News

In a new Policy Informing Brief, VLIZ - on demand of the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM) - maps the Flemish expertise and knowledge around marine litter and microplastics. The note provides a useful overview of the published research, but also indicates the needs for studying and addressing litter and microplastics in Flemish aquatic environments.

Under the titel 'natural coastal defense', Natuurpunt and the West-Flanders Environmental Federation (WMF) joined forces resulting in the Kappa plan. Within the Kappa-plan they advocate for one integrated and sustainable vision for coastal protection against climate change and floods using natural buffers.

Now, on Monday, October 23 (from 19:00), both organizations organize the symposium 'Sant in eigen lant, towards a resilient coastal management', further exploring the question 'How can we work with nature to protect our coast?'.

As part of the United Nations’ Ocean Conference, the first Global Ocean Science Report (GOSR) was presented on Wednesday, 8 June, on World Oceans Day in New York. The Global Ocean Science Report marks the possibility of having a first look at the current state and main trends in oceanic research on a global scale.

On the 8^th of July, the EU Commissioner for Environment and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, visited the InnovOcean site in Ostend. The EU Commissioner signed an agreement on the cooperation for marine observation data with the Flemish government and Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). With this, the Commission underlines their engagement for a sustainable blue economy and jobs based on science, data and innovation.

A selection of publications, initiatives and projects which (partly) rely on the input from the Compendium of Coast and Sea, are now listed under 'About'.

On the 24^th of November 2015 (from 13h30 onwards), the Compendium for Coast and Sea 2015 will be officially presented in the Flemish Parliament (Leuvenseweg 86, 1000 Brussels, Room 'De Schelp').

At the end of 2015, an new version of the Compendium for Coast and Sea will be published. Currently, the coauthors are revising the thematic chapters and the secretariat is preparing new and updated products: a brochure overviewing the marine research groups, a vademecum on marine/maritime legislation, a guide on funding channels for projects dealing with marine research and innovation, and a catalogue on marine research infrastructure. Further, we are developing a new interactive Compendium website allowing the user to consult the information in an efficient way.  

The thematic chapters “Maritime transport, shipping and ports” and “Fisheries” are updated based on new published figures:

• Economic Importance of Belgian Ports (Mathys 2014)
• Annual report of Flemish Ports (Merckx & Neyts 2014)
• Supply and revenue of the Belgian Fisheries (Tessens & Velghe 2014)

The thematic chapter 'Sand and gravel extraction' has been updated taking into account the RD of 19 April 2014 and the recently published brochure 'Sand and Gravel extraction in the Belgian part of the North Sea' of the Continental Shelf Service of the FPD Economy, S.M.E.s, Self-emplyed and energy.