Dear all, Thanks Helen, Christos and Luc for the feedback and comments, the topic is delicate and needs careful consideration. I try to respond all in the same mail. To clarify the previous actions, the meeting we participated was initiated by European Commission who has been having discussions with US philanthropies, and the Commission asked us to join the discussions on how to support the actions taken on both in the US and in Europe. Hence, this was not directly towards ENVRI, but to involve the relevant structures in Europe, the RIs. I understood that from Commission side the idea was to get the US philanthropies know the European structure and to support/facilitate e.g. funding solutions that would be necessary for data security and accessibility. From ENVRI and European RI landscape, many RIs and networks are already working with the US-based organisations relevant in their fields to solve urgent emerging risks, and this is the key here. However, the overall view is not very clear, and hence the excel sheet document was provided. I see it as a mapping exercise, to get the overall view and to see that all relevant parties are included and involved e.g. in discussions. This document could remain as internal document for ENVRI, and not to share (also because the situations change quickly), but use it to support the ENVRI and EC on this matter, and to have a overall picture on the situation. I think the target groups still need to be discussed carefully, but I saw this at least targeted to potential funding agencies, but the benefit of having this kind of general statement was brought up from the US participants of the meeting as well. All in all, I share Helen’s concerns, and I think the coordination and involving all parties is essential, and this was discussed in these meetings as well. The draft I shared was a very first quickly drafted version. Thanks Christos and Luc for thorough comments. In addition to the data security and access, from ENVRI point of view we indeed emphasised that for environmental research infrastructures maintaining the continuous observations and high quality of data, and keeping measurement stations operational is critical, and that a huge amount of expertise may be lost due to the funding cuts. For the health sector the access and preservation of the data is most critical. Also, the question raised on the signatories or endorsement need still to be discussed, and whether the White Paper will be jointly by health and environmental domain, or ENVRI and Health domain separately, but I think it could be beneficial if we could have joint white paper. Thanks again for the feedback so far, and all comments and views are very welcome. We can also arrange a dedicated meeting to discuss this within the ENVRI Board. With best wishes Eija [cid:image003.png@01DC0129.0510B460] Eija Juurola Director General +358 50 4154833 ACTRIS – The Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure www.actris.eu<http://www.actris.eu/> | LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/company/actris-ri/> | YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ35hG3h4wu6yuefuNeza1A> | BlueSky<https://bsky.app/profile/actris.bsky.social> From: Helen Glaves - BGS <hmg@bgs.ac.uk> Sent: Tuesday, 29 July 2025 11.59 To: Eija Juurola via envri_board <envri_board@maillists.icos-ri.eu> Cc: Petäjä, Tuukka T <tuukka.petaja@helsinki.fi>; Emmanuel Salmon <emmanuel.salmon@icos-ri.eu>; Eija Juurola <eija.juurola@actris.eu> Subject: RE: Urgent: Drafting a White Paper on the current Scientific Data Crisis Dear Eija Thank you for this update. I do have a slight concern about the direct approach from “US philanthropists and private funders” to the ENVRI Board when there are many efforts in the US to safeguard data including those by organisations such as ESIP, AGU and others. It would make sense to ensure a coordinated approach to avoid parties outside the US being perceived as acting without reference to those organisations already driving these data preservation efforts in the USA. Obviously, the information provided in the documents does not indicate if there has been contact with relevant US-based organisations but this should be considered as part of this action. I can provide contact details for the various individuals who can give more details of specific ongoing efforts. Kind regards, Helen From: Eija Juurola via envri_board <envri_board@maillists.icos-ri.eu<mailto:envri_board@maillists.icos-ri.eu>> Sent: 28 July 2025 16:38 To: envri_board@maillists.icos-ri.eu<mailto:envri_board@maillists.icos-ri.eu> Cc: Petäjä, Tuukka T <tuukka.petaja@helsinki.fi<mailto:tuukka.petaja@helsinki.fi>>; Emmanuel Salmon <emmanuel.salmon@icos-ri.eu<mailto:emmanuel.salmon@icos-ri.eu>>; Eija Juurola <eija.juurola@actris.eu<mailto:eija.juurola@actris.eu>> Subject: [ENVRI Board] Urgent: Drafting a White Paper on the current Scientific Data Crisis Dear ENVRI Board, During the summer, European Commission has been in contact with US philanthropists and private funders interested in supporting efforts to safeguard datasets critical for research and facilitate the continuous operation of critical services, mainly in the areas of climate, environment and health research, and organised a first meeting with them and European Research Infrastructures from the health and environmental domain. Me, Tuukka Petäjä from ACTRIS, and Werner participated in the meeting from ENVRI side. In the attachment you find a short recap from the meeting (cooperation on data and….docx). One of the key outcomes from the meeting was to draft a white paper, which should highlight the societal relevance of research data and data infrastructures, with key sections on Urgency, What is at Stake, Global Challenge, and Call to Action. The document should be concise and globally framed with 2-3 pages maximum. The activity is led by Antje Keppler from ERIC Forum/Eurobioimaging. Due to the urgency of the situation, the timeline for the first full draft is very tight, it should be developed by 7th August, knowing that it is difficult due the vacation period in Europe. Hence, I ask for your quick contributions to the first very preliminary draft of the White Paper and to a pooled list of repositories affected by the current situation. Please find below links to the documents, I attach them also in this mail, if you cannot access these: [docx icon] Draft White Paper - Version 270725.docx<https://actris1-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/eija_juurola_actris_eu/EbDkEjDH6AVGomc6ngfQGzkBS6Tn6pYlrdAeIfF5nKbXaA?e=R7wk0y> [xlsx icon] ListAffectedRepositories.xlsx<https://actris1-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/eija_juurola_actris_eu/ERvwzUn51nRKs57YYxENOlAB9ivY65KC99ZCCyq3ntECag?e=PWPaUp> I will share the contributions from ENVRI to Antje latest on 6th August. Thanks a lot, and best wishes Eija This email and any attachments are intended solely for the use of the named recipients. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, copy or distribute this email or any of its attachments and should notify the sender immediately and delete this email from your system. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has taken every reasonable precaution to minimise risk of this email or any attachments containing viruses or malware but the recipient should carry out its own virus and malware checks before opening the attachments. UKRI does not accept any liability for any losses or damages which the recipient may sustain due to presence of any viruses.
