RedCLARA will take part in GEO-ROAD, a Horizon Europe project aimed at strengthening global cooperation in Earth sciences

The initiative, funded by the European Union (EU) and coordinated by EPOS ERIC, will bring together 14 institutions from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania over a period of 30 months to develop a global roadmap enabling the interoperability of infrastructure, data and services in Earth sciences. As the consortium’s only pan-regional organisation of advanced research and education networks, RedCLARA will play a key role in linking Latin America and the Caribbean to this international effort.

The Horizon Europe programme recently announced the approval of the GEO-ROAD project (GEOscience Research Infrastructures for a glObal roADmap), an international initiative that will bring together leading research infrastructures from Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania over a 30-month period to advance towards a global, interoperable and sustainable ecosystem of data and services for Earth sciences. RedCLARA is part of the consortium as the only pan-regional organisation for advanced research and education networks in Latin America and the Caribbean

Coordinated by the European infrastructure EPOS ERIC (European Plate Observing System), the project aims to strengthen international cooperation to tackle challenges with a high social impact, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other natural hazards, by promoting policy harmonisation, data interoperability and the development of scientific capabilities on a global scale.

The consortium that will bring GEO-ROAD to life comprises 14 institutions from Italy, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Egypt, Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Uruguay, including EarthScope, AuScope, Earth Sciences New Zealand, CSIC, University College London and RedCLARA.

The regional academic network, RedCLARA, will contribute in particular to activities relating to governance, the development of a roadmap for interoperable access to data and services, international cooperation, training and capacity building. Thanks to its regional infrastructure and close links with National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) and scientific communities in over 20 countries, the organisation will act as a bridge between GEO-ROAD and Latin America and the Caribbean.

RedCLARA’s participation in GEO-ROAD reaffirms a track record spanning more than two decades of promoting international scientific collaboration and coordinating strategic initiatives funded by the European Union and other multilateral organisations. This experience is now complemented by the implementation of BELLA II, a project that forms part of the programme aimed at strengthening digital connectivity and cooperation between Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean through advanced infrastructure, digital services and capacity-building for the digital transformation of both regions.

Through GEO-ROAD, RedCLARA is expanding its contribution to a new sphere of global scientific cooperation, enabling Latin American researchers and institutions to play an active role in building an international infrastructure for Earth sciences based on the principles of Open Science, FAIR and CARE, and aimed at generating knowledge that is useful for disaster risk reduction and evidence-based decision-making.

The project, funded by Horizon Europe under call HORIZON-INFRA-2026-DEV-01-06, will commence once the grant agreement signed with the European Research Executive Agency (REA) comes into force. Among its activities, the initiative includes training programmes, communities of practice, mobility schemes and pilot cooperation initiatives, with a particular focus on Africa and Latin America.