The Cyprus Institute (CyI, www.cyi.ac.cy) is a private non-profit research and educational institution with scientific and technological focus. It consists of 3 research Centers that address challenging problems both at the regional and international levels. The novelty of the Institute derives from its structure that consists of issue-oriented, rather than discipline oriented research centres, in an interdisciplinary environment. The Government of Cyprus (financially) supports The Cyprus Institute, viewing its establishment as important to its overall policy of transforming Cyprus into a regional centre for research and education. The Energy, Environment and Water Research Centre (EEWRC) was launched in December 2007 as the first research centre of The Cyprus Institute. It is currently the biggest research centre with about half of the total CyI research staff (70 staff) and led by Prof. Jean SCIARE (PI of the AQ-SERVE project). EEWRC is intended as an important research resource for Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa, and as a gateway between the European Union and the EMME region. Research at EEWRC addresses issues of regional interest but of global importance, including an assessment of climate change impacts, development and articulation of adequate mitigation and adaptation strategies, formulation of strategies towards a carbon-free energy economy for Cyprus and the region, and the sustainable use of water and renewable and non-renewable natural resources. Over the past few years, EEWRC has proven to be a leader in the area of Environmental and Climate research. The Atmospheric and Climate Research division of EEWRC in particular, in close co-operation with the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC) in Mainz, Germany, has established CyI as a key player of Climate Research in the region and beyond. EEWRC has been instrumental in providing evidence that the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region (EMME) is a climate change “hotspot” and relating this to public health, ecosystem development, and water scarcity. These studies have attained international recognition, notably for their emphasis on the EMME.
CARE-C: the Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre, which is the fourth research centre of the CyI, launched in January 2020 in the framework of the European Commission Horizon-2020-TEAMING project “EMME-CARE” (Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate and Atmosphere Research Center; Grant no. 856612). Capitalizing on a pre-existing-for-ten-years Research-Division, The Cyprus Institute established the “Center of Excellence” in Climate and Atmosphere research for the EMME region in cooperation with EU Advanced Partners: the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz in Germany, the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in France, and the University of Helsinki (UHEL) in Finland.
CARE-C is mainly focused on three key areas of activity:
CARE-C works in close collaboration with its advanced partners as well as many national institutions and organizations in Cyprus and the region. The Center’s work focuses on environmental and climate change research and the creation of sustainable solutions to address relevant societal challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region, which has been identified as a climate change “hotspot”. Research undertaken under CARE-C’s areas of focus is impact and sustainability driven, and has also been embedded at policy-making level through strong collaborations with the Departments and Units of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Health, as well as the Research & Innovation Foundation, which is the national funding agency in Cyprus for R&I and the host of National Contact Points. CARE-C operates four Research Departments: 1. Environmental Observations Department, 2. Environmental Predictions Department, 3. Impact and Policy Department, and 4. Innovation Department.