Programme
and projects
Goals and implementation
In 1970, the Belgian Government took the initiative
to fund the first scientific research programme on the North
Sea called "Project Sea" as part of the "Environment/Water" research
programme.
To date, six successive phases have been implemented
and a seventh phase has recently started.
The overall objectives of
the North Sea programme are set out as follows:
- to develop and consolidate the Belgian scientific expertise
related to the North Sea ecosystem;
- offer decision-makers the necessary scientific support
for drawing up and carrying out North Sea related policies;
- to develop/promote interdisciplinary research, both, between
and inside the natural and social sciences;
- to encourage dialogue and exchange of information among
scientists, decision-makers and the other actors concerned,
at all levels of the country and within a European and international
context;
- to stimulate the participation of researchers in international
research and assessment programmes.
Call for research proposals,
which are open to universities and public research institutions
and, in some cases, for specialized consultancy offices, are
issued regularly. Proposals are selected on the grounds of
a scientific assessment carried out by foreign experts in accordance
with the "peer review" method.
Funding, management, coordination and development
of the programme are in the hands of the Belgian Science Policy.
Since 1997 two kinds
of multi-annual projects are financed:
The
Strategic research actions:
To explore the complex nature of the phenomena
which govern and influence the marine environment, longer
term and more basic research is essential. Basic knowledge
which permits comprehension of the various phenomena occurring
in the environment of the North Sea is, at present, still
not adequate, given their complex and interdisciplinary nature.
Strategic scientific research would on the one hand help
to reinforce and to optimally use the scientific expertise
already available and, on the other hand facilitate the creation
of new centres of expertise. To that end, the programme aims
to bring scientific teams together to work in multidisciplinary
networks on projects in chosen subject areas, with the common
goal of establishing a solid basis on which the Federal authorities
can base implementation of long term policies for the sustainable
exploitation of the North Sea and its natural resources.
The duration of strategic research projects
is 4 years.
Targeted
research actions:
Targeted research actions are the most appropriate
way of enabling the authorities to formulate an answer quickly
enough, based on scientific data, to urgent questions of
national and international policy regarding their tasks in
monitoring the North Sea and its natural resources. This
involves research which is restricted in scope, short term
and primarily applied in character. The research can have
to do with biological, physical and chemical aspects and
socioeconomic and legal issues. The themes to be dealt with
in priority are defined in consultation with the departments
of the federal and federated entities concerned.
This kind of research does not exceed 2 years.
Since 2002, each research project, consisting
of a network of funded partners, is enlarged with a user-committee.
These non-funded partners in the project include relevant international,
European, federal, and regional official bodies, scientific
experts, NGO’s… They collaborate actively to the
project by making data and information available and/or supply
an advisory opinion regarding the ongoing research.
Also since 2002, the Belgian researchers within
the North Sea programme have the possibility of cooperating with
an international university
or research institution within their project on the basis of
a co-financing |
