Letter from the Dean

Hi,

It’s becoming clear that summer is drawing to a close, and autumn is approaching. For most of us working in environmental monitoring, this time of year is when the data collected during the spring and summer fieldwork needs to be quality-assured, stored in databases, analysed, and interpreted, to eventually form the basis for advice to managing authorities. For others, the collection of valuable environmental data will continue throughout the colder months of the year.

In addition, a lot is happening within environmental monitoring inside and outside SLU. Notable from the big world is that the European Commission finally adopted the Nature Restoration Law and is now working on a common directive for soil health and resilience. SLU has significant expertise in both these areas and will hopefully play a major role in Sweden’s implementation of these new laws and directives. Early autumn also gives us an initial indication of the scope of SLU's environmental monitoring assignments in the coming year from the key agencies with which we collaborate. On 19th September, the government released its budget proposal for 2025, and at the time of writing, an analysis is underway to understand its impact on us at SLU.

At the same time, the process of drafting proposals for SLU’s board on how our environmental monitoring funds should be allocated among relevant activities in 2025 is in its final phase. This work is being led by the Council for Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (Fomar) SLU, and so far, the intention is not to make any major changes to the allocation of funds compared to the current year. An important item in the allocation of funds is the budget for the development of activities within SLU’s twelve environmental monitoring programmes. As in previous years, Fomar proposes that SEK 500,000 per programme be set aside for development projects in 2025. A call for project proposals for these funds closes on 22nd September. Make sure to apply if you have a good project idea and haven’t done so yet! Feel free to contact the coordinators of our environmental monitoring programmes for more information.

Another way in which SLU's environmental monitoring can develop is through externally funded research projects with a clear connection to the management of natural resources and the environment. Recently, two calls for proposals within the environmental research budget were closed, both highly relevant to our environmental monitoring: one on the future of environmental monitoring and one on ecosystem-based aquatic management. I know that many researchers and environmental analysts at SLU have submitted applications for these and, of course, we hope to have several interesting and exciting projects granted when decisions are made later in the autumn.

New this year is that Formas' open call for research funding has been moved to autumn, with some changes in its format. The call closes on 16th October, and I look forward to several strong applications from SLU in the environmental monitoring-related research we conduct.

Jens Olsson, Vice Dean for Environmental Monitoring

Photo: Mårten Granert-Gärdfeldt