Call for Expressions of Interest 2014 for experts to be appointed members of the Scientific Committee

Call For Interest Published 02 Jul 2014

The European Environment Agency

The European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Environment and Information Network (Eionet) were established by Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 with later amendments (the founding regulation – codified version is Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of 23 April 2009).

The core objective of the European Environment Agency (EEA) is to produce comparable and coherent European, pan-European and regional environmental data and indicator sets, integrated assessments and thematic analyses in order to provide a sound decision basis for environmental policies in the EU and member countries of the EEA, and for cooperation with candidate and potential candidate countries to the EU and those covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy.

Data and information are gathered and disseminated through the Eionet, which is a collaborative network of the EEA and its 33 member countries, connecting National Focal Points (NFPs) in the EU and collaborating countries, European Topic Centres (ETCs) and National Reference Centres (NRCs).

The EEA thus works intensively with Eionet as well as cooperating countries and a wide range of partner institutions, including the European Commission, government departments and agencies, international conventions and UN bodies, the scientific, technical and research communities, the private sector and civil society in order to provide comprehensive and quality-assured data and information to policy-makers and the general public.

The role of the EEA Scientific Committee

The Scientific Committee provides essential support to the governance of the European Environment Agency. As set out in article 10 of the founding regulation, it assists the Management Board and the Executive Director in carrying out their duties by providing independent scientific opinions on the Agency’s annual and multi-annual work programmes, on the recruitment of scientific staff, and on scientific questions directed to it by the Management Board or Executive Director.

The Committee as a body and its individual members also advise the Board, the EEA and the Eionet on other scientific matters.

Composition of the EEA Scientific Committee

The EEA Scientific Committee is composed of members of high scientific standing in one or more key areas of expertise relevant to the work of the EEA. There are currently 17 members of the Committee.

As a whole the members cover all key areas of expertise relevant to the work of the EEA, as well as reflecting regional and gender balances to the extent possible. The Chairperson and two Vice-Chairpersons of the Scientific Committee are elected from amongst its members.

Meetings and indemnities

The members of Scientific Committee are expected to attend its meetings on a regular basis – currently three times per year. Meetings of the Scientific Committee shall normally be held at the EEA premises inCopenhagen.

Members of the Scientific Committee do not receive remuneration but are entitled to an indemnity for each meeting. Members will also receive travel and subsistence allowance in accordance with the Agency’s policy for the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses.

The Chairperson and rapporteurs are entitled to an indemnity to defray costs related to the coordination of draft opinions.

Scope of the call

The EEA organises this call to appoint Scientific Committee members with expertise in one or more of the following priority areas as identified by the EEA Management Board:

1. Environment and climate policy evaluation

To assist the Agency with scientific advice on the evaluation of environment and climate policy in a context of societal transitions, including inter alia the transition to sustainable energy systems. This scientific advice could cover (1) the effectiveness of specific policy interventions; (2) evaluations from a systemic perspective; (3) evaluation of integrated approaches in specific environmental areas; (4) evaluation methodologies, evaluation criteria, and the practical usefulness of academic evaluation theories and indicators in the areas of climate and environment policy evaluation; on attribution in complex systems such as the energy, housing, food, mobility and water systems; on evaluation of policies at various steps of decision-making; on evaluations of comprehensive programmes such as EU Environment Action Programmes.

Relevant areas of expertise include experience with and scientific knowledge on the evaluation of European Union and EEA member country climate and environment policies; environmental economics, law, policy and sociology; a thorough understanding of the Agency’s networks and their relation to decision-makers; practical experience with policy evaluation at European Union and national levels.

2. Ecosystem services and wellbeing

To assist the Agency strengthen the knowledge base for ecosystem change and human well-being by identifying scientific understanding supporting sound European assessments of biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being with a much firmer base between biological and social systems.

Current global sciences report - by ICSU, UNESCO and UNU - outlines the gaps in scientific knowledge that relate to how humans influence ecosystems and their services. Though carried out for quite some time, it should be complemented by more factual understanding of the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services. How changes in ecosystems and their services affect human well-being is a new area of research and much still needs to be done. This includes: better methods for economic valuation of ecosystem services; better understanding of how various ecosystem services are linked and affect each other; improving the predictive capabilities, through for example modelling, to assess direct and indirect drivers of ecosystem change and to further elucidate non-linear and abrupt changes; and, human actions that can affect changes in a positive way, including the need for adequate management through appropriate institutions and partnerships. A red thread here is the need for strengthened collaboration between natural and social scientists, involving also health and technological disciplines.

3. Foresight and long-term transitions

To assist the Agency with advice relevant to foresight and long-term transitions in the context of existing and forthcoming mid- and long-term policy strategies such as the Europe 2020 strategy, 7^th EAP, EU Horizon 2020 and the EU 2030 climate and energy package that challenge the established regulatory and policy frames and governance approaches.

The European Union and its immediate neighbours are confronted by a wide range of complex pressures and challenges such as ecosystem degradation and climate change, resource conflicts, global developments in the energy- and raw material markets, and unfavourable demographics prospects. In order to improve its resilience, well-being and overall security towards these, the wide-ranging transition towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon green economy is a strategic policy commitment. Forward-looking policy action becomes increasingly difficult but important. Relevant areas of expertise include understanding of systemic challenges, complexity and uncertainties, foresight methodologies, transition processes and the exploration of presumptions, policy options and their impacts.

Eligibility

Candidates must have:

a university degree in a relevant scientific area, preferably at postgraduate level,
at least 10 years’ professional experience at a level to which the qualifications give admission,
be a national of one of the member countries of the EEA (Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey).

Selection criteria

Eligible expressions of interest will be subject to a comparative evaluation against the following criteria:

experience in carrying out scientific assessments and/or providing scientific advice in the required areas of expertise,
experience in peer reviewing scientific work, preferably related to the fields of interest of the EEA,
ability to analyse complex information,
proven scientific excellence in the area(s) covered by the applicant,
professional experience in a multidisciplinary environment, preferably in an international context,
in the case of equal scientific excellence, the need to ensure gender and geographical balance shall represent a further criterion.

The Management Board has also agreed that preference should be given to broad expertise in a listed area, and to expertise in more than one of the listed areas.

Furthermore, good knowledge of English is an asset since this is the working language of the committee. An ability to use modern, electronic means of document exchange and communications is an advantage, given the Agency’s intention to make best use of these techniques.

Selection process

Scientific Committee members are identified through an open process, leading to designation of chosen candidates by the EEA Management Board on the basis of a recommendation from the Executive Director after consultation of the Scientific Committee.

The Executive Director can call on a panel to assess the professional experience of candidates.

Shortlisted candidates (up to nine) will be invited for an interview at the EEA on 3-4 November 2014.

Appointment and term

The experts who meet best the above criteria will be appointed for a term of four years which is renewable once for a maximum of another four-year period.

Independence and declarations of interest

Selected experts will be appointed on a personal basis. They are required to sign a declaration of commitment and, on an annual basis, make a declaration of interests which may be deemed prejudicial to their independence.

Equal opportunity

The EEA is an equal opportunities employer and committed to avoid any form of discrimination.

Application procedure

Interested candidates are requested to submit their expression of interest by filling in the on-line application form and the template CV to be found under each of the links indicated below.

The CV shall contain a list of the applicant’s scientific publications, preferably in English, and other professional experience.

Apart from their primary area of expertise, candidates shall also indicate their secondary and tertiary areas of expertise which may be taken into account in order to ensure better support in cross-cutting and thematic areas of the EEA’s work.

Applicable rules of procedure of the Scientific Committee of the EEA can also be found under the following link:

http://www.eea.europa.eu/organisation/scientific-committee/sc-rules-procedure.pdf

(English document)

When applying via the on-line application form, please ensure that you observe the following:

Remember to take time zones into consideration when submitting your application.
Once your application has been submitted, you will receive an automatic reply.
It is your responsibility to keep the automatic reply message as proof of submission of your application.
Should you not receive an automatic reply message, please submit your application again.
Please do not leave it until the last minute to submit your application. Experience has shown that the system can become overloaded as the deadline for applications approaches and you may find it difficult to submit your application in time.
You may apply in any of the official languages of the European Union but the use of English is encouraged to facilitate the process.

On-line application forms (English) and template CV (English) for the different areas can be found under the following links:

The candidates are kindly requested to direct any questions on the current call to the following e-mail address: sc.call14-questions@eea.europa.eu

Supporting documents may be requested at a later stage.

All expressions of interest will be treated as confidential.

Personal data protection

Any personal data provided by the applicant shall be processed pursuant to European Regulation related to personal data protection, in particular Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movements of such data. This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

The purpose of processing the personal data which candidates submit is to manage expressions of interest with a view to possible pre-selection, selection and the appointment of Members of the Scientific Committee of the EEA.

The applicant shall have the right of access to his/her personal data and the right to rectify or update any such data that is inaccurate or incomplete at any time during the application procedure. The right to rectify can only be exercised up to the closing date for submission of applications. However, inaccurate identification data may be rectified at any time during and after the application procedure. Any request for access or rectification of personal data shall be addressed in writing to the Human Management Resource Group at the address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, or at the e-mail address:
recruitment.enquiries@eea.europa.eu.

The applicant can, upon request, be provided with their evaluation results at all stages of the selection procedure. The request must be submitted to the Human Management Resource Group at the address: European Environment Agency, Kongens Nytorv 6, 1050 Copenhagen K, Denmark, or at the e-mail address:
recruitment.enquiries@eea.europa.eu.

The Agency does not make public the names of successful candidates on reserve lists. However, it is possible that, for the purposes of recruitment and related planning purposes, members of the Agency’s senior management team may have access to reserve lists and in specific cases, to the application of a candidate.

Should the applicant have any queries concerning the processing of his/her personal data, s/he shall address them to the European Environment Agency at the following e-mail address:
dataprotectionofficer@eea.europa.eu

Applicants are entitled to have recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor (http://www.edps.europa.eu; EDPS@edps.europa.eu) if they consider that their rights under Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 have been infringed as a result of the processing of their personal data by the EEA.

Closing date

Expressions of interest shall be submitted via the specific on-line application form not later than Monday 1 September 2014 at 12.00 Central European Time.

Environment and climate policy evaluation — 02 Jul 2014: Call for Expressions of Interest 2014 for experts to be appointed members of the Scientific Committee.
Ecosystem services and wellbeing — 02 Jul 2014: Call for Expressions of Interest 2014 for experts to be appointed members of the Scientific Committee.
Foresight and long-term transitions — 02 Jul 2014: Call for Expressions of Interest 2014 for experts to be appointed members of the Scientific Committee.