Ostend (2022.03.02) – During the VLIZ Marine Science Day (2 March 2022), hundreds of early-career marine researchers were presented with an ambitious vision of the future. With the increasing importance of the sea for our society - for example in the context of the Blue Economy - excellent marine research is more important than ever. Minister Crevits is calling for our growing knowledge to be converted even more into responsible and sustainable use of the sea and is counting on everyone's efforts to that end.
VLIZ reports annually on the current state of marine research in Flanders and Belgium in the form of a policy informing brief and thus maintains a close watch on this dynamic research field. The most recent report, among other things, maps out the research capacity as well as the scientific output for the year 2020 and elaborates on international collaborations, the geographical focus of the research and the use of research vessels.
Within the framework of an economic mission of Flemish minister-president Jan Jambon in Northern Spain, VLIZ has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Basque marine research and technology centre AZTI.
To assess the climate mitigation potential of the ocean, seas and estuaries, both globally and locally, EMBRC Belgium and the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are organising a symposium on marine carbon storage on 16 December 2021.
In its 10th edition of the Flemish Aquaculture Symposium, the Flemish Aquaculture Platform (VAP) takes a look at the sustainability of the sector. The event will physically take place on the Bluebridge site in the Ostend Science Park on 29 October. Participation is free of charge, but registration is necessary.
Observational data play a crucial role in sustainable management and use of the marine environment. This will only increase in the future, because data are the new gold. Nowhere in the world, the sea is measured so intensively as in the Belgian part of the North Sea. The data collected by governments, companies and scientists offer many opportunities for mutual cooperation. The Blue Cluster, Flemish Hydrography (Flemish Agency Maritime Services & Coast) and the Flanders Marine Institute are organizing an information session on Thursday 21 October (15:00-17:00) on public and private datasets of the Flemish coast and Belgian part of the North Sea. (event in Dutch).
On 1 December, the European Marine Board will host its eighth EMB Open Forum. The theme of this edition is "Supporting the Ocean Decade in Europe" and the aim of the forum is to facilitate discussion among stakeholders in the European Ocean Decade, including the scientific community and policy makers. The event can be attended both on-site at BluePoint Brussels and online.
After a long forced break, the Think Tank North Sea will launch its new working group Environmentally sustainable blue growth on Monday 18 October. Interested in developing a future vision together with a diverse group of stakeholders? Participation is still possible!
On 6 September 2021, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, visited Ostend to learn more about a number of local initiatives within the sustainable blue economy in Belgium. Accompanied by Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation, Work, Social Economy, Agriculture and Fisheries Hilde Crevits, the EU Commissioner stopped at the Ostend Marine Station and visited the citizen science initiative CoastSnap.
On Tuesday 28 September 2021, the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI), together with the Coastal Division (Agency for Maritime and Coastal Services), is organising a market consultation for private enterprise on how to tackle floating litter in coastal marinas.
The increasing presence of marine litter in the seas and ocean is one of the major societal challenges of our time. Public organisations, policy makers and the business community are all looking for solutions to tackle this urgent problem. Still, incentives for behavioral change and a smart policy remain the most effective measures to prevent litter from entering the environment. Preventing plastic reaching the ocean by intercepting it from inland waterways, or cleaning up plastic litter accumulated in the ocean can also be part of the solution. In a new policy informing brief VLIZ compares different types of plastic catchers. How do they work and how do they differ from each other? Which type works best in which situation? Where are the gaps in knowledge and development? In short: what opportunities do they offer for a plastic free ocean?
Tot 30 september van dit jaar kan u uw mening geven over het ontwerp van het maatregelenprogramma voor de Belgische mariene wateren (2022-2027) in het kader van de Kaderrichtlijn Mariene Strategie (KRMS) en het ontwerp van de instandhoudingsdoelstellingen en het ontwerp van de beheerplannen voor Natura2000 in het Belgisch deel van de Noordzee (2022-2028).
The United Nations Blue Climate Initiative has secured 1 million USD for innovative ideas within the context of marine climate mitigation. Entries can be submitted until midnight on 15 September.
For decades, the North Sea has played a central role in the European energy landscape because of its historical wealth of fossil fuels. However, the North Sea region also has many assets to play a key role - now and in the future - in the fight against climate change. In its latest policy informing brief, VLIZ examined various marine climate mitigation approaches and selected five that can be realised in the North Sea: (1) Offshore renewable energy, (2) Carbon capture and storage (CCS), (3) Marine geo-engineering, (4) Blue Carbon and (5) Marine reserves. While each of the different avenues holds some promise, there also appear to be important ecological and social concerns.
The Blue Economy currently accounts for 5% of Flemish GDP. Nice, but it could be much better. How can we realize that? What challenges does that pose? And what does that mean specifically for you? Innovation is one of the most important building blocks of the Blue Economy. A good approach to IP rights – both within a company or knowledge institution and between innovation partners – is therefore an indispensable but often complex building block of the innovation process.
The recently launched Policy Brief of the European Marine Board focuses on in situ Ocean observations and highlights their benefits, funding and governance challenges, and the investment needed for their transformation and sustainability.
UN delivers the first-ever global assessment report after seven years’ work by 109 experts in 35 countries – including VLIZ support – creating a baseline to detect and gauge the changing distribution, frequency, and intensity of harmful, often poisonous algal blooms. Overexploitation, appears to act as a natural multiplier of HAB effects, leading to an increase in the harm caused in step with growth of the aquaculture industry and marine exploitation and calls for more research on linkages.
