MARINE RESEARCH PROGRAMMES AND POLICIES
International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES)
First
incepted in 1902, today it coordinates and promotes marine research on
oceanography, the marine environment, the marine ecosystem, and on living
marine resources in the North Atlantic. Members of the ICES community now
include all coastal states bordering the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea.
Broader national research programmes have often embedded in them marine research issues such as sustainability or environment. During 2000s there were several national dedicated Baltic Sea research programmes (e.g. Finland, Latvia, Poland, Sweden) with a duration of 3-5 years. Along the development of BONUS, most of these national programmes have been finished and merged into the joint programme. Germany has an ongoing broader marine research programme (KDM) that is based on the national strategy for sustainable use and protection of the seas and the emerging German integrated maritime policy.
EU Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research (2008)
Since
2008, this has been promoting bridging of the traditional boundaries between
science and policy-making, science and technology, scientific disciplines and
industrial sectors. Also, it calls for bringing about new forms of research
governance to seek consensus among all parties concerned and to establish a
continuous dialogue between scientists, policymakers, industries and
representatives from society. The
strategy emphasises that international scientific cooperation is a powerful
vehicle for coordinated and integrated management of maritime activities in the
seas shared by the EU member states and other countries.
European Research Area ‘ERA’-process (2000)
Rooted in
the EU’s integration and competiveness objectives, a process that aims at
removing national borders in regards of free movement of researchers, research
funding and knowledge. The BONUS programme has been developed within this
framework.
It proposes major changes to EU research and
innovation funding to make participation easier, increase scientific and
economic impact and provide better value for money. The changes would bring
together the current framework programme for research and the competitiveness
and innovation programme.
