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Cohesion Policy for place-based transformative innovation: Lessons of Denmark, Finland and Andalusia region
Get PDFThis policy brief presents two fundamental ideas: first, that European cohesion funds can effectively support agile and efficient place-based transformative innovation policies, which boost competitive and sustainable ecosystems in areas such as circularity and reducing fossil fuel dependency. This is achieved through multilevel government and a strong stakeholder involvement, as demonstrated by the experiences of Finland and Denmark. Second, regions can enhance their capacity for transformative innovation through structured capacity-building processes, including study visits and exchanges. The study visit conducted by the Andalusian government to Finland and Denmark, designed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and supported by the TAIEX-REGIO instrument, serves as a clear example presented in this report. The insights and lessons learned from this experience could be valuable to other European regions seeking opportunities for transformation and aspiring to collaborate in this journey.JRC.B.7 - Innovation Policies and Economic Impac
A 45-year global analysis of the spatial human forest nexus
No full textForests play a crucial role in providing important ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and biomass production, while supporting the livelihoods of millions of people globally. Understanding the spatial relationship between human populations and forests is vital for assessing how these socio-environmental systems interact and evolve over time. However, a global scale understanding of these spatial relationships remains limited. Here, we address this gap by examining the joint global trends in human population and forest dynamics from 1975 to 2020. We assess two indicators of spatial and temporal trends: forest area per person (FAP) and forest proximate people (FPP), illustrating how the spatial interplay between humans and forests has changed over time. We then introduce the forest human nexus (FHN), a spatial indicator that integrates forest area per capita, forest accessibility, and population density to provide a geospatial assessment of human–forest relationships. Our analysis reveals an uneven distribution of FHN trends worldwide, reflecting severe ecological stress in many tropical regions and highlighting the need for targeted interventions. By offering detailed spatiotemporal insights and a new spatial metric for human–forest interactions, this study aims to inform policymakers, conservationists, development practitioners, and researchers in fostering more sustainable human–forest relationships.JRC.D.1 - Land and Climat
Securing European democracies from within: two social-ecological pathways
Get PDFThis paper argues that while the issue of security is of primary importance and urgent concern for the viability of the European project, it should not be limited to defence and armament but also encompass social-ecological security. This notion is henceforth defined: first, it implies guaranteeing essential well-being for Europeans regarding housing, energy and food (i.e. safeguarding “essential democracy”); second, it means protecting this essential well-being from ecological shocks (i.e. building a social-ecological protection upgrading current welfare systems to mutualize new forms of risk, i.e. a “social-ecological state”). Empirical elements as well as policy recommendations are presented to support both suggested policy paths.JRC.B - Fair and Sustainable Econom
Towards optimal anticipatory action: Maximizing the effectiveness of agricultural early warning systems with operations research
No full textThis paper explores how optimization can enhance anticipatory action by improving resource allocation in response to agricultural risks such as droughts and floods. Anticipatory action relies on early warning systems, which monitor, forecast, and communicate risks to trigger preemptive measures like cash transfers and resource distribution. However, translating forecasts into effective actions often relies on predefined thresholds that may not account for varying needs or constraints. Optimization methods, which use mathematical models and data-driven techniques, offer a structured approach to make these responses more targeted and equitable. To illustrate this, we first outline the agricultural risks posed by climate crises and the role of early warning systems and anticipatory action in mitigating them. We then introduce concepts from operations research and demonstrate how these methods can enhance anticipatory action, using examples such as distributing drought-tolerant seeds and tailoring cash transfers. Finally, we propose research directions to explore how optimization can be best applied to improve the outcomes of anticipatory action.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit
Analysing microplastics in drinking water
Get PDFThe recast Drinking Water Directive (EU) 2020/2184 empowers the European Commission (EC) to adopt a methodology to measure microplastics in water intended for human consumption. When the directive entered into force in January 2021, no suitable standardised or harmonised methodologies were available and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), on request of Directorate General Environment (DG ENV), undertook a technical study to develop and test an appropriate analytical methodology. Through a comprehensive review of scientific literature, discussions with DG ENV, and consultations with experts from member states and stakeholders, it was determined that InfraRed or Raman optical micro-spectroscopy techniques would be most effective approach for detecting microplastic at levels typical of real-world drinking water in the EU. This methodology was subsequently developed and tested by the JRC before being formally adopted by the European Commission through the Delegated Decision (EU) 2024/1441 of 11 March 2024 supplementing Directive (EU) 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The present report provides a summary of the published methodology with additional insights into some critical elements and limitations and – in Annexes - includes also experimental examples used at the Joint Research Centre’s Nanobiotechnology Laboratory during the feasibility studies. Finally, consideration has been given to the applicability and adaptability of the methodology for other applications where legislation will require the detection or monitoring of microplastics.JRC.F.2 - Technologies for Healt
JRC Real World Driving Data
No full textThis collection includes the following real-world data:
(a) driving data from experimental campaigns
and
(b) On-Board Fuel and energy Consumption (OBFCM) data collected from the fleet of light-duty vehicles in Europe.
Description:
(a) Driving data from experimental campaigns carried out in real-world conditions, from different vehicles and drivers, over an extended time horizon (several months). The data consists of time series, including for example speed and acceleration values, obtained from the vehicles' control units, GNSS or other devices. Aggregated data (e.g. per trip) may also be available for the same experimental campaigns.
(b) OBFCM data from the European light-duty vehicles fleet collected according to EU Regulation 2021/392. It includes vehicle data reported by manufacturers and member states, since 2021 and up to the latest available reporting year, complemented by additional vehicle information (dimensions and others). Only the latest valid OBFCM data is reported for each vehicle.JRC.C.4 - Sustainable, Smart and Safe Mobilit
Reinforcing the Significance of Crop Diversity for Biodiversity Conservation in the Face of Agricultural Expansion
No full textThis comment about the global impact of agriculture on biodiversity in relation to eco-regions and crop types highlights the divergent responses of tropical and non-tropical ecosystems in their response to agricultural transformation due to ecological, climatic and historical factors. Authors emphasise the importance of management intensity and crop diversification in modulating that impact, as well as the need to preserve singular biological communities adapted to the extensively managed agro-ecosystems of subtropical and temperate regions of the world.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit
Land remains a blind spot in tracking progress under the Paris Agreement due to lack of data comparability
No full textLand carbon fluxes are key to the Paris Agreement. However, data comparability issues persist between countries’ land greenhouse gas inventories and mitigation targets, and what land models (bookkeeping and integrated assessments) provide as Paris-aligned benchmarks for land. As a result, the Global Stocktake, aiming to track collective mitigation progress, did not explicitly consider country targets for land. This blind spot leaves countries uninformed of the 2030 gap between their ambitions for mitigation on land and models’ benchmarks. Here we track the contribution and evolution of land-related targets under countries’ 2020 Nationally Determined Contributions, splitting land pledges between reduced emissions and additional sinks. Land retains a quarter of the global mitigation pledges in 2030, mostly relying on external support (−1.5ǂ1.1 GtCO2e/yr), of which −0.55 GtCO2e/yr are additional sinks. It is crucial that future Global Stocktakes include appropriate comparisons between modelled and country-provided land use net emissions. We here offer some concrete suggestions.JRC.D.1 - Forests and Bio-Econom
Does an education experience abroad promote short or long-term international labour mobility?
No full textPurpose
This paper examines whether an education experience abroad promotes short-term or long-term international migration intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses individual-level data from the Eurobarometer survey “Intra-EU labour mobility after the pandemic”, which focuses on intentions to migrate among EU citizens. Univariate probit and bivariate probit with sample selection models are estimated.
Findings
The results suggest that an international education experience makes individuals more likely to have plans to work abroad in the future, but this experience is found to be associated with short-term migration intentions rather than long-term ones.
Originality/value
While the positive relationship between international education and labour migration is well-known in the literature, this paper advances research in the field by investigating how studying abroad impacts the expected duration of the migration.JRC.B.6 - Industrial strategy, skills and technology transfe
How to develop a risk and vulnerability assessment
Get PDFThe Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy Europe (CoM EU) is the largest European initia-tive for local climate and energy action. Through the CoM, cities voluntarily commit to tackling climate change, pursuing and advancing the commitments of national government at a local scale.
To ensure sound and effective climate action planning, implementation and monitoring, the CoM Guidebook provides cities with relevant context, objectives, methodological principles, procedures, data sources and examples to develop a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP). One of the key elements of the SECAP, the Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) is a process that combines scientific data with local knowledge to assess the current local situation in terms of climate risks.
The present document provides a step-by-step guidance on how to develop a Risk and Vulnera-bility Assessment which is the ground to plan successful climate adaptation actions. The ap-proach adopted in the CoM guidebook is grounded on scientific literature and is aligned to the IPCC framework from the assessment report 5 onwards. The process to build the RVA consists of identifying past and future climate hazards, population and assets exposed as well as physical and social vulnerabilities, determining adaptive capacity to evaluate how well a community can adjust to climate impacts, analysing and prioritising risks and potential impacts. This is embed-ded in a framework where there’s a dedicated team to develop the RVA, stakeholders are identi-fied and engaged, and appropriate tools and techniques are explored and selected.
This document also provides insights into climate adaptation goals which should address the most important identified risks and vulnerabilities in alignment with the community's capacity and needs.JRC.C.2 - Energy Efficiency and Renewable