The EPCO as a single contact point for the European Science Community

The European Polar Coordination Office (EPCO) is a planned Office (starting January 2025) which will function as a central contact point for the European Commission (EC) and other policy and decision makers to reach the European polar science community. The EPCO will represent EU funded polar projects and European researchers working in the polar regions. This will enable European policy actors, like the EC, or national and regional agencies to gain access to expert input and advice for an informed decision-making process on polar issues, opportunities, priorities and challenges.
The EPCO will raise awareness of major policy makers on the importance of the polar regions in the global climate systems, aiming to ensure funding for polar research is available in EU and other funding agencies’ funding calls.
 

The EPCO will function as a network node between EU-funded polar projects and researchers, encouraging synthesis, interaction and collaboration within the European polar community. This will allow for greater efficiency within the EU polar science community and increased interconnectedness between relevant actors.
As a liaison of the European polar science community, the EPCO will be able to provide the EC and other relevant policy makers with state of the art polar research when needed. EPCO will also be able to connect policy makers or their representatives directly to relevant projects as and when needed.
Additionally, the EPCO will raise awareness of the general public through organisation of events to support polar scientific research and foster its dissemination.
 

The EPCO will:

• Coordinate the EU Polar Cluster
• Maintain the Catalyst Platform
• Facilitate collaboration and cooperation within the European polar science community
• Conduct research prioritisation exercises when required
• Act as a connective hub for European polar observation actors
• Amplify stakeholder engagement
• Contribute to optimisation of European polar research

For further updates regarding EPCO, follow our website.