INAR partners to establish an atmosphere and climate Center of Excellence in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region
The Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region faces critical environmental challenges with regard to air quality and as a climate change hotspot. It is, however, a poorly studied area with little observational data. Arising from the need to create a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for climate and atmosphere research in the EMME region, Cyprus, specifically The Cyprus Institute (CyI), has become the host of an ambitious project to develop and provide scientific, technological, and policy solutions as well as high-level education to and in the context of the EMME region.
The new Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East – Climate and Atmosphere Research project, or EMME-CARE, is a 7-year project funded by the European Union Commission Horizon2020 that joins the expertise from The Cyprus Institute (CyI), the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Science (INAR) of the University of Helsinki (UHel), Max Plank Institute for Chemistry (MPIC), and the LSCE laboratory of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commissions (CEA). The new Center of Excellence (CoE) established within EMME-CARE is the Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C). The centre is working to become a regional hub for environmental observations, environmental predictions, impact and policy studies, and technological developments supported by a state-of-the-art research infrastructure (RI) and world-class education and training programme. As such, CARE-C is working to better understand and address the environmental challenges through sustainable solutions, which, in turn, would serve more than 400 million people living across the region in three continents of Africa, Asia and Europe.
The EMME-CARE project began in the Fall of 2019 and has thenceforth established the CoE and its four departments dedicated to environmental observations, environmental predictions, impact and policy, as well as innovation (see Fig 1.). In turn, these efforts run in parallel with upgrading the existing RIs, establishing new ones, building capacity and developing higher-level education.
CARE-C’s education and training office will complement the science and technology developments by establishing world-class higher education programmes on atmospheric studies and climate change for Masters and Doctoral level students. It will promote and facilitate international student mobility from and to the region and offer open educational and training resources to broader audiences. Students enrolled in higher-level studies at INAR and CyI will have the option to obtain joint degrees from both institutes.
International Conference on Climate Change in the Mediterranean and the Middle East
In 2018, The Cyprus Institute hosted the 1st International Conference “Climate Change in the Mediterranean and the Middle East: Challenges and Solutions” (www.climatechange2018.org ), open to researchers, policy-makers and private and public sector stakeholders.
CyI will host the 2nd Climate Change Conference and pre-conference workshops from the 11th to 14th of October 2021 with the aim to form a Regional Climate Action Plan. The conference will take place both in-person and online, and registrations are now open. The conference and the scientific pre-conference workshops are free and open to all to attend.
