The recent EcoSummit Meeting in Montpellier, France, highlighted the advances of several Belmont Forum projects. Investigators shared their results and experiences conducting multi-national, inter- and trandisciplinary research during special sessions at this 5th Congress.

International Data Week formally opened last night in Denver, Colorado with very positive discussions about data sharing, interoperability, stewardship, incentives, training, and metrics for assessing improvement towards a more open data universe.

It is with great sadness and loss that we mark the passing last night of our friend and colleague, Dr. Allison. His contributions to the Forum include a lasting legacy of open data that we will carry forward, breaking down barriers and building partnerships with a smile and kind words, just like Lee.

In his new blog, Open Data and Open Science, Dr. Robert Gurney of the University of Reading and the Belmont Forum E-Infrastructure Secretariat details new opportunities for input to the evolving datascape. This online forum provides an interactive platform for data scientists, users, students, and stakeholders to engage in the developing activities of the Belmont Forum E-Infrastructure.

The members of the Belmont Forum welcome a new partner in support of increased data access to inform human action and adaptation to global environmental change. The Group on Earth Observations joins our partners ICSU, IIASA, ISSC, and USGCRP in advancing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary science through inter-institutional cooperation.

Next week at the 5th General Assembly of the Organization for Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD) hosted by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Mao Takeuchi, Deputy Director of the Belmont Forum, will give an invited presentation about the Forum’s efforts to build capacity in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary science to address multi-national concerns about global change.

Eight multi-national projects have been selected for funding through this call. The successful projects involve researchers from Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, with additional collaborators from Canada.

The Belmont Forum e-Infrastructure Coordination, Communications, and Coordination Office (C3O) seeks a full-time Coordination Officer for a period of up to three (3) years to foster and support International communication, collaboration, and coordination to implement recommendations in the e-Infrastructures & Data Management Community Strategy and Implementation Plan (CSIP).

This week at the European Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in Vienna, Belmont Forum funded research into global challenges of food and freshwater security, resilience in the Arctic and mountainous regions, coastal vulnerability, and biodiversity are on display. Information about current awards, the Forum’s new open data policy, and future Forum events is available. Secretariat staff are on hand for all other questions.

Representatives from across food production, food safety, governance, and research and development funding sectors came together in Addis Ababa at the African Union Conference Center to discuss implementation of the new EU-Africa roadmap for food security. The focus was on co-development of activities, bringing farming and processing practitioners together with academics, technologists, and bi-regional funding and management directors from both private and public concerns.