A number of past and current research and development projects aim to improve the sharing and use of environmental information. In 2010, the Environmental Infrastructures and Platforms (ENVIP) initiative was introduced as a means to identify the European potentials and specify common building blocks (‘services and enablers’) related to these projects. Work began with a set of projects supporting the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS). This paper briefly summarizes the ongoing result collection and introduces the next wave of activities, which will follow two newly emerging trends: Citizens Observatories and Linked Open Data. We invite interested parties and project consortia to provide their contributions for future analysis and synergies through the CEN/TC287 TR 15449-2 Best practices registry and the ENVIP initiative.