On Saturday 6 November, representatives from GÉANT, ASREN and RedCLARA were joined by researchers from Europe, Latin America, and Africa to present at the EUROCLIMA+ pavilion, highlighting to the COP26 audience the role of Research and Education Networks in helping with Climate Action.
In an inspiring session chaired by GÉANT’s Senior Research Engagement Officer Chris Atherton, Horst Pilger, Head of Sector DG INTPA (the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships) gave the session welcome, followed by introductory presentations from GÉANT CEO Erik Huizer, RedCLARA CEO Luis Eliécer Cadenas, and ASREN Managing Director Yousef Torman on Research and Education Networks (RENs).
Guest researchers Marguerite Nyhan (Ireland), Lincoln Alves (Brazil) and Charlene Gaba (Niger) then explained the vital nature of RENs to Climate Action.
A panel session followed, focusing on the values we need to rely upon to address Climate Action; and ways in which together we can better show the value of RENs – including special mentions for In The Field stories and the GÉANT IMPACT website.
As Erik Huizer stated in his introduction, “We urgently need the creativity, brainpower & research skills of every researcher and student in the world to tackle the problem of climate change. They need to be able to share their data and results, for others to collaborate or enhance. Cooperation needs to be easy, safe and secure. Research and Education networks like GÉANT, ASREN and RedCLARA are there to facilitate that. Together we deliver an information ecosystem of infrastructures and services used for communication, collaboration, exchange of data, and access to repositories, services and facilities.”
The full recording of the session is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9J-WnsC35g
