aTend  Interna0onal  Conferences;  –  68  science  reports  published,  including  29  ACCENT  series  reports;  –  over  900  papers  contributed  in  peer  reviewed  interna0onal  journals;  –  over  1500  conference  presenta0ons.  

From  ACCENT  to  ACCENT-­‐Plus  •  The  general  concept  for  ACCENT-­‐Plus  is  to  extend  the  breadth  of  ACCENT  

to  reach  out  more  strongly  to  the  policy  community  to  facilitate  the  transfer  of  research  results  into  policy  development  and  decision  making  

•  ACCENT-­‐Plus  aims,  through  the  research  efforts  of  the  whole  community,  at  answering  the  general  ques0on:  “How  can  Europe  control  the  composi4on  of  its  atmosphere  under  a  changing  climate?”,  and  to  transfer  the  science  results  to  the  policy/decision  making.  Simple,  authorita0ve  and  well  ar0culated  documents  will  be  communicated  to  stakeholders  and  used  in  support  of  the  decision  making  process.  A  wide  range  of  dissemina0on  and  training  ac0vi0es  will  transfer  this  informa0on  to  different  levels  of  stakeholders  

ACCENT-­‐Plus  Web  Portal  hGp://www.accent-­‐network.org/  

Ac0ons  planned  •  involving  the  atmospheric  chemistry  community  at  large  in  the  planned  networking  ac0vity,  

providing  the  required  cri0cal  mass.  This  will  be  accomplished  by  associa0ng  the  partners  and  associates  of  the  previous  ACCENT  phase;    

•  maintaining  and  extending  the  ACCENT-­‐Plus  Web  Portal  ac0vi0es  which  include  sharing  of  informa0on  within  the  science  community,  ac0vity  planning,  and  outreach  to  stakeholders;  

•  providing  informa0on  on  policy  relevant  issues  dealing  with  atmospheric  composi0on  changes  in  the  wider  context  of  food  security,  energy,  ecosystem  services,  human  health;  

•  maintaining  the  European  IGAC  office  to  provide  the  interna0onal  context  for  ACCENT-­‐Plus  science  and  policy  oriented  outputs;  

•  organising  a  biennial  conference  of  the  en0re  European  science  community  involved  in  atmospheric  composi0on  change  research,  con0nuing  the  successful  series  of  Urbino  Symposia;  

•  organising  topical  workshops  on  relevant  aspects  of  atmospheric  composi0on  changes  and  their  policy  implica0ons;  

•  promo0ng  the  ACCENT-­‐Plus  Summer  School  to  contribute  developing  a  skilled  genera0on  of  scien0sts  and  policy  makers;  

•  producing  four  high  profile  review  papers  (ACCENT-­‐Plus  Topical  Papers)  on  key  topical  issue  from  both  scien0fic  and  policy  perspec0ves  and  a  policy  oriented  synthesis  paper/book;  

•  coordina0ng  the  efforts  with  other  FP7  projects  funded  within  the  specific  field  of  science.  

INVOLVING  THE  ATMOSPHERIC  CHEMISTRY  COMMUNITY  AT  LARGE  

The  call  for  associates,  permanently  open,  is  available  at:  www.accent-­‐network.org  

Management  of  ACCENT  Plus  

ACCENT-­‐Plus  Topical  Papers  •  Ozone  

–  The  emissions  of  precursors  have  decreased  significantly  in  Europe  over  the  last  two  decades.  These  changes  have  reduced  peak  concentra0ons,  but  mean  concentra0ons  have  increased.  Why  has  the  ozone  concentra0on  not  decreased  more  substan0ally?  How  well  do  we  understand  the  cause  of  increases  in  background  ozone?  Are  the  trends  in  background  ozone  sufficiently  well  understood?  How  well  do  we  understand  the  interac0ons  between  tropospheric  ozone  and  changes  in  climate?  

•  Par0culate  MaTer  –  How  well  are  we  able  to  quan0fy  sources  of  PM  in  Europe?  What  species/types  of  aerosols  should  be  

regulated?  What  are  the  most  damaging  compounds?  What  is  the  importance  of  primary  vs.  secondary  aerosols  for  health  and  climate  change?  What  is  the  combined  impact  of  the  different  types  of  aerosols  on  climate?  What  is  the  impact  of  changes  in  the  concentra0ons  of  par0cles  on  clouds  and  precipita0on?  Can  win-­‐win  strategies  for  climate  and  air  quality  be  developed?  

•  Methane  –  The  trends  in  global  atmospheric  methane  since  the  early  1990s  have  fluctuated  substan0ally  and  none  of  

the  several  hypotheses  are  adequate  to  explain  the  observa0ons.  What  is  the  current  understanding  of  natural  and  anthropogenic  sources  of  methane?  Which  are  the  chemical  sinks  in  the  atmosphere,  and  which  the  oxida0on  sink  in  soils?  What  will  be  the  feedbacks  of  climate  changes  onto  sources  and  sinks  of  atmospheric  methane?  

•  Nitrogen  Cycle  –  How  well  do  we  understand  the  global  cycle  of  fixed  nitrogen  compounds?  What  is  the  impact  of  food  

produc0on  on  the  global  and  regional  nitrogen  budget?  What  is  the  impact  of  nitrogen  compounds  on  aerosols?  How  will  climate  change  impact  emissions,  atmospheric  processing,  concentra0ons  and  deposi0on  of  nitrogen  compounds?  How  are  nitrogen  levels  changing  in  ci0es/megaci0es  and  what  is  the  impact  on  health?  The  human  modifica0on  of  the  nitrogen  cycle  has  a  profound  effect  on  the  carbon  cycle,  but  how  well  is  this  quan0fied  at  global  and  regional  scales?  

Schedule  to  prepare  the  topical  papers  

ACCENT-­‐Plus  Summer  School  “Chemistry-­‐Climate  Interac0ons”    

•  It  is  important  to  develop  a  skilled  genera0on  of  scien0sts  and  policymakers  who  understand  the  issues  related  to  climate  change  and  their  rela0on  to  atmospheric  chemistry.  

•  The  summer  school  will  assemble  a  group  of  natural  and  social  scien0sts  and  will  address  ques0ons  at  the  interface  between  physical,  chemical,  biological,  social  and  poli0cal  sciences.  

•  To  op0mise  resources  the  venue  will  be  either  before  or  aher  the  next  Urbino  Symposium  (September  2013)