BEYOND 2020 (Burrishoole Ecosystem Observatory Network 2020) is a multi-institute research cluster that is working with the Marine Instiute Newport Catchment Facilities to build on the existing biological and sensor monitoring programme in the Burrishoole catchment in County Mayo by using next generation science and technology to inform ecosystem response to environmental change. The team, from six Irish and UK institutes, will maximise and enhance the current capabilities by undertaking new analysis on lake physics and aquatic ecosystem metabolism, modelling environmental variables in the recent past and into the near future, developing Burrishoole as a testbed for new chemical and biological sensors, undertaking new aerial observations using drone technology to inform on marine-freshwater links, and harnessing next generation ‘omic science, to understand, predict and communicate the role and response of aquatic ecosystems in a changing global environment. In addition, the cluster will train a set of five postgraduate and four post-doctoral researchers in cutting-edge technologies, thus building capacity and ensuring the place of the Burrishoole Ecosystem Observatory Network at the forefront of national, regional and global network science in the coming decades.