LIAISE LIAISE Linking Impact Assessments to Sustainability Expertise
Country: EU Projects
Start Date:   1/12/2009         Duration: 36 months         Project Type: Network
Contract Number: 
Organisation Type:  EC Project
Topics: 
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Assessment tools
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Economic
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Environmental
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Social
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Sustainable / green remediation
Project objectives: 
The LIAISE consortium will:   
•Unite the multi-disciplinary competences of a core of large European institutes, that in turn consolidate the expertise from large FP6 projects such as 
SEAMLESS, SENSOR, MATISSE, Sustainability A Test, IQ Tools and EVIA;   
•Combine researchers that analyse current policy needs and link them in innovative ways (i.e. targeted, co-designed and co-produced IA ‘test cases’); 
  
•Develop a roadmap towards a virtual centre of excellence on IA, that can operate as the durable hub of existing academic and practitioner networks relevant 
to the themes of the NoE;   
•Maintain the flexibility to support ‘real life’ IA processes, informed by a structured dialogue with the IA user community, represented by a high level 
Policy Advisory Board;   
•Develop a business plan to ensure durable operation, scientific credibility and efficient usability of the shared toolbox, also in the post-project period.
Project Summary: 
Policies aiming at sustainable development need a solid foundation in IA using a variety of IA tools. However, existing research points out that the full potential 
of IA is not being realised. Many tools to support IA have been developed, but are not yet being fully employed by policy makers. These missed opportunities are 
symptomatic of a large and deep gap between the two broad communities of IA researchers and IA practitioners. Practitioners tend to look for tools that are simple 
and transparent while the researchers are more interested in the sophistication and innovative aspects of assessment tools. The main purpose of LIAISE is 
to identify and exploit opportunities to bridge the existing gap between these two communities in a way that leads to an enhanced use of IA tools in policy making. 
Key to this aim will be the development of a shared toolbox on IA, which will be of great use both to policy makers and to the research community.
Achieved Objectives: 
As a result of the project, the following outputs are envisaged:   
•A shared toolbox: a durable and flexible infrastructure to support IA with improved tools;   
•A continuously updated shared research agenda fed from scientists of different disciplines and practitioners;   
•Capacity building and training components to spread the results of research activities to target groups in communities of IA users and IA researchers; 
  
•A virtual centre of excellence: an internationally visible, integrated and interdisciplinary scientific community providing excellent and applicable 
research in support of IA.
Product Descriptions: 
The activities of LIAISE will be divided into eight WPs, each one under the responsibility of single research institutes in the Consortium, as described below: 
  
•WP0: Management and coordination of LIAISE - ALTERRA   
•WP1: IA for sustainability: policy needs, assessment procedures and governance contexts - UEA   
•WP2: Science for IA tools and procedure - ZALF   
•WP3: Shared toolbox: back-office and improvement of selected IA tools - ALTERRA   
•WP4: Shared toolbox: front-office - FUB   
•WP5: Shared toolbox: governance and post-project durability - NERC-CEH   
•WP6: Test cases in sustainability priority areas - SYKE   
•WP7: Dissemination and Training - FEEM
Additional Information:
Project Resources:
Weblink:
http://www.liaise-noe.eu/content/about-liaise
Funding Programme(s): 
EC FP7: Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development.
Link to Organisations:
Submitted by: EUGRIS Team Professor Paul Bardos  Who does what?  26/09/2011 12:35:00
Updated by: EUGRIS Team Professor Paul Bardos  Who does what?  26/09/2011 12:36:00