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Review
. 2021 Jan 8;2(1):100156.
doi: 10.1016/j.patter.2020.100156.

The Role of Digital Technologies in Responding to the Grand Challenges of the Natural Environment: The Windermere Accord

Gordon S Blair  1 , Richard Bassett  1 , Lucy Bastin  2   3 , Lindsay Beevers  4 , Maribel Isabel Borrajo  1 , Mike Brown  5 , Sarah L Dance  6 , Ada Dionescu  7 , Liz Edwards  1 , Maria Angela Ferrario  1 , Rob Fraser  8 , Harriet Fraser  8 , Simon Gardner  9 , Peter Henrys  5 , Tony Hey  10 , Stuart Homann  11 , Chantal Huijbers  12 , James Hutchison  13 , Phil Jonathan  1 , Rob Lamb  14 , Sophie Laurie  9 , Amber Leeson  1 , David Leslie  1 , Malcolm McMillan  1 , Vatsala Nundloll  1 , Oluwole Oyebamiji  1 , Jordan Phillipson  1 , Vicky Pope  15 , Rachel Prudden  16 , Stefan Reis  5   17 , Maria Salama  1 , Faiza Samreen  1 , Dino Sejdinovic  18   19 , Will Simm  1 , Roger Street  18 , Lauren Thornton  1 , Ross Towe  1 , Joshua Vande Hey  20 , Massimo Vieno  5 , Joanne Waller  6 , John Watkins  5
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Digital Technologies in Responding to the Grand Challenges of the Natural Environment: The Windermere Accord

Gordon S Blair et al. Patterns (N Y). .

Abstract

Digital technology is having a major impact on many areas of society, and there is equal opportunity for impact on science. This is particularly true in the environmental sciences as we seek to understand the complexities of the natural environment under climate change. This perspective presents the outcomes of a summit in this area, a unique cross-disciplinary gathering bringing together environmental scientists, data scientists, computer scientists, social scientists, and representatives of the creative arts. The key output of this workshop is an agreed vision in the form of a framework and associated roadmap, captured in the Windermere Accord. This accord envisions a new kind of environmental science underpinned by unprecedented amounts of data, with technological advances leading to breakthroughs in taming uncertainty and complexity, and also supporting openness, transparency, and reproducibility in science. The perspective also includes a call to build an international community working in this important area.

Keywords: data science; digital environment; digital technologies; environmental science.

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Conflict of interest statement

Both G.B. and T.H. are on the advisory board of Patterns. The authors declare no other competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Images from the Summit (A−E) The initial trialogue session (A); small group working (B); synthesizing the outcomes (C); working with our artists in residence (D); relaxing and feeling inspired (E).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pillars of the Windermere Accord
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Associated Roadmap
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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