european parliament

GeoPolicy: How do Members of European Parliament learn about science?

Sarah Connors August 17, 2016

The European Parliament in Strasbourg, Alsace. Credit: Thomas Hassel (distributed via flickr.com)

Only ~5% of Members of European Parliament, or MEPs, have a background in the physical sciences1, yet many political challenges require an understanding of the science surrounding these issues. Issues such as locating and extracting mineral resources, understanding climate change impacts, and developing new low-carbon technology. The European Commission (EC) and the European Parliament (EP) have s ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: 8 ways to engage with policy makers

Sarah Connors July 13, 2016

European Parliament Plenary Chamber. Credit: Diamond Geezer (distributed via flickr.com)

Scientific research is usually verbally communicated to policy officials or through purposefully written documents. This occurs at all levels of governance (local, national, and international). This month’s GeoPolicy post takes a look at the main methods in which scientists can assist in the policy process and describes a new method adopted by the European Commission (EC) that aims to enhance scie ...[Read More]

GeoPolicy: EGU sciences on debate at the European Parliament

Sarah Connors November 13, 2015

A vote in the European Parliament . Credit: The European Parliament (distributed via Flickr )

The adoption of legislation within the European Union (EU) is a complex process involving many steps. In my first blog post in this GeoPolicy series I highlighted an example of this process. Several draft legislation pieces are currently being assessed within the European Parliament (EP) and Council of Ministers (Council) that have been influenced by EGU-related science. This blog post summarises ...[Read More]