Jacobsen, K.,  smirnova, L.,  mergen, P.,  Van de Velde, I.,  Stoev , P.,  hoffmann, A. & saarenmaa, H. 2016. D 2.4 : Report and assessment of training activities and final versions of training manuals. EU BON. 39 p.

Report (published)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION The EU BON Training program is a comprehensive program to benefit biodiversity data providers and data users, and enhance the overall impact of EU BON products and tools. The training program is specifically dedicated to data and metadata integration strategies (including registration of data with GEOSS), use of standards, and use of data tools developed or adopted by EU BON. It thus forms an important contribution to the long-term impact of the project. This document reports on the 5 training events organized by Work Package 2 (Data integration and interoperability) during the EU BON project. Training events organized by other work packages and in collaboration with other initiatives are also referred to. PROGRESS TOWARDS OBJECTIVES A needs analysis identified 4 objectives for WP2: (1) Establish an information architecture for the EU BON project that will be compatible with the global GEO BON, INSPIRE, other European projects, and the LifeWatch research infrastructure; (2) Develop data integration and interoperability between the various networks, and with new generation of data sharing tools to enhance linking between observational data, ecosystem monitoring data, and remote sensing data; (3) Develop new web service interfaces for data holdings using state-of-the-art standards and protocols. Register the networks on the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) using harmonised metadata; (4) Develop a new portal to enable fast access to EU BON integrated data and products by researchers, decision makers and other stakeholders. From this it became apparent that a comprehensive training program would greatly benefit biodiversity data providers and data users, and improve the overall impact of EU BON products and tools. Thus a 5th objective of WP2 was, namely the development of a training program to Ensure global coordination of development efforts and adoption of the results: through international data interoperability task force, supported by a helpdesk infrastructure and training program. The EU BON training program has consistently worked towards the fulfilment of these objectives, particularly objective 5. Four training events, attended by 104 participants and trainers, had already been completed at the time of submission of this deliverable and one remained planned for October 2016. Initially, training events promoted introductory topics for consortium members, gradually outreach was also extended to a more global audience, including non-consortium members and users from outside Europe, thus increasing data mobilisation and promotion of the EU BON network. ACHIEVEMENTS AND CURRENT STATUS Overall the training received very positive feedback. The topics were found useful, providing a good overview of existing infrastructures. The IPT tool, ARPHA, PlutoF and the GoldenGate Imagine tools were singled out as particularly useful. The practical format was also appreciated. Most of the participants found that the training experience will be useful for their work, and the hands-on training sessions were greatly valued. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS The 5th training event has been postponed to October 2016, following an invitation by the International Long-term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network to give a talk, during the European Best Examples session, at the ILTER 1st Open Science Meeting, which will take place on 9-13 October 2016 in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. This meeting, with more than 500 participants, provides a unique opportunity to showcase the achievements of the EU BON project. Furthermore, a continued outreach of training materials can be found on the EU BON training Helpdesk, accessible via the EU BON Portal.