In its eighth Policy Brief, the European Marine Board, together with the EU-funded SOPHIE project (Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe), provides an overview of the policy challenges in striving to achieve a balance between ocean and human health, and of the cooperation and research needed to meet these challenges.
Globally, the economic consequences of the current corona crisis are an integral part of daily news reports. Just as the corona crisis is having a major impact on all kinds of land and airborne sectors, it is also having an impact on the 'blue economy', which globally accounts for 2.5 trillion dollars on an annual basis (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. 2015). In Flanders, the Blue Economy accounts for a turnover of 48.36 billion euros and employs 153,805 FTEs (study IDEA consult 2019 commissioned by De Blauwe Cluster).
The ocean plays a key role as a climate regulator and in buffering the effects of climate change. For example, since the industrial revolution, the ocean has absorbed more than 25% of human CO2 emissions and more than 90% of the additional heat generated by the greenhouse effect. Despite the fundamental connection between the climate, the ocean and biodiversity, there are still processes that we do not fully understand.
On Friday 20 November 2020 (afternoon), the Blue Cluster and the Flanders Marine Institute VLIZ will jointly organise the Blue Economy Science Summit of BESS 2020 - the new name for the annual meeting Marine Science meets Maritime Industry. At this event in Ostend, companies and knowledge institutions come up with innovative ideas for collaboration between science and marine/maritime industry.
The Belgian coast is the largest tourist attraction in the country, but how significant is the risk of contamination by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID19) when we go back to the beach this summer? In collaboration with the University of Ghent and the Province of West Flanders, VLIZ has compiled the existing scientific knowledge on the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the context of the Flemish beaches. In addition, knowledge gaps were detected that should be addressed in the short term.
De pandemie van het coronavirus heeft een grote invloed op ons leven, vooral wat betreft de toegankelijkheid van de publieke buitenruimtes. In België geldt momenteel een semi-lockdown. We kunnen nog steeds even naar buiten, zolang we de maatregelen opgelegd door de overheid in acht nemen. Maar wat doet dat buitenzijn met ons mentaal welzijn? Bewegen we nu meer of minder dan voorheen? Onderzoekers van het Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), de Universiteit Gent en Katholieke Universiteit Leuven willen in kaart brengen hoe, waar en hoeveel we de buitenruimtes bezoeken, en hoe deze bezoekjes onze gezondheid en emoties beïnvloeden.
From 15 April to 15 June 2020, the FPS Public Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment is organising a public consultation on 'the draft update of the monitoring programme for Belgian marine waters'. This monitoring programme is part of the Belgian Marine Strategy and serves to assess the environmental status of the Belgian part of the North Sea. This programme must be revised and improved in 2020. Your opinion also counts, because everyone has the right to participate in environmental decisions.
Close to 100 online participants representing policy makers, funders and institutions dealing with marine, maritime and socio-economic issues, together with the scientific community ofthe 13 Baltic and North Sea countries confirmed this week the broad themes of the future Baltic and North Sea Research and Innovation Programme (BANOS).
The health of the seas, ocean and people are inextricably linked. But this link is hardly ever researched or included in policy. This is mainly because the various sectors involved (marine science, medicine and pharmaceuticals, coastal tourism, food industry, education, citizens' initiatives, etc.) do not (yet) find each other there. The usual research and project funding is also not geared to these transdisciplinary collaborations.
The scientific project Coastbusters will receive follow-up funding to further investigate how cleverly constructed mussel beds can help combat coastal erosion and weaken the power of crashing waves. The construction of biogenic reefs as hydraulic engineering in coastal defence is a highly innovative concept. According to the project partners, it is relevant to investigate this further and to find out whether the concept can be added to the arsenal of sustainable techniques to protect our coast against rising sea levels. With the help of its marine robotics and 'smart moorings', VLIZ will monitor the large-scale evolution and small-scale dynamics of the mussel reefs.
Following the North Sea Vision 2050 process and the first working group cycle that took place in 2019, the Think Tank North Sea is ready to start a second cycle. From now on, interested parties will be able to submit relevant themes that the think tank will address. All burning topics concerning the North Sea can be suggested here.
In Ostend, the new Ostend Science Park has been launched, the first and most innovative marine science park in Belgium. The park aims to boost blue growth by offering state-of-the-art research and testing facilities to companies and researchers. Ostend Science Park is an initiative of the Port of Ostend, UGent and POM West Flanders.
In a new report, the European Parliament outlines the scope of the blue economy in Europe. The report provides an overview of the main socio-economic features for each of the sea basins. The document also looks at the factors driving the EU blue economy. The aim of the report is to support policy makers and stakeholders in the sustainable development of the ocean and coastal resources.
To measure concentrations of CO2 in the ocean surface and sub-surface waters, a whole new generation of sensors and instruments entered the market in recent years. An intercomparison of all these systems seemed necessary to the Ocean Thematic Centre (OTC) of the European research infrastructure ICOS (in full: Integrated Carbon Observation System). Hence, all interested scientists, operators and manufacturers of pCO2 sensors are kindly invited to participate in the first intercomparison exercise of ocean pCO2 instruments, held between 24 August and 4 September 2020 at the Flanders Marine Institute VLIZ in Ostend, Belgium.
On Wednesday 29 April 2020, the European Marine Board will organise the 7th EMB Forum on 'Big Data'. At the event, representatives from policy, industry, NGO's and science will discuss with data specialists with the aim of exploring how big data can be used now and in the future to support marine scientific research. The EMB Future Science Brief n°6 'Big Data in Marine Science' will also be launched during the forum. This paper will provide an assessment of the current status, challenges and solutions for the implementation of the Big Data approach in support of marine science.
JPI Water, JPI Oceans and JPI Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) are launching a joint trans-national call for research and innovation projects aimed at investigating the risks to human health and the environment of pollutants and pathogens in water.
After a year of working around two themes: 'Living with climate change' and 'Working with nature', the Think Tank North Sea presents its first vision texts. The vision texts are a synthesis of various meetings between representatives from policy, industry, science and citizens (quadruple helix) and contain recommendations and core principles that stakeholders can work with today to ensure a well-managed, sustainable North Sea by 2050.
Every year, within the framework of the Compendium for Coast and Sea, the compendium secretariat of VLIZ reports in the form of a policy information brief (PIB) on the current state of marine research in Flanders and Belgium. The brief (only available in Dutch) maps out the research capacity as well as the scientific output of Belgian marine research groups, and examines in more detail the international collaborations, the geographical focus of the research and the use of research vessels (methodology see PIB). The inventory shows that Belgian marine research is growing in numbers and geographically and becomes all the more accessible.
The 20th edition of the VLIZ Marine Science Day promises to be a special one. In 2020, VLIZ celebrates its 20th anniversary with the central theme being “VLIZ breaks boundaries”. For this 20th edition we expect even more participants and are moving with the #VMSD20 to another location: CC De Grote Post in Ostend. The program also receives a thorough makeover. For the first time, we supplement the plenary program with various parallel break-out sessions. More than ever #VMSD20 will be an unmissable feast for the marine professional and student, full of opportunities to interact with like-minded and the ideal opportunity to expand your network.
