LTSER Platforms

LTSER Platforms are hosting place-based socio-ecological research and feature three functional layers:

• Physical infrastructure comprising one or more in-situ research LTER Sites, technical infrastructure, laboratories, monitoring networks, collections, museums, visitor centres, databases etc. 
• Pro-active involvement of the research community on the regional, national and international level and, 
• Integrative management serving as an interface between all above elements. The management should enable an open communication space and the implementation of trans-disciplinary and participatory approaches. Research agendas should be adapted to regional and local needs and for the regional population, key stakeholders and decision makers should be involved, all of whom can be seen as beneficiaries of the knowledge produced.

Similar to the way LTER Sites collectively represent gradients in natural conditions, LTSER Platforms in Europe should be a representative set of regions, including their cultural, land-use, historical, natural, administrative, and economic units, comprising all relevant agents. Currently, there are ~ 60 LTSER Platforms acknowledged by the national LTER networks  in Europe (status: spring 2024).

LTSER Platforms represent clusters of LTER Sites, supporting ecosystem, socio-ecological systems and critical zone research activities and providing data. The components of LTSER platforms (see fig) include physical infrastructure, actors and stakeholders, research activities and co-ordination/management. These components are defined according to broad research demands to represent functionally and structurally relevant scales and levels on the one hand, and characteristics specific to the region on the other. Defining the components depends on an individual region’s landscape, habitat types and administrative structures, as well as economic, social and natural gradients.