The ECLA Reseach and Development Center produces and gathers a large volume of data and knowledge on lentic ecosystems in mainland France and overseas, concerning their characterisation, functioning, biodiversity, vulnerability and resilience. This information is derived both from research and development work carried out within the cluster and form internal or regulatory monitoring networks.

In particular, ECLA has been designated national reference for the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, via the National Water Data Scheme (SNDE), for data concerning the ichthyofauna, hydromorphology and temperature of French water bodies, as part of the Water Information System (SIE) [1]

Since its creation in 2009, the cluster has invested heavily in transferring its most advanced products to the operational sphere, whether in the form of knowledge summaries, methodological guides, tools, protocols, training courses or expert reports.

Today, ECLA is taking a further step by actively committing itself to an Open Data and Open Science approach, in compliance with the rules of good practice and data management laid down by the FAIR [2] principles, namely: Ease of Discovery, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability.

[1] see https://www.eaufrance.fr/le-systeme-dinformation-sur-leau-sie for more details.

[2] Wilkinson, M. D., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, Ij. J., Appleton, G., Axton, M., Baak, A., Blomberg, N., Boiten, J.-W., da Silva Santos, L. B., Bourne, P. E., Bouwman, J., Brookes, A. J., Clark, T., Crosas, M., Dillo, I., Dumon, O., Edmunds, S., Evelo, C. T., Finkers, R., … Mons, B. (2016). The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, 3(1), 160018. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18