The Ecological Society of America is awarded a grant to convene a workshop, "Strategies for Sustainability of Biological Infrastructure" to bring together managers of a cross-section of infrastructure forms to begin developing strategies for sustainability. This workshop will begin a series of conversations aimed at providing guidance for funders, managers, and users of biological infrastructure to ensure long-term sustainability. Further, this beginning will have immediate utility in creating an environment for frank discussion of the issues involved and in locating both common ground and important differences in approach among the various infrastructure forms and projects represented. Such an effort is critical to the ultimate goal of integrating sustainability into infrastructure development on the part of both developers and funders. The workshop seeks to clearly define the problem, including: identifying types of operational costs associated with various infrastructure forms and how easily those costs can be separated from costs for improvement, development and training; describing metrics of success for infrastructure facilities; and identifying threats to the continued availability of such facilities. Workshop participants will also develop recommendations for structures for subsequent workshops, including issues to be addressed in various research communities, the roles of those involved in ongoing development projects, and the roles of infrastructure users.
The broader impacts of the workshop are associated with its contribution to the enhancement of research infrastructure. At present, multiple possible models exist that might ensure sustainability of different infrastructure forms. However, planning is fragmented and largely internal to specific projects, with the public conversation limited to brief discussions in various reports. This workshop seeks to bring this conversation to the fore, beginning with managers of infrastructure projects and then pointing the way toward subsequent discussions with and among developers and users. The goal is a strategy for developing solutions, enhancing the health of biological infrastructure and the long-term sustainability of the research enterprise. For more information about the workshop, please visit ESA's website at www.esa.org/science_resources/programs/advancing_ecological_science.php.
Infrastructure – roads, bridges, electrical utility lines, water supplies – is essential to daily life. Similarly, research infrastructure – such as databases, collections, and field stations – is critical to science. These resources enable scientific research and education and help inform decision making for society. In the U.S., research infrastructure has traditionally been funded largely by grants from government agencies. Many of these agencies are facing substantial budget pressure, raising concerns about the scientific community’s ability to maintain and develop these resources over the long term. At present, multiple possible models exist that might ensure sustainability of different research infrastructure forms. However, planning is fragmented and largely internal to specific projects. In response to these concerns, the Ecological Society of America hosted a workshop in November 2010 on Strategies for Sustainability of Biological Infrastructure, sponsored by the National Science Foundation. This workshop brought together a group of infrastructure project managers and directors to explore ways to keep these vital resources around for the long term. The ultimate goal is a strategy for developing solutions, enhancing the health of biological infrastructure and the long-term sustainability of the research enterprise. Workshop participants identified keys to resource sustainability, including diversifying revenue streams, ongoing stakeholder engagement, and having a clear value proposition that defines who benefits from infrastructure, how they benefit, and how much. Workshop participants also recommended next steps, including meetings for managers of specific types of infrastructure projects (for example, databases) to exchange information, development of case studies on sustainable projects, and training for scientists in financial sustainability planning.
