OPEN:EU Project Background Information

One Planet Economy Network (OPEN: EU) was a two year EU funded project (under the EU 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development or FP7).

Between September 2009 and November 2011, the One Planet Economy Europe project focused on developing a ‘Footprint Family’ of indicators: Ecological, Carbon and Water footprint to track the multiple and often hidden demands that human consumption makes on the planet’s resources and to measure their impacts on the planet.

The ‘Footprint Family’ indicators allow decision-makers to track and measure the impact of consumption on the earth’s natural resources and ecological assets. With this information they can develop an informed response to issues such as limits to natural resource and freshwater consumption, and sustainable use of natural capital across the globe.

By bringing together the Ecological, Carbon and Water Footprint indicators through the same trade model, one is able to calculate each of these indicators for the whole of the EU-27. The OPEN:EU project used sophisticated multi-regional input-output analysis for this and built upon the outputs of the EU Framework 6 project EXIOPOL.

One of the primary outputs of the project was the development of an online scenario-modelling and policy assessment tool (EUREAPA) to act as a user interface that improves access to the extensive data held within the EE-MRIO model and make the “Footprint Family” more relevant to policy makers and civil society.

EUREAPA translates complex science into practical information which decision makers can use to tackle complex issues simultaneously and better deal with trade offs.