Modelling the tides on the North West European Shelf

Tides are a key process in the dynamics of the North West European Shelf. A GETM model has been developed for the region and this report describes the model performance. Measured harmonic constituents are compared with model outputs and these results are put into context with other shelf sea models of the region. Most of the differences between the model and observations are within the errors that are expected for a shelf sea model, and the overall statistics are skewed by poor performance in a few places. The major constituents are not represented particularly well in the Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and English Channel regions, but overall this model performs reasonably well, and better than many other shelf sea models of the region.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

A Practice Perspective on Knowledge, Learning and Innovation – Insights From an EU Network of Small Food Producers

Drawing on insider research with a three-year EU network created to support innovation in geographically marginalized traditional food companies, this paper makes three contributions to discussions of innovation in small and micro-firms. First, we shift focus away from conceiving of knowledge as a discrete entity, and of knowledge sharing, transfer and exchange as the passing of objects. Applying a practice perspective that conceptualizes innovation as situated in the everyday activities of organizing, learning and working, we extend open innovation ideas and identify three distinct sets of knowledge-creating practices that small and micro-firm actors in this network context engage in as they interact: seek-and-take, peer exploration and critical reflection. Second, we integrate these practices into a model that suggests how different kinds of knowledge boundary (entitative, epistemic, pragmatic and existential) are differently traversed by these practices, with more complex boundaries benefitting from a practice approach. Third, we refine a practical approach for policy interventions designed to stimulate small and micro-firm innovation. The relevance of our contribution lies in the significance of small firms within peripheral economies, and the particular challenges they face in accessing new knowledge for innovation

Stakes of transnational civil society action : NGO advocacy interventions and the farmers of Mali’s cotton zone

This thesis examines how transnational advocacy networks operate across local, national, regional and international arenas. It takes a close look at the nature of peasant resistance and civil society in Mali, and explores how these interact with campaign and advocacy activities of Northern-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The central argument of this thesis is that these encounters have strengthened an elite, while marginalising alternative perspectives. This has happened through the collision of actors’ diverse interests, through competition between distinct framings of debate, and through differences in modes of political participation which reflect the power dynamics of the political arenas in which actors are rooted. The thesis is informed by the results of qualitative fieldwork research, which was carried out, mainly in Mali, between 2006 and 2008. By identifying the nature of connections and disconnections between actors at multiple levels, the thesis contributes to a more nuanced understanding of transnational civil society action

Exploring and Exploiting the Dynamics of Networks in Complex Applied Research Projects: A Reflection on Learning in Action

Since 1984, the European Union (EU) has supported research and development activities covering almost all scientific disciplines through a series of multi-annual Framework Programmes. The current programme is Horizon 2020. Common across the key indicators of research project performance have been actions by companies, including introduce and test innovations new to the company or the market. Initiatives to achieve these objectives require researchers to generate transdisciplinary knowledge in partnership with practitioners as co-researchers. This paper reflects on the authors’ experience of engaging in five EU-funded complex applied research projects over 20 years. The paper locates the process of the five projects in network action learning and Mode 2 knowledge production. It offers a theoretical framework expressed in three hypotheses to guide those who design and implement projects, those who approve and provide funding, and those who exploit and build upon the resulting research

Turning to Case Studies as a Mechanism for Learning in Action Learning

Case studies are a useful means of capturing and sharing experiential knowledge by allowing researchers to explore the social, organisational and political contexts of a specific case. Although accounts of action learning are often reported using a case study approach, it is not common to see individual case studies being used as a learning practice within action learning sets. Drawing on a network action learning (NAL) project, this paper explores how the process of coaching, articulating, authoring, sharing and editing case studies provided a vehicle for learning and research within a NAL set. The intended contribution of this paper to the theory of action learning is to extend the range of learning practices to include the case study within the NAL set. It discusses how case studies act as boundary objects, which are artefacts that can be used to cross boundaries between groups in order to facilitate learning that might not otherwise occur

In-Depth Assessment of the EU Member States’ Submissions for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive under articles 8, 9 and 10 on Hydrographical Conditions Descriptor 7

According to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), in 2012 Member States had to report on the initial assessment of their marine waters (art. 8), on the determination of good environmental status (art. 9) and on the establishment of environmental targets and associated indicators (art. 10). At the request of DG Environment, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has carried out an in-depth assessment (IDA) of the reporting done by Member States. This document presents the result of this IDA for MSFD Descriptor 7 (Permanent alteration of hydrographical conditions does not adversely affect marine ecosystems), carried out on the basis of reporting from the following Member States (MS): Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. The aims of the IDA were: i) to evaluate comparability and coherence of methods and in particular their relation to the assessments under other European and international frames and the latest scientific evidence, ii) to provide recommendations for improved implementation of the MSFD in the second cycle (2018) and iii) to support the review and the possible revision of the Commission Decision (2010/477/EU). In this IDA document, relevant issues are addressed, followed by suggestions and potential actors regarding the MSFD Descriptor 7.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Scoping report on the potential impact of on-board desulphurization on the water quality in SOx Emission Control Areas

The input of acid substances (like SO2) into the sea has been recognized as an environmental issue that needs to be considered in terms of ocean acidification; acid inputs and techniques to deal with them have implications for member states' obligations under the Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive. This study provides an initial assessment on the potential impact of on-board desulphurisation equipment (open loop scrubbers) on the seawater quality with focus on SOx Emission Control Areas (SECAs). The study focuses on the potential impact of ship-borne SO2 on acidification (pH) of seawater in comparison to the impact from climate change. The report comprises a literature study and a dedicated modelling exercise covering the North Sea region. Most available studies and the peer reviewed literature found only a small additional impact from SO2 emissions on acidification in the various investigated parts of the world ocean. However these studies generally assessed spatially averaged effects and regional and coastal oriented studies are mostly lacking from the literature, which means that potential effects to vulnerable ecosystems in such areas have not previously been considered. A coupled hydrodynamic-chemistry model was employed to assess the impact of adding SO2 and CO2 on the complex carbonate system in sea water. The impact on the pH decrease in the open North Sea region from discharging the acid wash water into the seawater was found to be small, but not insignificant, and regionally varying. The calculated annual mean decrease of pH due to SO2 injection for the North Sea total water column is 0.00011; when considering only the change in the surface layer (0-20m), the annual decrease is 0.00024. The total annual impact from increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations on the acidification of the North Sea surface area is about 8 times stronger (0.001) as the impact from wash water injection. However because of the pronounced spatial variations the mean impact does not reflect the overall situation well. Consequently we find critical regions with high ship traffic intensity, for example along the shipping lanes and in the larger Rotterdam port area. Here, the contribution from SO2 injection can be double the impact from increasing CO2 concentrations and 20 times larger than the North Sea mean value. These critical regions indicate potential problems related to the surface water quality in ports, estuaries and coastal waters that fall under regulation under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The problem of decreasing pH caused by SO2 input from ship exhaust gases in regional seas (North Sea) is relevant to the obligation of the Member States to assess the environmental state of their marine areas and to establish a Good Environmental Status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD), as pH value is one of the GES criteria.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Development of the Black Sea specific ecosystem model (BSSM)

In the context of implementing and revising the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), modelling work has been initiated to assess the status and trends of the Black Sea marine ecosystem. This initiative involves development of a coupled physical-ecosystem modelling system by implementing online coupling between GETM/GOTM and Black Sea Specific ecosystem Model (BSSM), developed by Prof. Temel Oguz. A series of experiments was carried out to fine-tune model response to the forcing mechanisms in the Black Sea and a nitrate-based biogeochemical model has been implemented. Further work will include horizontal variability to the coupled system.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO