The most important impact expected following completion of DANUBIUS-PP is the creation of a world-class pan- European distributed RI. This will be sustainable and will actively work with the RIs and national/regional/international funding agencies. The science and innovation agenda of the RI will be driven by the combined needs and efforts of both the science and stakeholder communities to address the needs of national and international innovation and development plans (e.g. Smart Specialisation Strategy fields).
More specifically, the following impacts are expected upon completion of the DANUBIUS-PP:
- Strengthening technology development capacity and effectiveness
- Barriers and strengthening scientific performance
- Strengthening efficiency and attractiveness of the European Research Area
- A landscape of first-class sustainable RIs and services open to researchers, industry and end users
- Open to researchers, industry, and other interested groups such as policy makers and the public
- The acceleration of scientific discovery, innovation and competitiveness
- Funding bodies are able to take funding decisions and conclude the legal agreements for the construction of new research infrastructures
DANUBIUS-PP will reach out and communicate the scientific case, objectives and societal benefits of a distributed infrastructure dedicated to RS systems and the vision for the development of the RI to the project stakeholders. This will emphasize the crucial role of DANUBIUS-RI in providing key data and services to address wider global challenges such as the natural functioning and the anthropogenic impact on these systems (e.g. climate change, use of natural resources, regional hazards, integrated river basin and coastal zone management). DANUBIUS-PP will also update stakeholders with progress in developing the RI as a single pan-European entity as it moves forward to the operational stage.
All work that is proposed to be undertaken in DANUBIUS-PP is detailed on the basis of user needs which were identified prior to submitting the ESFRI application. This recognises the primary importance of ensuring that the RI serves all potential users so as to provide added value to existing facilities.
Funding agencies and research ministries will be regularly informed of work progress through their participation in the Stakeholder Committee. Financial negotiations with funding agencies are then expected to commence once the tasks detailed in the previous paragraph have been completed. For this reason, at least one year will be reserved at the end of the project for the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding related to the funding of DANUBIUS-RI in the implementation and operational phases, including the support of agencies and ministries in accessing European Structural and Investment Funds through national and/or regional Operational Programmes.
It is proposed that users will be represented in the Stakeholder Committee to ensure that their interests are fully taken into account in the PP. This body will review the draft deliverables produced by the different WPs (see Section 3.2). The Stakeholder Committee will constitute an open forum where key individuals or groups interested in DANUBIUS-RI can be invited to participate by the Project Coordinator. In this respect, WP9 (Capacity building) and WP10 (Communication and outreach) will fulfil a major role in reaching out to, and establishing direct links with new stakeholders.
Central to DANUBIUS-PP will be the continuous interdisciplinary dialogue at different levels (between scientists of different disciplines and with the different user communities, including business and decision and policy makers) to address issues fundamental to the successful implementation of the DANUBIUS Commons (such as Data Management, IPR). DANUBIUS-PP will review existing best practices globally and leading experts will be invited to the workshops and conferences dedicated to all the topics.
