AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, FAST TRACK 7, 2017; DOI: 10.4401/ A G-7500 1 Geological Services tow ards a Sustain able Use and Management of the Subsu rface: A Geoethical Imperative SERGE F. VAN GESSEL Geological Su rvey of th e N eth erlan d s (TN O), Utrech t, Th e N eth erlan d s serge.van gessel@tn o.n l KLAUS H IN SBY Geological Su rvey of Den m ark an d Green lan d (GEUS), Cop en h agen , Den m ark kh i@geu s.d k GERRY STAN LEY Geological Su rvey of Irelan d (GSI), Du blin , Irelan d gerry.stan ley@gsi.ie JØ RGEN TULSTRUP Geological Su rvey of Den m ark an d Green lan d (GEUS), Cop en h agen , Den m ark jtu @geu s.d k YVON N E SCH AVEMAKER Geological Su rvey of th e N eth erlan d s (TN O), Utrech t, Th e N eth erlan d s yvon n e.sch avem aker@tn o.n l KRIS PIESSEN S Royal Belgian In stitu te of N atu r al Scien ces – Geological Su rvey of Belgiu m , Bru ssels, Belgiu m kp iessen s@n atu ralscien ces.be PAUL J.F. BOGAARD Geological Su rvey of th e N eth erlan d s (TN O), Utrech t, Th e N eth erlan d s p au l.bogaard @tn o.n l Abstract A Geological Service for Europe provides users with tailored and transnational consistent information on subsurface resources, capacities and processes within their surrounding environment. Such information underpins the responsible management of subsurface space and its resources, which is often administered by different authorities. N ational and regional geological surveys have come together to develop much-needed innovations and improvements that will int e- grate information and knowledge across different geological and geographical settings in Europe. This cooperative framework aims to meet societal challenges and protect valuable resources for future generat ions while ensuring that geoethical principles are honored. AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, FAST TRACK 7, 2017; DOI: 10.4401/ A G-7500 2 1. BACKGROUN D h e Earth , alon g w ith en ergy from th e Su n , is th e sou rce of all th at is n ecessary to su stain life an d p rovid e th e raw m at e- rials th at su p p ort h u m an kin d , society an d ou r w ay of life. Wh en w e con sid er w h at su stain s life, w e th in k of food , p lan ts, an im als an d w a- ter. Wh en w e con sid er w h at su p p orts ou r life- style, w e con sid er ou r sh elter (h om es an d cloth in g); sou rces of en ergy – in clu d in g h yd r o- carbon s, n u clear, an d ren ew ables su ch as solar, w in d an d geoth erm al; raw m aterials for ever y- d ay livin g; m od ern tech n ologies in clu d in g th e m an u factu re of good s, d evices an d tools; tran sp ort (lan d , sea an d air); an d en ergy gen e r- ation , tran sm ission an d storage. Altogeth er th e su bsu rface is a vital elem en t for th ese com m od - ities, be it as p rovid er of cru cial resou rces (w a- ter, en ergy, m in erals), a reservoir for tem p o- rary bu fferin g of resou rces, a sin k for p erm a- n en t storage of w aste, a footin g for su rface an d su bsu rface con stru ction s an d in frastru ctu re in - clu d in g tu n n els an d bu ild in gs, or th e fou n d a- tion for p reservin g clean en viron m en ts an d u n iqu e n atu re reserves. Th e UN forecasts th at in 2050 th e global p op u - lation w ill reach 9.77bn from 7.6bn tod ay (UN , 2017). With in creasin g n u m bers of p eop le com es in creasin g p ressu re for th e secu re su p - p ly of raw m aterials, w ater an d en ergy to su p - p ort th e p op u lation . In 1983 th e Un ited N ation s establish ed th e Bru n d tlan d Com m ission to e x- am in e issu es critical to th e en viron m en t an d d evelop m en t. Th e Com m ission focu sed its a t- ten tion on th e areas of p op u lation , food secu r i- ty, th e loss of sp ecies an d gen etic resou rces, e n - ergy, in d u stry, an d h u m an settlem en ts - realiz- in g th at all of th ese are con n ected an d can n ot be treated in isolation on e from an oth er. Th e fin al rep ort w as p u blish ed in 1987 an d p r o- p osed th e con cep t of “su stain able d evelo p - m en t” w h ich w as d efin ed as: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromis- ing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It h as been w id ely ad op ted arou n d th e w orld an d led th e Un ited N ation s to d evelop th e 2030 Agen d a for Su stain able Develop m en t an d its 17 Su stain able Develop m en t Goals (SDG) (Un ited N ation s, 2015a an d 2015b). In p articu lar SDGs N o. 6 (Clean w ater an d san itation ); 7 (Afford a- ble an d clean en ergy); 9 (In d u stry, in n ovation an d in frastru ctu re); 12 (Resp on sible con su m p - tion an d p r od u ction ), 13 (Clim ate action ), 14 (Life below w ater) an d 15 (Life on lan d ) ap p ly to th e issu es u n d er d iscu ssion in th is p ap er – w ater, en ergy an d raw m aterials. Sim ilarly, th e Eu rop ean Un ion focu sed its efforts on a total of 7 Societal Ch allen ges (SCs) th rou gh th e H 2020 research an d in n ovation p rogram . Asp ects of th ese ch allen ges are eith er d irectly (e.g. w ater, en ergy, raw m in erals) or in d irectly (e.g. food , h ealth , clim ate, en viron m en t an d biod iversity) related to th e u se or p reserv ation of su bsu rface sp ace an d resou rces an d th e w ater -food -en ergy n exu s (Bazilian et al., 2011). Th e far-reach in g im p act an d in flu en ce of SCs an d SDGs exten d beyon d th e n ation al scale, an d th e n eed for tran sn ation al in form ation an d coop eration is illu strated by th e follow in g e x- am p les: - Th e m arkets for som e m in erals (in p articu - lar m etals) an d en ergy resou rces are in - creasin gly globalized . In tern ation al d e- p en d en cies w ith regard s to th eir su p p ly can stron gly in flu en ce econ om ies an d societies at a n ation al scale. Secu re su p p ly of r e- sou rces is an im p ortan t factor in creatin g or m ain tain in g su ch stron g econ om ies an d a l- so in p reservin g p olitical stability (A n - d rew s-Sp eed et al., 2017; EC, 2011). Tran s- n ation al collaboration on m an agem en t of resou rces is cru cial in th is con text, con sid e r- in g th e fact th at m ost su bsu rface resou rces are d eterm in ed by location -sp ecific geologi- cal con d ition s an d th erefore u n equ ally d is- tribu ted by d efin ition . - Em ission red u ction an d tran sition from fo s- sil fu el gen eration system s to ren ew able e n - ergy gen eration system s p resen t u s w ith a sign ifican t ch allen ge to secu re an d balan ce fu tu re en ergy su p p ly strategies. Th is r e- qu ires in tern ation al coop eration an d th e su ccessfu l m an agem en t of d ifferen t en ergy gen eration an d storage solu tion s in clu d in g th e exp loration an d safe extraction of var i- ou s typ es of su bsu rface en ergy resou rces. T AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, FAST TRACK 7, 2017; DOI: 10.4401/ A G-7500 3 - The m itigation and red u ction of hu m an im - p acts on clim ate change is a m ajor societal challenge for Eu rop e and m any other cou n- tries across the globe (EC, 2014) as clim ate change w ill affect the entire planet. The pr e- d icted changes in clim ate and rise in sea level w ill have a profou nd im pact on grou nd w ater and su rface w ater system s (Treid el et al., 2012). The ability to ad apt to these changes and the options to accom m od ate to im p acts w ill vary from region to region. Yet ou r su c- cess in p rotecting ecosystem s, keeping areas habitable and secu ring the safety of citizens and su p p lies of clean d rinking w ater (H insby et al., 2008), w ill d ep end on how w e cooperate in d eveloping joint solu tions. It has been ar- gu ed that the hu m an im p act on earth has se- verely affected the environm ent and crossed planetary bou nd aries and threshold s e.g. bio- geochem ical flow s of nitrogen and phosph o- ru s in the Anthrop ocene (Steffen et al., 2007 and 2015). Th e su bsu rface is an im p ortan t p art of th e sy s- tem s in tegration n eed ed for global su stain abil- ity in th e fu tu re (Liu et al., 2015), an d ou r sele c- tion of op tion s m u st be based on (geo)eth ica l con sid eration s (Martín ez-Frías, et al., 2011; Pep p olon i an d Di Cap u a, 2017). 2. A PARAD IGM FOR A GEOLOGICAL SERVICE FOR EUROPE Geoscien tists an d Geological Su rvey Organ iz a- tion s (GSOs) h ave a key resp on sibility to su p - p ort th e realization of SDGs an d Societal Ch al- len ges w ith reliable an d u n biased su bsu rface in form ation an d ad vice. Th e con tin u ou s im - p rovem en t, m ain ten an ce an d p u blic d issem in a- tion of th is in form ation an d ad vice, as w ell as th e scien tific tools an d m eth od s n eed ed for su ch p rovision s, are togeth er d escribed in th is p ap er as “geological services”. Geological services p rovid e th e in form ation for evid en ce-based d ecision -m akin g on issu es w ith both sh ort an d lon g -term p ersp ectives. Geosci- en tific in form ation is critical to th e p rovision of evid en ce to back w h atever cou rse of action is p rop osed for an y sp ecific situ ation . It is largely collected an d con stru cted for p u blic good by GSOs – eith er n ation al or region al – th rou gh ou t Eu rop e. As geology is su ch a w id e scien tific en d eavor, each GSO m ay focu s on a p articu lar su b-d iscip lin e (ran gin g from geoh azard s to w a- ter resou rces an d th e en viron m en t; from h y- d rocarbon s to geoth erm al; an d from con stru c- tion m aterials to m etal raw m aterials) d ep en d - in g on n ation al p riorities. As a resu lt th e state of kn ow led ge in an y on e su b-d iscip lin e v aries from on e GSO to an oth er. In form ation collect- ed by on e GSO m ay be d ifferen t from an oth er an d it is often n ot easy to in tegrate d ata an d in form ation across ju risd iction s. Geology, h ow ever, d oes n ot recogn ize th e bord ers b e- tw een cou n tries – geological form ation s tran s- cen d th ese bou n d aries an d w ater an d oth er flu - id s flow (freely) across th e bord ers above an d below grou n d . Th e fore-m en tion ed tran sn a- tion al con text of Societal Ch allen ges an d con t i- n u ity of geological featu res an d resou r ces across bord ers sh ou ld th erefore be reflected by th e geological services as w ell. Th e key scien tific ch allen ge for GSOs an d asso- ciated scien ce in stitu tes is th u s to overcom e th e fu n d am en tal d ifferen ces in th e w ay geological services are establish ed an d com p osed at n a- tion al an d region al level. Th ese d ifferen ces e x- ist for variou s reason s, e.g.: - Differen t scop e an d level of su bsu rface e x- p loration an d exp loitation resu ltin g in co n - trastin g d ata p attern s an d qu alities. - Differen t ap p roach es, form ats an d stan d - ard s for m ap p in g, m od elin g an d an alyzin g su bsu rface d ata (e.g. 2D vs. 3D, d efin ition of geological u n its, scale an d accu racy). - Differen t ju risd iction s m ay h ave reg u lation s coverin g w h at d ata can or can n ot be sh ared an d u sed . In ord er to serve en d -u sers effectively, th e geo- scien tist m u st tran sform d ata an d kn ow led ge in to solu tion s th at d irectly relate to th e d ecision or altern atives u n d er ev alu ation . For exam p le: “Wh ere can CO 2 be safely stored an d in w h at qu an tities?”, “Sh ou ld a certain m in eral d ep osit be con sid ered for d evelop m en t?”, or “Wh at m easu res m u st be im p lem en ted to m itigate an d m on itor im p acts on a grou n d w ater bod y?” Geological su rveys p rovid e su ch an sw ers by m easu rin g an d m od elin g su bsu rface stru ctu re an d p rop erties in fou r d im en sion s, an d u sin g AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, FAST TRACK 7, 2017; DOI: 10.4401/ A G-7500 4 resu ltin g d ata an d geo -m od els to assess th e d is- tribu tion an d exp loitability of resou rces an d cap acities, as w ell as th e p ossible effects in - d u ced by su bsu rface activities. Th e in tegration of th ese ou tcom es in th e m u lti-d im en sion al geo-m od el sp ace h elp s th e d ecision -m aker s to ap p reciate th eir sp atial-tem p oral relation sh ip s an d en ables fu rth er ap p raisal of th e viability an d p ossible con sequ en ces of d evelop m en t scen arios. Th is ap p roach is reflected by th e g e- n erically ap p licable w orkflow p rin cip les in Fig. 1. Th e key to establish in g an effective an d su s- tain able geological service at Eu rop ean level lies in a p rop er tran sn ation al h arm on ization of each step in th is w orkflow , w h ile resp ectin g th e u n iqu e an d h igh ly variable geological ch a r- acteristics an d societal asp ects w ith in in d ivid u - al region s. In th e follow in g section s th e key sci- en tific ch allen ges tow ard s establish in g th is in a Eu rop ean con text are briefly d escribed for each of th e m ain w orkflow stages. As w ill be d em on strated later in th is p ap er, t h e id ea to realize a Eu rop ean Geological Service is n ot m erely d riven by p ragm atic reason s, alth ou gh am p le ben efits are associated w ith reach in g across n ation al an d geological bo rd ers. At th e h earth of th is lies th e realization th at geoeth ical p rin cip les requ ire an accep ted an d d u rable Eu - rop ean stru ctu re for sh arin g of d ata, m eth od s, exp ertise, view s an d even resp on sibilities. 2.1 Geo -models and data Su bsu rface d ata an d m easu rem en ts are typ ica l- ly con verted in to 2D, 3D or 4D geo -m od els rep - resen tin g th e sp atial layou t of geological u n its an d stru ctu res, rock an d flu id p rop erties, in te r- actin g su bsu rface p rocesses (van d er Meu len et al., 2013) at variou s sp atial an d tem p oral scales. By extrap olatin g d ata an d in form ation in to a h igh er d im en sion al sp ace (e.g. 1D w ells or d rill h oles in to 2D cross-section s or 3D layer m od - els) or con vertin g in form ation from on e typ e in to an oth er (e.g. 3D seism ic in to 3D stru ctu re an d p rop erties), p red iction s can be m ad e on Figure 1: Generic workflow underpinning the presented Geological Service for Europe. In this concept, subsurface management and resource assessments are linked to the consistent 3D geomodels from which they are derived. AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, FAST TRACK 7, 2017; DOI: 10.4401/ A G-7500 5 w h eth er certain geological con d ition s are likely or p ossible at p articu lar location s. Movin g in - form ation in to h igh er d im en sion s also m akes it p ossible to assess v ariou s sp atial an d tem p oral relation sh ip s betw een d ifferen t rock u n its an d th e d yn am ic p rocesses w ith in th ese u n its. Th e con sisten t correlation an d lin ka ge of m easu re- m en ts w ith in geologically m od eled u n its en a- bles th eir an alysis in an ap p rop riate gen etic con text. Th e effectiven ess of tran sn ation al su b- su rface m an agem en t stron gly relies on a co n - sisten t collation an d correlation of geo -m od el in form ation across bord ers. Th is brin gs a m ajor ch allen ge w ith regard s to h ow th e variety of m od els an d m easu rem en ts from d ifferen t r e- gion s an d geological settin gs can be m erged or in tegrated . In ad d ition to th e geological asp ects (e.g. stratigrap h ic d efin ition s), th is task also re- qu ires solu tion s in in form ation m an agem en t (e.g. d ealin g w ith d ifferen t scales, geom etries an d m od el stan d ard s). 2.2 Resources and utilization: Energy, Groundw ater and Minerals Su bsu rface resou rces an d cap acities are eith er id en tified d irectly from observation s (e.g. in w ells or d rill h oles) or p red icted from a com b i- n ation of in d icative p rop erties an d favorable geological con d ition s rep resen ted in th e geo - m od els. A h arm on ized Eu rop ean overview of geological resou rces an d p oten tial su bsu rface u ses w ill of cou rse rely on th e qu ality an d co n - sisten cy of u n d erp in n in g d ata (e.g. obtain ed from su rface or airborn e geop h ysics). Th e a p - p lication of com p arable an d u n iform asses s- m en t m eth od ologies an d criteria is of equ al im p ortan ce, esp ecially w h en th e en d re su lts are u sed in in tern ation al resou rces an d reserves classification sch em es. Makin g su re th at su ch m eth od ologies are able to d eal w ith th e sp ecif- ics of in d ivid u al region s (geological settin g, available d ata, exp loration level, etc.), an d th at th e variou s geological u n certain ties are p rop er- ly accom m od ated in th e en d resu lts, are key scien tific ch allen ges in th is resp ect. 2.3 Effects, impacts and protection Th e con sequ en ces of su bsu rface d evelop m en t are in m ost cases restricted to th e sp ecific loca- tion w h ere th e activities take p lace, yet th eir m an ifestation often h as a far -reach in g in flu en ce on society. Th e evalu ation an d u n d erstan d in g of th e su b- su rface p rocesses an d con d ition s th at lead to in d u ced h azard s an d en viron m en tal im p acts p resen ts sign ifican t scien tific ch allen ges. Rele- van t on -site in form ation m ay often be sp arse an d ap p rop riate an alogu es d ifficu lt to fin d . Geological su rveys can brin g m u ch -n eed ed in - n ovation to th is field of research by sh arin g e x- p erien ces, m ergin g an d in tegratin g cru cial d ata sets an d join tly d evelop in g best p ractice s an d in n ovative m eth od ologies. Tran sn ation al h arm on ized 2D/ 3D/ 4D geo - m od els w ill greatly assist in a p rop er exch an ge an d com p arison of an alogu e system s an d th ereby en able n ew in sigh ts in to cau ses, effects an d tren d s. Th e sam e is tru e for th e efficien t d evelop m en t of in n ov ative ap p roach es th at r e- ly on h arm on ized in p u t d ata. It is th is broad collaboration th at w ill p ave th e w ay for im p roved n ation al an d EU gu id an ce on th e safe d evelop m en t of th e su bsu rface an d an im p roved an d com m on u n d erstan d in g of th e h azard s an d im p acts, both w ith in an d b e- tw een Mem ber States. 2.4 Subsurface management and decision support information Th e establish m en t of in tegrated an d coh eren t m an agem en t of su bsu rface resou rces an d u ses in Eu rop e is on e of th e im p ortan t goals of a Eu - rop ean Geological Service. Th e step s ou tlin ed above w ill facilitate d eci- sion -m akin g th at is u n d erp in n ed by con sisten t an d com p arable d ata, in form ation an d kn ow led ge. Su bsu rface m an agem en t an d d eci- sion su p p ort in volves th e d evelop m en t of com m on p rin cip les an d strat egies on h ow to tran sform an d in corp orate th is d ata an d in fo r- m ation in to com m on su bsu rface d ecision an d m an agem en t p rotocols. Again , th e 2D/ 3D/ 4D geological fram ew ork w ill be cru cial for th e ap p rop riate evalu a tion an d rep resen tation of sp atial-tem p oral in terac- tion s an d d ep en d en cies, an d th e an ticip ation of con flicts an d syn ergies arisin g from d evelo p - m en t scen arios of d ifferen t resou rces by d iffe r- en t Mem ber States. AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, FAST TRACK 7, 2017; DOI: 10.4401/ A G-7500 6 3. IN FORMATION STAN D ARD S AN D D ISSEMIN ATION : A FUN D AMEN TAL PRE-REQUISITE FOR GEOLOGICAL SERVICES A p rop er Eu rop ean Geological Service can on ly fu n ction an d be relevan t if it can p rovid e co m - p lete, u p -to-d ate an d in terop erable d ata an d in form ation on an on -goin g basis. Th e Eu rop e- an Un ion , as a p arty to t h e Aarh u s Con ven tion , recogn izes th e follow in g righ ts in th is con text : 1. Provid e access to en viron m en tal in fo r- m ation ; 2. Provid e th e p u blic th e righ t to p articip ate in en viron m en tal d ecision m akin g; an d 3. Provid e a m ech an ism to rev iew p roced u res on d ecision s m ad e w ith resp ect to th e en v i- ron m en t, w h ich h ave n ot resp ected th e tw o p reviou s righ ts or en viron m en tal law in gen eral. To th at en d a com m on in form ation p latform m u st be d evelop ed th at sh ares an d exch an ges d ata an d resu lts betw een all cou n tries an d d is- cip lin es. N ot on ly w ill th e p latform be im - p ortan t for th e d issem in ation of in form ation an d resu lts to en d -u sers. It w ill also d rive th e p rop er im p lem en tation of th e m easu rem en t -to- d ecision w orkflow s by d eliverin g th e critical m od el arch itectu res, fu n ction alities, stan d ard s an d m etad ata stru ctu res. Su ch stru ctu res an d fu n ction alities d efin e th e basis for ad d -on w eb- services d evelop ed by th ird p arties or w ith in Pu blic-Private-Partn ersh ip s betw een th e GSO’s an d relevan t stakeh old ers e.g. for th e Eu rop ean En viron m en t Agen cy. Th e Eu rop ean Un ion IN SPIRE Directive (EC, 2007) establish in g an In frastru ctu re for Sp atial In form ation in th e Eu rop ean Com m u n ity aim s to facilitate th e h arm on ization an d stan d ard iz a- tion of sp atial d ata an d m ake th e d ata Fin d able, Accessible, In terop erable an d Reu sable accor d - in g to th e “FAIR” p rin cip les (Wilkin son et al., 2016). Geoscien ce d ata is on e of th e sp atial d ata th em es w ith in th e rem it of IN SPIRE. As su ch it requ ires th e con stru ction of a com m on term i- n ology. To th is p u rp ose GSOs, am on g oth ers, h ave p articip ated in d evelop in g cod e-lists, e.g. for m in erals w ith in th e Min erals4EU p roject. H ow ever, th e d evelop m en t an d im p lem en t a- tion of cod e-lists for oth er asp ects is a task th at sh ou ld be ach ieved by th e en vision ed Geolog i- cal Service for Eu rop e. 4. SOCIETAL CHALLEN GES AN D GEOLOGICAL SERVICES FOR THE SUSTAIN ABLE D EVELOPMEN T: A GEOETHICAL IMPERATIVE Th e con cep t of geological services w ith in th e Eu rop ean con text is in tertw in ed w ith th e fu n - d am en tal p rin cip les of Geoeth ics. Th e d efin ition of geoeth ics, as p rop osed by th e In tern ation al Association for Prom otin g Ge o- eth ics (h ttp :/ / w w w .geoeth ics.org , accessed 15 May 2018), is: “Geoethics consists of research and reflection on the values which underpin appropriate behaviors and practices, wherever human activities interact with the Earth system. Geoethics deals with the ethical, social and cultural implications of geoscience educa- tion, research and practice, and with the social role and responsibility of geoscientists in conducting their activities.” Th e geoscien ce com m u n ity n eed s to p rom ote an eth ical ap p roach tow ard s scien ce an d p ra c- tice of research . Th is w ill be a core p rin cip al at th e h eart of d eliverin g a Geological Service for Eu rop e. Th e term “geoeth ics” is u sed from ’90 (Pep p olon i an d Di Cap u a, 2015), an d th e grow - in g aw aren ess in th e geological com m u n ity for th e n eed to take eth ics in to con sid eration in its w ork p reced es th e cu rren t d efin ition (Wyss & Pep p olon i, 2015). Th e “Cap e Tow n Statem en t on Geoeth ics” (Di Cap u a et al., 2017) d escribes th e fu n d am en tal valu es of geoeth ics: - En su rin g su stain ability of econ om ic an d so- cial activities in ord er to assu re fu tu re ge n - eration s’ su p p ly of en ergy an d oth er n atu ral resou rces. - Sh arin g kn ow led ge at all levels as a valu a- ble activity, w h ich im p lies com m u n icatin g scien ce an d resu lts, w h ile takin g in to a c- cou n t in trin sic lim itation s su ch as p robabili- ties an d u n certain ties. - Verifyin g th e sou rces of in form ation an d d ata, an d ap p lyin g objective, u n biased AN N ALS OF GEOPH YSICS, 60, FAST TRACK 7, 2017; DOI: 10.4401/ A G-7500 7 p eer-review p rocesses to tech n ical an d sci- en tific p u blication s. Th ese statem en ts p rovid e clear referen ces to th e em in en t p osition of geoeth ics as an u n d e r- p in n in g p rin cip le for geoscien tists an d geosci- en tific in form ation an d kn ow led ge to follow w h ile ad d ressin g societal ch allen ges an d th e SDGs. As su ch , geological services in clu d e g e- oeth ics valu es as th ey are aim ed at safegu ar d - in g th e exp loration an d safe d evelop m en t of n atu ral resou rces an d su bsu rface cap acities based on im p artial an d scien tifically v alid ated in form ation an d kn ow led ge, alw ays h avin g th e in terests of society as a core valu e. 6. CON CLUD IN G REMARKS AN D OUTLOOK In tern ation al econ om ic d evelop m en ts, resou rce d ep en d en cies, clim ate ch an ge im p acts, en ergy tran sition , grow in g societal aw aren ess, an d th e n eed for n ew tech n ologies an d ad van ced u n - d erstan d in g, are all im p ortan t d rivers for a u n i- form an d in terop erable Eu rop ean Geological Service. Th is service su p p orts th e collaborative m an agem en t an d p rotection of su bsu rface r e- sou rces an d cap acities an d can on ly be relevan t if it can con tin u ou sly p rovid e com p lete, u p -to- d ate, an d h arm on ized su bsu rface in form ation . To th at p u rp ose th e n ation al an d region al ge o- logical su rveys of Eu rop e are takin g a m ajor step by establish in g th e p recu rsor of a Eu rop e- an Geological Service th rou gh close collabor a- tion w ith in th e d ed icated cross-th em atic ERAN ET for ap p lied geoscien ces (GeoERA, 2017). Th rou gh th is ERAN ET th e m an y scien - tific ch allen ges th at sep arate u s from a tru ly h arm on ized ap p roach , w ill be ad d ressed . Ge o- logical an d tech n ical solu tion s at d ifferen t le v- els of th e w orkflow w ill be d evelop ed an d test- ed for en ergy, grou n d w ater an d m in erals in variou s geological settin gs an d region s of Eu - rop e. Th e resu lts from th is ERAN ET w ill be in - corp orated an d sh ared th rou gh a com m on in - form ation p latform (EGDI, 2016), w h ich w ill con n ect region al an d n ation al geological d at a- bases in a sin gle access p oin t. Th e con tin u ed in volvem en t of local an d in tern ation al stak e- h old ers w ill assist th e d elivery of th e Geolog i- cal Service so th at it w ill becom e an effective in stru m en t for n ation al an d Eu rop ean en d - u sers, an d a reliable in form ation sou rce for th e p u blic. It is on ly th rou gh this Eu rop ean coo p - eration th at th e n ation al an d region al GSOs can con tin u e to p lay th eir cen tral role for society an d econ om y, w h ile gu aran teein g th at th e ge o- eth ical p rin cip les of su stain ability, tran sp are n - cy, verification , an d objectivity are fu lly r e- sp ected . ACKN OWLEDGEMEN TS Th e con ten t of th is p ap er w as sh ap ed th rou gh n u m erou s d iscu ssion s w ith m an y colleagu es from GSOs an d oth er in stitu tes, both Eu rop ean an d n on -Eu rop ean , as w ell as by exp erien cin g th e ben efits of in ten se coop eration in cross - bord er p rojects. Th e au th ors w ou ld like to th an k everyon e th at w as to som e d egree in - volved , as w ell as th e region al, n ation al an d in tern ation al fu n d in g organ ization s th a t al- low ed bu ild in g u p to th e GeoERA p roject. 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