SENSE 2 Project –Exploring Web Technology for Sharing ......SENSE 2 Project –Exploring Web Technology for Sharing Environmental Indicators Darja Lihteneger, European Environment

SENSE 2 Project – Exploring Web Technology for Sharing Environmental Indicators

Darja Lihteneger, European Environment Agency

INSPIRE Conference 2012, 26.06.2012

Outline

• Environmental Indicators – EEA Approach

• SENSE – Shared European National State of

Environment (system): Vision and History

• SENSE-2 Project: Purpose and Objectives

• SENSE-2: Selection of the EEA Environmental Indicators

• SENSE-2: Indicator Mapping

• SENSE-2: Preparation for Technological Mapping

• Conclusions

Environmental Indicators -Overview

• Indicators are important to the work of many organisations:

• OECD • European Environment Agency (EEA) • European Commission: DG Eurostat (ESTAT)• European Commission: DG Environment (DG ENV)• National agencies & ministries

• There is a need to efficiently structure and present indicator information for each organisation & to align indicator sets between different bodies as much as possible

• Inter-organisational cooperation on streamlining of environmental indicators (for example: ESTAT, EEA, DG ENV, JRC)

EEA Environmental Indicator Pyramid

Environmental Indicators -EEA Approach

EEA 225 indicators:• Core Set of Indicators (CSI): 37 (stable, but not static, support EU policy priorities)

• Other indicator sets (specific purposes)

Environmental Indicators -EEA Approach - typology

Different types of indicators:

A - Descriptive indicators

B - Performance indicators

C - Efficiency indicators

D - Policy effectiveness indicators

E - Total welfare indicators

DPSIR Framework

Environmental Indicator -EEA Example of CSI 001

• CSI 001 : Emissions of acidifying substances

• Indicator type = B (Performance indicator)

• DPSIR framework = P (Pressure)

• Key policy question: What progress is being made in reducing emissions of

acidifying pollutants across Europe?

• + other elements (e.g.: specific policy questions, data sources, -)

SENSE: Vision

• SEIS and SENSE: coherent linking and use of national data and indicators across geographical scales

• to support SEIS compliant sharing of environmental information

Sub-national level

National level

European level

Global level

SOEAssessments

ClimateBiodiversity

...

ThematicAssessments

SENSE: History and Phases

SENSE - Phase 1 SENSE - Phase 2

(Pilot Project)

SENSE - Phase 3

Purpose and

objectives:

● To strengthen links

between SoE reporting

● To explore web technology

and linking of env.

indicators

• To improve the reporting

and inf. sharing for SOER

2015

National to Europe ● Thematic focus: SOER

2010 ‘Part C’

● Vehicle: EEA template

● Technology: RDF feeds

● EEA: Receive feed /

Country: Provide info in

specific template

● Thematic focus: indicators

mapped to selected set of

EEA indicators

● Vehicle: Generic Interface

● Technology: RDF feeds,

linked data

• TO BE ELABORTAED

• (?) Thematic focus:

i.e. selected indicators and

assessments - for SOER

2015

• INPUT: from Phase 1 and

Phase 2

Europe to National ● Not explicitly addressed ● Thematic focus: selected

set of EEA indicators

● Vehicle: Generic Interface

● Technology: RDF feeds,

linked data

● EEA: Indicator structure /

Country: building links

• TO BE ELABORATED

• (?) Thematic focus:

selected indicators and

assessments - for national

SOE

• INPUT: from Phase 2

National to National ● Not explicitly addressed ● Starting point – linked

indicators between European

and national level (semantic

and technical mapping)

• TO BE ELABORATED

• (?) Possibility for full

access to country-level

indicators and countries

benchmarking

• INPUT: from Phase 2

SENSE-2: Objectives

Objectives of the pilot project:

• To further strengthen and evaluate the IT infrastructure available for information exchange from national level to the European level, and vice versa in the context of SEIS and SOE reporting

• To provide recommendations for stable infrastructure that will support the bi-directional data and information flow

Expected outcomes:

• Demonstration of linked indicators

• Recommendations for stable infrastructure

Project duration: 1 year

• 01.03.2012 – 28.02.2013

SENSE-2: Task Force

EEA Project Team:

• 6 members + internal cross-theme cooperation

SENSE-2 Countries Participation (21 countries):

• NFP, NRC SOE, NRC EIS

Associated members (before full participation): 1

Austria Finland NorwayThe Former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia

Belgium France Serbia Turkey

Bosnia and Herzegovina Germany Slovakia United Kingdom

Bulgaria Ireland Slovenia Spain

Croatia Italy Sweden

Czech Republic Netherlands Switzerland

SENSE-2: Project Steps

Main step Description

1 Selecting the set

of indicators

• Set of indicators to focus on (proposed set of EEA

indicators)

• Map the relevant national/sub-national indicators against

their EEA counterparts

2 Structural and

technical mapping

of the indicators

(* current step)

• Structural and technical mapping of indicator attributes to be

linked (e.g. – taken as a basis: EEA conceptual schema of

indicators)

• Gaps

• Technical approaches for the implementation

3 IT/web technology

implementation

• To implement the appropriate links between indicators

(vocabularies, exporting RDF feeds, linked data)

• Exploring the linked data and semantic mapping between

the indicators

• Demonstration of indicator catalogue and querries

4 Evaluation and

recommen-

dations

• Evaluate the outcomes and viability of approaches - both at

European and national levels

SENSE-2: Identifying a Set ofEEA Indicators

• Criteria for selecting EEA indicators:

1. Indicator available in the EEA IMS

2. Indicator published in the EEA website

3. Indicator covering at least EEA-32 (preferably also West Balkan countries)

4. Indicator last updated in 2009 or later

5. National-level information available for at least one graph

6. Indicator included in the EEA core set of indicators

• 9 CSI indicators proposed

SENSE-2: Selection of an Initial Set of Indicators

Theme Code Indicator name

Air pollution

CSI 001 Emissions of acidifying substances

CSI 002 Emissions of ozone precursors

CSI 003Emissions of primary particulate matter and

secondary particulate matter precursors

Biodiversity CSI 008 Designated areas

Climate changeCSI 010 Greenhouse gas emission trends

CSI 011 Greenhouse gas emissions projections

EnergyCSI 029/

ENER 026Primary energy consumption by fuel

Fisheries CSI 033 Aquaculture production

Water CSI 018 Use of freshwater resources

SENSE-2: Indicator Mapping –Criteria for the Countries Selection

Criteria for the countries selection of indicators that match to the proposed EEA set of indicators:

1. Conceptual matching: national indicator match conceptually (exactly one, similar) to the proposed European indicators published by EEA

2. Availability on the web: National indicator is publicly available on the internet at a specific URL

3. Unique URL: each indicator URL is unique, which means several indicators cannot share same URL (for example: several indicators in a PDF report are not matching this criteria)

4. “Share friendly”: national indicator content is under a “share friendly” copyright license. It can be copied, distributed, reused by others.

SENSE-2: Indicator Mapping –Possibility for indicator mapping

• Reply from 17 countries: providing indicator mapping (national or sub-national (regional) to EEA)

• Evaluation = is mapping possible, not how exact it is!

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

CSI 001

CSI 002

CSI 003

CSI 008

CSI 010

CSI 011

CSI 029/ENER 026

CSI 033

CSI 018

SENSE-2: Indicator Mapping –Accessibility on the web

• Accessibility of national indicators on the web:

• Direct links to a structured indicator (similar to EEA)

• Web-page (of the data base, general web site, …)

• In a file (formats: pdf, spreadsheet, image)

• In a specific web application (data, maps)

• As web service (WMS)

• Not available on-line

• Desirable accessibility: an unique URL directly providing the indicator!

SENSE-2: Indicator Mapping –Direct link to national indicators

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

CSI 001

CSI 002

CSI 003

CSI 008

CSI 010

CSI 011

CSI 029/ENER 026

CSI 033

CSI 018

Number of countries providing URL as a direct link to indicator

• Reply from 17 countries

• Evaluation = is URL a direct link to indicator?

SENSE-2: Indicator Mapping –Examples of Accessibility on the Web

(1) CSI 001 : Belgium (Flanders) - direct link to indicator

(2) CSI 008 : France – web application (data and maps)

(3) CSI 008 : United Kingdom (Scotland) – web service (WMS)

(4) CSI 010 : Austria – web site and file (pdf)

(5) CSI 029/ENER

026: Germany –

file / image

SENSE-2: Preparation for Step 2Next Tasks for Technological Mapping

• To build on the basis of the outcomes of indicator mapping (best suitable indicators at national and EEA level):

• Provided by majority of countries and

• Available on web where URL is a direct link to indicator

• To identify the gaps in current indicator mapping and improve them

• To identify the indicator attributes to be linked (title, code, key messages, assessment(s), …):

• Valuable tool: conceptual schemas of indicators

• Proposal for a starting point: EEA indicator conceptual schema)

SENSE-2: Conclusions

• Indicators are important tool for providing comparable information about environment

• SENSE focuses on improved sharing of environmental information among different aggregation levels (global – sub-national) and themes with benefits to:

• Reduce also the reporting burden on the countries

• Strengthen the re-use of national systems

• SENSE-2 Project is an exploration of semantic web technology (vocabularies, linked data) for sharing indicators and input into SOER 2015

Thank You for Your Attention!

• EEA: http://www.eea.europa.eu/

• EEA Indicators: http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators

• EEA Indicator CSI 001 : Emissions of acidifying substances (CSI001)

Contributors - EEA:• Roberta Pignatelli• Sheila Cryan• Søren Roug• Antonio De Marinis• Jan-Erik Petersen• Stefan Jensen