Our journey began in 2016, when the outputs of environmental research projects were scattered across many different websites. This meant valuable resources that could help us create a more nature-positive future were becoming lost.
Through a collaboration between the OPERAs and OpenNESS projects, we set out to develop a space to keep all this knowledge in one place. From that, Oppla, an open platform where environmental research is permanently accessible, was born.
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Since then, we’ve come a long way. Our community has grown to over 5000 members, with over 1000 resources uploaded. In 2019, the European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation officially recognised us as the EU Nature-Based Solutions Knowledge Repository.
We continue to participate in the EU Horizon programme, in which we help projects increase the impacts of their outputs for nature and society. And we’re now expanding beyond Europe. Naturaleza Transformativa, our new platform developed with Instituto Humboldt in Colombia, connects people and organisations creating transformative solutions for nature in Latin America.
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Acknowledgements
We’re grateful to the many people who have supported us on our journey. With special thanks to:
The European Commission, notably Sofie Vandewoestijne (REA), Marco Fritz (DG RTD), Gilles Doignon and team at DG RTD. Our steering group: Paula Harrison at Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Mark Rounsevell at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Claire Brown at UNEP-WCMC and Marc Metzger at University of Edinburgh. And our partner in developing the very first Oppla platform, George Cojocaru at Tiamasg Foundation, Romania.
In tribute to our friend and teammate, Tom Butlin, whose mindset that “anything is possible” lives on at Oppla.