Advantages of Volunteer‐Based Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe

Reliable estimates of population parameters and their trends are necessarynfor effective management and conservation actions, especially for endangered species such as wolves in most European countries. Under the Habitat Directive 92/43/CEE, all countries are required to monitor the status of their endangered populations. The ultimate goal of population monitoring is to detect a change in both magnitude and direction for one of the population parameters. We discuss the importance of wolf populations monitoring in Europe, giving examples from the contributions of this theme issue, and we highlight the technical challenges of transboundary monitoring and of preventive measures implementation.

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) in non-European countries are introduced into the agro-environment on large scale with little knowledge of adverse effects on biodiversity. In the European Union (EU) possible effects of GMOs on biodiversity have to be accurately and precisely monitored. Monitoring biodiversity with a high precision is expensive and may only be achieved in close cooperation between GMO monitoring and general biodiversity monitoring. The EuMon project sampled metadata on biodiversity monitoring in Europe. Basing on the metadata, we estimated resource needs for biodiversity monitoring as needed for detecting potential adverse effects of GMOs on biodiversity. On average the analyzed schemes with a potential to detect at least a 5% change of biodiversity monitor 242.6 ± 105.4 sites at 322.6 ± 172.1 person days employing 63 ± 23 persons per year. The time invested in monitoring, given as person days, however, differed greatly between schemes and species groups, so that real manpower might be considerably higher.

Factors Influencing Data Quality in Citizen Science Roadkill Projects

Individual monitoring services (IMS) in Europe do not comply with the same legal or approval requirements. Anyway, a degree of harmonisation existing in individual monitoring practices in Europe has been achieved mainly thanks to documents as standards or international recommendations, which with different weight represent invaluable vehicles of condensed information transfer. However, implementation of standards is not straightforward and harmonisation is not directly a consequence. Somehow, 'harmony' is needed also in standards: IEC and ISO standards, on performance requirements for dosemeters sometimes have different approaches (i.e. performance criteria). Moreover, standards do not all refer to reliability, and therefore being in compliance with standards does not by itself assure that dose results are reliable. Standards are not the only reference documents for an IMS. EURADOS working group on 'Harmonisation of Individual Monitoring in Europe', who has been active in the years 2001-2004, suggested a classification of publication on individual monitoring, distinguishing between standards and documents of relevance, which can be both national and international. None of the two categories are mandatory unless specified in legislation. The Council Directive 96/29/EURATOM and its implementation in each EU Member States has fostered harmonisation of the approach (i.e. approval of dosimetric services) and of the reference quantities for individual monitoring within EU, but national legislation still allow substantial differences in individual monitoring from country to country.

To achieve the goals of the 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework, the European Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU Green Deal, biodiversity monitoring is critical. Monitoring efforts in Europe, however, suffer from gaps and biases in taxonomy, spatial coverage, and temporal resolution, resulting in fragmented and disconnected data. To assess user and policy needs in biodiversity monitoring, we employed a four‐step user‐centered stakeholder engagement process with over 300 stakeholders including a public stakeholder workshop, online survey, interviews, and a meeting with experts from 18 EU member states, the European Commission, and the European Environment Agency. The stakeholders identified policy needs, current challenges, and potential solutions. Based on the policy and stakeholder assessment, we recommend establishing a European Biodiversity Observation Coordinating Centre to optimize existing observation efforts, harmonize data, and enhance our ability to predict and respond to key challenges related to biodiversity loss in Europe.

[full article, abstract in English; abstract in Lithuanian]
 First experiments with electronic monitoring emerged in Europe in the early 1990s. Within 15 years, the majority of countries in Europe reported having introduced electronic monitoring at least as pilot projects. The amazing dynamic rise of electronic monitoring in Europe may be explained by the commercial interests that become evident when looking at the activities of private companies selling the technique. Although electronic monitoring seems to have expanded in many countries, one has to realize its marginal role within the European sanctions systems compared to other sentencing or release options. On average, only about 3% of all probationary supervised persons were under electronic monitoring at the end of 2013. This article deals with questions regarding the impact of electronic monitoring on prison population rates and reduced reoffending, with net-widening effects and costs, essential rehabilitative support, human rights-based perspectives and the general (non)sense of electronic monitoring.

Excellent communication skills among graduates are very crucial for their future and career development. WhatsApp application is seen to have the potential to develop these skills since it has robust functions and features, easy to use, and free. However, there are still issues in implementing this application as a tool in developing communication skills by utilizing this application for educational purposes among UTM students. Hence, this study was aiming to investigate the level of WhatsApp usage in education, the level of communication skills by utilizing WhatsApp for educational purposes among students, and their correlations. Student’s perception of using WhatsApp in education was also investigated. This study was based on quantitative research conducted using a survey design, where online questionnaires were distributed randomly among 400 UTM students based on simple random method. Findings showed that there is a high level of WhatsApp usage in education among UTM students and also a high level of communication skills by utilizing this application for educational purposes among UTM students. It was supported by a strong positive linear correlation that existed between these two variables. Students also showed positive perceptions of utilizing WhatsApp in education to develop their communication skills. Therefore, lecturers and students are encouraged to utilize WhatsApp application in education as it can help in fortifying communication skills among students who later become competent graduates that can meet the demand from the industries.

Europe

The special workshop “Earth observation for ecosystem and biodiversity monitoring – best practices in Europe and globally, at GI_Forum 2013, focused on the outcomes of the EUfunded projects MS.MONINA and BIO_SOS and related activities that highlight the potential of Earth observation data and technologies in support of biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring. In Europe, nature conservation rests upon a strong, yet ambitious policy framework with legally binding directives. Thus, geospatial information products are required at all levels of implementation. With advances in Earth observation data availability and the forthcoming of powerful data analysis tools we enter a new dimension of satellitebased services. Recent achievements of such endeavours were showcased and challenges discussed, using best practice examples from both inside and outside Europe. This article summarizes the state-of-the-art of satellite-based habitat mapping and accommodates the paper contributions in the current scientific discourse.

Much of the focus on health inequality monitoring is based on aggregate descriptions at national levels where averages or proportions are compared. However, inequalities evolve from systematic differences in living conditions, circumstances, and opportunities between population groups within geographical entities. To be able to follow such trends in health, to detect less favourable trends at an early stage, and to reveal the trends in the population and in subgroups of the population, it is essential to have a national health inequality monitoring system (HIMS) in place. In fact, in line with the “no data, no problem” notion, one might even claim that the most essential part of combatting social inequalities in health is a well-functioning health inequality monitoring system. The Joint Action Health Equity Europe (JAHEE) is a Joint Action financed by the Third Health Programme 2014-2020 of the European Union. It represents an important opportunity for countries to work jointly to address health inequalities and achieve greater equity in health outcomes across all groups in society in all participating countries and in Europe at large. One of the aims with JAHEE and the specific focus of work package five (WP5) is to advance member states ability to monitor national health inequalities. The overall objective of the work conducted in JAHEE WP5 is to attract attention to and improve countries' capacity to monitor health disparities in a “do something, do more, do better” manner. The advancement of HIMS varies greatly between countries in Europe. Yet, there is scope for improvement in virtually all countries. In addition, challenges that impede the way health inequality monitoring can be conducted are often common across countries. These challenges cannot be eliminated within the course of a three-year EU project. The JAHEE project, however, offers an unique opportunity to move forward by working together in a structured work process that allow partner countries to share, build and transform available knowledge into concrete actions aimed at strengthening national health inequality monitoring systems in Europe. In this workshop, we will present the experiences from JAHEE WP5 and give examples on concrete actions and initiatives taken across Europe to challenge some of the barriers faced and to strengthen the national health inequality monitoring processes in Europe. There will be room for discussion between each presentation and in the end of the workshop. Key messages Raised awareness a politically committed system infrastructure to assure sustainability in health inequality monitoring. Raised awareness of need for agreed data but also agreed methods to compile data to measure inequalities within populations.

GIS as a technology has come a long way, from the early adoption of technical wizardry to the ubiquitous, if unconscious use by the masses. The creation of the GISociety is on its way through technological development, theoretical and empirical scientific research and inclusion of technology into education with increasing pedagogical justification. Defining new dimensions of hard- and software, brainware and orgware are all needed to further develop the GISociety. The Geoinformatics Forum (www.gi-forum.org) held in Salzburg from July 2-5, 2013, links into these research areas. We are pleased to present work by researchers who actively contribute to the creation of the GISociety in theoretical, technical, and educational terms. This reflects that a GISociety can only be created though close interaction among the domains of science, technology and education. Topics of the 2013 proceedings therefore include: • Advances in Geographic Information Science and Geographic Information Technology • Spatial Citizenship • Education for Digital Earth • Ecosystem and Biodiversity Monitoring: Best Practice in Europe and Globally (EO4Hab) The book is aimed at researchers and practioners in the field geoinformation with an academic, industrial or educational background. Work on this publication has been co-funded by the following projects and networks funded by the European commission: LLP-Comenius multilateral project SPACIT (517908-LLP-2011-1-AT-COMENIUS-CMP) LLP-Comenius network digital-earth.eu (510010-LLP-1-2010-1-AT -COMENIUS-CNW) FP7-SPACE project MS.MONINA (FP7-SPA-2010-1-263479) FP7-SPACE project BIO_SOS (FP7-SPA-2010-1-263435)

Background: In contrast to the enormous importance of work to the life of humans and societies, the working environment has so far played only a minor role in health monitoring. However, increasingly it is realized that work has a strong public health impact and therefore is also a cost factor to modern societies. The aim of the project WORKHEALTH, which is currently being carried out under the EU health monitoring programme, is the establishment of indicators for work-related health monitoring in Europe from a public health perspective. Working procedure: The work will be carried out by means of three work packages: a synopsis of existing work-related indicator sets together with the identification of areas still to be developed, resulting specification of new indicators for work-related health monitoring, and the development of operational definitions for these indicators. The project includes strong links to the fields of occupational health and safety, public health, social insurance and labour inspectorates to include demands from, as well as to disseminate results to, these different institutions also involved in aspects of work-related health monitoring. Expected results and contributions: Expected results will be indicators for work-related health monitoring that have been developed jointly with the participation of all Member States and different stakeholders within this field, and which permit comparable and reliable data at a national as well as European level.

In contrast to the enormous importance of work to the life of humans and societies, the working environment has so far played only a minor role in health monitoring. However, increasingly it is realized that work has a strong public health impact and therefore is also a cost factor to modern societies. The aim of the project WORKHEALTH, which is currently being carried out under the EU health monitoring programme, is the establishment of indicators for work-related health monitoring in Europe from a public health perspective. The work will be carried out by means of three work packages: a synopsis of existing work-related indicator sets together with the identification of areas still to be developed, resulting specification of new indicators for work-related health monitoring, and the development of operational definitions for these indicators. The project includes strong links to the fields of occupational health and safety, public health, social insurance and labour inspectorates to include demands from, as well as to disseminate results to, these different institutions also involved in aspects of work-related health monitoring. Expected results will be indicators for work-related health monitoring that have been developed jointly with the participation of all Member States and different stakeholders within this field, and which permit comparable and reliable data at a national as well as European level.

SummaryBiodiversity is changing at unprecedented rates, and it is increasingly important that these changes are quantified through monitoring programmes. Previous recommendations for developing or enhancing these programmes focus either on the end goals, that is the intended use of the data, or on how these goals are achieved, for example through volunteer involvement in citizen science, but not both. These recommendations are rarely prioritized.We used a collaborative approach, involving 52 experts in biodiversity monitoring in the UK, to develop a list of attributes of relevance to any biodiversity monitoring programme and to order these attributes by their priority. We also ranked the attributes according to their importance in monitoring biodiversity in the UK. Experts involved included data users, funders, programme organizers and participants in data collection. They covered expertise in a wide range of taxa.We developed a final list of 25 attributes of biodiversity monitoring schemes, ordered from the most elemental (those essential for monitoring schemes; e.g. articulate the objectives and gain sufficient participants) to the most aspirational (e.g. electronic data capture in the field, reporting change annually). This ordered list is a practical framework which can be used to support the development of monitoring programmes.People's ranking of attributes revealed a difference between those who considered attributes with benefits to end users to be most important (e.g. people from governmental organizations) and those who considered attributes with greatest benefit to participants to be most important (e.g. people involved with volunteer biological recording schemes). This reveals a distinction between focussing on aims and the pragmatism in achieving those aims.Synthesis and applications. The ordered list of attributes developed in this study will assist in prioritizing resources to develop biodiversity monitoring programmes (including citizen science). The potential conflict between end users of data and participants in data collection that we discovered should be addressed by involving the diversity of stakeholders at all stages of programme development. This will maximize the chance of successfully achieving the goals of biodiversity monitoring programmes.

Since the first Butterfly Monitoring Scheme in the UK started in the mid-1970s, butterfly monitoring in Europe has developed in more than ten European countries. These schemes are aimed to assess regional and national trends in butterfly abundance per species. We discuss strengths and weaknesses of methods used in these schemes and give examples of applications of the data. A new development is to establish supra-national trends per species and multispecies indicators. Such indicators enable to report against the target to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. Our preliminary European Grassland Butterfly Indicator shows a decline of 50% between 1990 and 2005. We expect to develop a Grassland Butterfly Indicator with an improved coverage across European countries. We see also good perspectives to develop a supra-national indicator for climate change as well as an indicator for woodland butterflies.