In the period of 2019-2021, VITO will continue to be a key partner for the European Environment Agency, as coordinating partner of two European Topic Centres (ETCs) and partner in a third one.
European Topic Centres (ETCs) are centres of thematic expertise that are designated by the European Environment Agency (EEA) following a Europe-wide competitive selection process. These ETCs work as an extension of the EEA in specific topic areas. Together with the EEA member and co-operating countries, the ETCs facilitate provision of data, information and knowledge, and deliver reports and other services to the EEA and its network Eionet (European Information and Observation Network). Today, there are 7 ETCs in place to support the EEA in their mandate. VITO plays a role in three of these.
Since 2014, VITO has been the lead partner of the ETC on Waste and Materials in a Green Economy (ETC/WMGE). The current consortium exists of, besides VITO, 9 partners from 7 different countries.
Circular economy
The overarching policy concept in which the ETC/WMGE operates, is the circular economy, with waste and material use as central elements. The main focus is to continue to develop the evidence base for a transition to a circular economy, taking into account also wider green economy considerations by looking for example at impacts of resource use on human health and well-being.
Climate change Mitigation and Energy
The ETC on Climate change Mitigation and Energy (ETC/CME) consists of 11 partners from 9 different European countries. VITO was a partner in the predecessor of this ETC, but has taken over the coordinating role in 2019. The ETC/CME processes, aggregates and analyzes key data and information on EU greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy and energy efficiency. As such, the ETC/CME tracks the progress the EU is making in achieving its climate and energy objectives and provides important insight and knowledge to accelerate the transition to a climate neutral society.
Land use and climate impact
The land use and climate impacts team of VITO participates in the ETC/CCA on Climate Change impacts, vulnerability and Adaptation with a focus on urban areas. VITO’s long term urban climate modelling data and expertise will be integrated in the planned 2020 EEA report on ‘Urban Adaptation in Europe’. Building upon our knowledge about the Climate Data Store of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) VITO will also contribute to the urban sections of the EEA Climate-ADAPT portal. The ETC/CCA is coordinated by CMCC in Italy and counts 15 partners.
