A new online platform providing data on all LIFE projects since 2014 aims to demonstrate impact and increase transparency.
The LIFE public dashboardMT••• offers detailed data on over 1 400 LIFE projects worth more than EUR 3.5 billion. Users can search and download information on financing, participation, beneficiaries and the current status of all LIFE projects.
The dashboard is more than simply a legal obligation for transparency – users can tailor-made statistics and visualisations according to their needs.
Journalists, for example, can research and write stories about the number of projects and participants in a specific region or country, and the dashboard is remarkably practical for LIFE National Contact Points (NCPs).
“The National Contact Points play a key role in helping national, regional and local governance, enterprises and NGOs to discover the opportunity of the LIFE Programme,” said Federico Benvenuti, one of the LIFE National Contact Point in Italy, “data isn’t everything,” he added, “but with the LIFE dashboard, we can combine data with maps and graphs to better understand how to integrate EU funding into our ministry’s challenge for ecological transformation.”
National Contact Points can track the progress of projects in their country thanks to the new public dashboard able to clearly present what LIFE does for the environment and climate in Europe.
The dashboard is updated daily and has sophisticated search filters, including sub-programmes, countries, cities, participants, habitats, species, and Natura 2000 sites. A dedicated “self-service” pageMT••• allows users to create charts and graphics using data from any project portfolio.
In addition to NCPs, many LIFE fans already use the dashboard and features – such as the self-service sheet – to create customised charts using data they want to highlight. All users will help the tool become as user-friendly as possible so the LIFE community can get the most out of the dashboard.
Policymakers, European researchers, LIFE beneficiaries, curious citizens and future applicants for LIFE funding now have an additional tool in the toolbox to understand the EU environment, climate actions and their impact – which LIFE has supported for decades.
In addition, the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) has recently publishedEN••• its own public dashboard. It allows users to discover the most up-to-date information about the projects funded by the EU and implemented or managed by CINEA in an easy and user-friendly manner. You can discover the CINEA public dashboard here.