eLTER RI and ESFRI process

eLTER entered the ESFRI Roadmap in 2018 and is currently developing into a Research Infrastructure (RI), with the aim of becoming formalised and fully operational in 2026. The materials in this section introduce various aspects of the eLTER ESFRI process and provide periodic updates on the eLTER RI's development, including an overview of what the RI will look like, its strategic goals, services, and integration into the European and global RI landscape.

Data management and handling tools

eLTER's network of sites and platforms generates large amounts of diverse data. To support the provision and management of this data and to ensure its FAIRness, eLTER provides, maintains and continually develops a range of tools and services, which are introduced and explained here.

Whole Systems Approach

What makes eLTER special and unique is its whole-system approach to ecological and socio-ecological research. The concept, structure, and strategic vision of eLTER is based on the WAILS concept - the Whole Systems Approach to In-Situ Research on Life-supporting Systems. WAILS combines research on horizontal interactions between social systems and their environments with research in macrosystem ecology with its vertical interactions and scaling. The materials provided here introduce and explain eLTER's WAILS concept and how it can translate into research agendas for sustainable solutions to the Grand Societal Challenges.

Whole Systems Approach

How to present eLTER

eLTER's numerous stakeholders include the scientific community, the eLTER community, peers in environmental research and observation, environmental RIs, decision and policy makers, ESFRI, funding organisations, as well as the public, businesses, and industry. These stakeholders have different information needs and require a different language. The materials provided here are targeted to different stakeholder groups and can be used when you are looking for guidance on how to present eLTER to a specific stakeholder group.

Social Ecology in eLTER

eLTER is the only environmental RI that directly addresses societal questions and environmental policies at local, regional and continental scales. We are constantly developing and refining our transdisciplinary frameworks, primarily through establishment and operation of socio-ecological LTSER Platforms to address eLTER's sustainability goals. Integral characteristics of the socio-ecological research framework are its iterative and reflective nature, and its support of ongoing dialogue between science and society, all to facilitate and strengthen the RI’s pursuit of sustainability in socio-ecological systems. Collection of both qualitative and quantitative essential socio-ecological data at the Platform scale will allow for upscaling of analyses and knowledge transfer to continental policy making on ecological and natural-resource issues.

Data Analysis

eLTER's key contribution to science is the measurement, collection, management, and provision of long-term data. Decades of legacy data measured and collected at numerous sites, plus the eLTER Standard Observation, form the basis for answering a wide range of research questions. To assist and enable data analysis, eLTER provides here an increasing range of data-analysis tools and webinars on analysis methods.

Standard Observations and concepts

eLTER aims to collect, manage, synthesiсe and make available information on the long-term development of ecosystems and socio-ecological systems for the geo-, hydro-, bio-, atmo-, and sociosphere on different spatial scales across Europe. This requires comparable and standardized data from measurement programs with defined variables, methods and protocols, which are implemented in the eLTER Standard Observations (SOs). The materials provided here introduce and explain the selection criteria and purpose behind eLTER SOs, and the benefits of their adoption and harmonization with other measurement schemes for creation of standardised and compatible large-scale data sets.