From 8 to 9 February representatives from the 16 partner organisations taking part in the EU Horizon 2020-funded APPLICATE project are meeting in Bremerhaven, Germany. This Kick-off Meeting is the beginning of their collaborative efforts to improve climate and weather prediction for the Arctic and the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, as well as contributing to improved Arctic observations.
Following introductory remarks from Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) Director Prof. Karin Lochte and AWI Climate Scientist and APPLICATE Project manager Prof. Thomas Jung, the leaders of each work package in the APPLICATE project will give brief introductions describing the work to be carried out under each theme.
After this, as the EU encourages the optimisation of resources and synergies between different projects that receive funding from them, the members of the APPLICATE consortium will hear from representatives of other projects funded under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme working on similar issues, namely INTAROS, Blue Action, PRIMAVERA, CRESCENDO, and EU-PolarNet. The acronym APPLICATE itself stands for: Advanced Prediction in Polar regions and beyond: modelling, observing system design and LInkages associated with a Changing Arctic climate.
In the afternoon of the first day and the majority of the second day (following two keynote presentations), participants of each work package will hold breakout sessions and draft action plans for executing each work package. In a closing plenary, the leaders of each work package will present their action plans to the rest of the consortium.
"The Kick-off Meeting is an important milestone of the APPLICATE project, as it provides the foundation for effective collaboration in the coming weeks and months - both within the consortium and with European and international partners," said an enthusiastic Prof. Jung.