Nexus
Connecting marine agendas, science and society
NIOZ has aligned itself with recently established institutions focusing on climate mitigation and adaptation
In this Strategy and Science Plan 2020-2025, it is often noted that NIOZ aims (to continue and intensify) to connect national and international researchers from the various disciplines associated with marine sciences, from across the entire knowledge chain, bringing them and societal partners together. Through the to-be-established national research programs, NIOZ, with Utrecht University (UU), invites partners from other research institutions, industry, the government and other societal organizations to contribute with their own knowledge agendas, and questions to the programming, realization, and co-funding of marine research. Setting the stage, NIOZ recently established and revitalized existing MoUs with many national universities (UU, RUG, UvA, VUA, Radboud University). This included e.g., conditions associated with enrollment of NIOZ PhDs in the graduate schools and programs of these universities, installation of chairs in marine sciences of NIOZ PIs, and cooperation in teaching and research. As mentioned, because of NIOZ high quality research and leading national role, Utrecht University was prompted to support the institute through long-term substantial financial contribution aimed at intensifying UU-NIOZ collaboration, and strengthening national fundamental marine science research in general. Following a formal agreement between UU, NWO and NIOZ, a first five-year program started 2016, involving formal affiliation of NIOZ scientific productivity with UU, but also involving other universities where opportune and feasible. We will formulate a new, next five-year research and implementation plan with our UU focused on establishing national research programs, open to other partners for 2020-2025. Strategic and scientific alliances have also been formed in recent years between NIOZ and the various national applied marine/maritime research institutions, including e.g., the maritime technology Institute MARIN, and Wageningen Marine Research, (or WMR; formerly WUR-IMARES), Deltares and TNO. The latter also within the so-called MUST consortium (Netherlands Marine consortiUm of Science and Technology) for Global Ocean Innovation, to further expand and promote our valorization programs and collaboration. In addition, NIOZ 2.0 includes a dedicated external industrial liaison - ‘business development’ function; by now, NIOZ has become a well-known, and appreciated partner in the national economic priority areas (‘topsector’) domain for valorization, most notably with the subsectors ‘delta-technology’ and ‘maritime’ of the sector ‘water’. We aim to conceive and link national programs with UU to the various research agendas of these stakeholders, thus connecting and leading large consortia of academic and societal partners. Furthermore, NIOZ has aligned itself with recently established institutions focusing on climate mitigation and adaptation: (1) the Erasmus University Rotterdam-University of Groningen based ‘Global Center of Adaptation’ GCA, and (2) the Utrecht University initiative ‘Netherlands Consortium on Climate Change Adaptation’ CCCA, and wishes to make significant contributions to the goals of these centers, in concert with all partners and stakeholders, from academia, TO2, industry and NGOs. In addition, NIOZ has meanwhile become a well-established partner in various governmental policy-making (inter)departmental steering committees (e.g., IDON North Sea spatial planning, and ‘Living Oceans’ committees, both Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management and Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, among others), coordinating with, and connecting to all conceivable stakeholders. This function needs to be further strengthened in the coming period, also in the frame of the envisaged national research programs. In summary, NIOZ will have an open attitude and aims to actively connect all actors, expertise and agendas operating in the marine realm, internally and externally, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Together with UU, a principal first goal is to establish national research programs, attractive and open to the entire community; with both in-kind support, as well as various degrees of co-funding.
Strategic and scientific alliances have been formed between NIOZ and the various national marine/maritime research institutions
The two NIOZ locations
Indeed, NIOZ Yerseke (YE) is strategically located in one of the epicenters of actual and near future effects of climate change in the Netherlands: the Southwestern Delta. Specifically, its department of Estuarine and Delta Systems research is currently, and will continue to be, engaged in gathering momentum towards the formation of a (virtual) Southwestern Delta center of expertise, with regional partners like Province, WUR/WMR, UU, Hogeschool Zeeland (HZ), University College Roosevelt (UCR), local companies and industries, and the Belgium (Flemish) colleagues at VLIZ, and at the universities of Ghent and Antwerp. An initiative fitting well with strategic planning of cooperating institutions and ministries, as well as with the Blue Route of the Dutch National Research Agenda NWA, and combined NIOZ-UU interest. In this context, NIOZ YE will continue to develop and expand its experimental labs and other facilities, in- and outdoors, in the period 2020-2025 for further stimulation of (inter)regional cooperation; its ‘Nexus role’. Our larger facility on the Wadden Island of Texel, including Sea Port Texel, is equally strategically located at one of the strongest, and most dynamic tidal inlets in Northwestern Europe, on the edge of the Wadden and North Sea. Recent positive decisions regarding co-financing the dike-elevation project of the NIOZ Wadden Sea dike by NWO, safeguarding infrastructure for the future, also allow for further investments in NIOZ Texel (TX) research facilities, in- and outdoors (e.g., including mariculture) in 2020-2025. Notably the NIOZ department of Coastal Systems research on Texel has strong ties with stakeholders and other societal parties associated with in the Wadden Sea system as a whole, including many local and regional links, many of which with the growing mariculture activities.
NIOZ on an international level
On an international level, new or revitalized MoUs, including intensified cooperation with e.g., aspects like personnel exchange, facility sharing, combining and coordinating cooperative projects, H2020 initiatives, etc., have also been signed in recent years with international partner institutions like VLIZ (Belgium), AWI Bremerhaven (Germany), HZG Geesthacht (Germany), MARUM (Bremen University, Germany), MTA (Turkey), Oldenburg University (Germany), and IMR (Norway), several Indonesian institutes, and, most recently, with JAMSTEC, Japan. We aim to further develop international collaboration, in the near future notably with our northern German partners (AWI, MARUM, GEOMAR, and HZG) . The NIOZ departments of Ocean Systems research and of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry concentrate more on our international, sea and ocean-going efforts, working in concert with larger international networks like e.g., the European Marine Board, POGO, MARS, SCAR, IOC, besides industry (WOC), global NGOs, and governmental parties. In recent years, NIOZ has become the (single) national representative in these organizations (for NWO), in essence a Nexus role for the entire marine science community of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, we have significantly increased our influence, input and visibility in these international bodies, and we aim to promote and increase international cooperation and associated visibility further, notably with activities associated with the UN-IOC ‘Decade of the Ocean 2021-2030’, and the sustainable development goals (SDGs). In addition, NIOZ PIs are, and will be extensively involved in developing global agenda’s and reports, like e.g. for the IPCC, POGO, and the European Marine Board.
Nexus, Outreach and Open Science
Besides on a scientific level, our research and associated outreach has significant societal impact as well, contributing to addressing outstanding societal, foremost environmental issues affecting the socio-economic situation. NIOZ facilitates societal impact through open and transparent, independent knowledge sharing towards fundamental and applied science, and between public and private parties (companies, government bodies and societal organizations) and outreach. NIOZ aims to further augment these processes, facilitating knowledge sharing, also by further increasing the collaboration with users. In effect, NIOZ sees an added role in utilizing knowledge developed from research (valorization) to create societal impact. A combination of excellent knowledge, entrepreneurial education and accelerator programs encourage the establishment of start-ups, which can convert this knowledge into marketable innovations. Where possible, NIOZ aims to contribute to professionalizing the ecosystem of start-ups and the knowledge economy, also through its Holding BV. NIOZ is, and will be further developing an institutional policy for Research Data Management (RDM) and implementation via our Data Archiving System (DAS), which can be considered a role model for other institutions. Based on the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) principles, the NIOZ Research Data Policy is a significant advance towards open science and open data. Given the complexity and wide range of scientific data generated across NIOZ, the department-specific data-management plans are very appropriate. NIOZ leadership will closely monitor the implementation of the RDM plan with the potential for additional staff where needed for this important task, and will facilitate institutional level training on RDM for early-career scientists to make this strategy future proof.
Final remarks: new Nexus avenues
Considering all the above, our efforts 2020-2025 will be geared towards contributing to outstanding scientific and societal questions regarding changing marine environments and ecosystem architectures during the Anthropocene – a time of rapid global environmental change and ever-increasing human impact. One of our aims is to utilize our knowledge for developing pathways of mitigation and adaptation, including our own frontier-applied research, also towards sustainable Blue Growth. Not surprisingly, most, if not all of our stakeholders share this broad view on future research directions. Individually, most universities and institutions have meanwhile installed strategies that include at least one or more of these broad notions. NIOZ should take the opportunity to emphasize her role by bringing all the ‘marine’ lines of activities and strategies together in a national, and perhaps even international setting – creating national research programs supported and connected by all players. In this fashion setting our own ‘nationale wetenschapsagenda’ (national research agenda). This goal should be central in the activities of our ~50 research scientists and the four scientific departments, individually, but also as combined ‘engines of multiple cooperative efforts’, internally and externally.