Kina - SINO-NORWEGIAN CENTRE FOR ECO-ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

China is facing a large number of environmental challenges and seeks international scientific assistance in how to deal with these issues. The importance of meeting these requests are reflected in statements issued from the Norwegian government (Soria-Mor ia erklæringen), from Ministry of Education and research (Vilje til Forskning), the Research council of Norway (Ny satsing innenfor miljøforskning), the President of UiO, as well as the strategic plans of the involved departments at UiO. In order to effic iently mitigate these challenges in the most cost-efficient manner we need to adapt the existing understanding of the cause-effect/dose-response relationships (i.e. DPSIR) to the Chinese environment. It is of great scientific value for Norwegian environme ntal researches to conduct research in China due to its comparative value. UiO researchers have several research networks in China. In addition several independent Norwegian environmental research institutes (NIVA, NILU etc.), in the future be under the u mbrella of CIENS, have many ongoing research projects in China. In addition to the stated goals of the centre the auxiliary benefits of pooling these networks together and having a ?Chinese handler? providing infrastructure etc. is apparent to anyone with experience from working in China The centre will be finances bilaterally and be run by a steering committee with representatives from Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), National Science Foundation (NSF), Minestry of Eductaion (MoE) and State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), as well as representatives from e.g. CIENS and UiO in Norway. There will also be a science board with representatives on department level from participating institutes and universities in China and Norway.