At EU level, the new European Commission-led knowledge platform Kohesio is live. This open source-based solution offers the public thorough information on projects funded in the context of the Cohesion Policy 2021-2027. More specifically, such information may include “the actual funding, who benefits, links to key websites and when available audio-visual resources”. Out of all the initiatives listed in Kohesio, more than one third strives to create a greener, carbon-free Europe.
The climate challenge doesn’t end at Europe’s borders. In order to enhance cooperation worldwide, the United Nations initiated the Digital Goods Alliance (DPGA), “a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in low- and middle-income countries using open source software, open data, open AI models, open standards and open content”. The link between open, collaborative innovation and the climate challenge is very tangible. For example, open source is used to drive the collaboration between energy companies and governments to deliver new, smarter and more climate friendly energy solutions worldwide.
Whereas international and supranational organisations are steadily turning to open technologies to drive the fight against climate change, the EU Member States are driving national projects forward to meet their commitments on building a sustainable future. In France for instance, national park authorities began to use open source solutions not only to protect biodiversity by digitally facilitating the management and monitoring of the parks’ flora and fauna, but also to provide the citizens and stakeholders with relevant information on trails, activities and wild species in order to encourage tourism and raise awareness on environmental issues.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States administration is using open source to fulfil the government’s climate and equity goals. Particularly, it launched the beta version of the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), which processes US census areas based on socioeconomic and environmental data through an interactive map. This open source solution falls within the scope and objectives of the Justice40 programme, which envisages the allocation of at least 40 percent of the public spending on infrastructure and environment-related issues to disadvantaged communities.
Beyond the code itself, new ways of working in an open culture is fundamental to drive change at scale and speed. In order to navigate fast to tackle complexities, it is imperative to gear public policies towards sustainable actions in a collaborative fashion.
The OSOR Team
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