The Earth System Knowledge Platform (ESKP) was initiated in 2012 by Helmholtz Association's Earth and Environment research unit. After a build-up of two years, in 2014 the website went online with its first contributions. The knowledge platform developed into a medium of scientific communication providing insights into the manifold research of the earth system while at the same time placing them into larger contexts. Eight Helmholtz centers and other partners are involved in the task of preparing reliable knowledge under the four major headings "Natural Hazards," "Climate Change," "Pollutants," and "Energy Transformation & Environment" for a wide range of audiences, including politics, the media, and the education sector.

The ESKP websites eskp.de and themenspezial.eskp.de were supported by the centers involved in the Research Field Earth and Environment of the Helmholtz Association: Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam - Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Zentrum für Material- und Küstenforschung (HZG), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) as well as Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung (UFZ). The editing was provided by the central ESKP editorial staff as well as by the ESPK coordinators from the centres involved.

The special issues

One crucial element of the knowledge offer were the special issues (https://themenspezial.eskp.de). The first special issue, on the topic of „Plastik in Gewässern – Wie unser Handeln Meere verändert (Plastics in Waters – How our Behaviour Changes the Seas)“,  was published by the end of 2017. It was followed by issues on topics such as „Metropolen unter Druck – So werden Städte zukunftsfähiger (Metropolises under Pressure – How to Make Cities Fit for the Future)“ (2018), „Rohstoffe in der Tiefsee – Metalle aus dem Meer für unsere High-Tech-Gesellschaft (Raw Materials from the Deep Seas – Metals from the Sea for Our High-Tech Society)“ (2018), „Biodiversität im Meer und an Land – Vom Wert biologischer Vielfalt (Biodiversity in the Seas and on Land – On the Value of Biodiversity)“ (2019) sowie „Vulkanismus und Gesellschaft – Zwischen Risiko, Vorsorge und Faszination (Volcanism and Society – Between Risk, Precaution and Fascination)“ (2020). The special issues are open synthesis formats, to which also a number of experts not belonging to the Helmholtz Association have contributed their expert knowledge. Each issue provides a sound overview of as well as a structured access to the respective topics. The IMK or KIT contributed in particular to the topic special „Metropolen unter Druck" (16 of 33 articles are from KIT), but also to the two specials „Biodiversität im Meer und an Land" and „Rohstoffe in der Tiefsee".

With the beginning of the fourth period of Programme-Oriented Funding (POF) in January 2021, the knowledge platform of the Helmholtz Association's Earth and Environment research unit, the Earth System Knowledge Platform (ESKP) came to its end.

Overview of contributions from IMK & KIT

With the end of the project, a total of more than 770 contributions have been published on the websites eskp.de and themenspezial.eskp.de, 161 of them by the special issues and more than 100 articles dealing with basic knowledge of the earth system. The IMK and various institutes at KIT have contributed to the platform in various ways: The first article on the topic of hail (basic knowledge) was published in 2013, followed by 10 more basic articles, 99 contributions on current research activities, and 26 contributions in the special issues. All articles were written in German, some of the articles were also translated into English.