The Belgian-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (CCBP) organised an event on Tuesday 19 November with leading Belgian/Flemish and Portuguese companies, members of the European Commission and Parliament, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), NGOs and scientific partners, to discuss further cooperation on offshore energy and the blue economy.
The European Marine Board (EMB), in collaboration with European Research Vessel Operators (ERVO), is launching a new Position Paper on European research vessels. The paper provides an extensive overview of the current European research fleet and updates the findings and recommendations of the 2007 EMB Position Paper 10 on "European Ocean Research Fleets - Towards a Common Strategy and Enhanced Use". It is the result of the activities of the EMB Working Group on Research Vessels.
On Thursday 21 November, VLIZ is co-organizing the G-STIC 2019 OCEANS day. The theme day is part of the G-Stic 2019 event, the networking event for companies, policymakers and experts in Brussels Expo. At this conference, marine and maritime actors are invited to help conceive ways in which new technologies and sustainable solutions can be put to the market more quickly.
VLIZ launches yearly a call for ‘Brilliant Marine Research Ideas’ intended to inspire and enable PhD students to execute a brilliant idea during their PhD within the frame of their research. For the call 2020 VLIZ invites, for the first time, companies from the Blue Economy to sponsor as well a BMRI grant.
On 23 October 2019, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the Province of West Flanders launched the brand new 'CoastalINsight2019- The CoastalINsight2019 is a handy pocket book that bundles area-specific figures and analyses about the Belgian coastal zone. This publication is aimed at local policymakers and authorities to inform them in a neutral and objective way about the unique and diverse regional processes and phenomena.
The Dr. Edouard Delcroix Prize is a triennial international scientific prize (EUR 25.000) awarded to a researcher or research group to reward scientific research in the broad context of oceans and human health. For the second time, an Encouragement Prize Dr. Edouard Delcroix, worth 2.500 EUR, will be awarded to a young scientist who is at the start of his/her research career. Deadline is 31 December 2019.
et het nieuwe Marine Robotics Centre toont het Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee haar ambitie om uit te groeien tot een internationale kennishub voor mariene robotica. Het centrum is ingebed in het VLIZ, dat als het centrale aanspreekpunt voor zeewetenschappen in Vlaanderen de aangewezen instelling is om deze gespecialiseerde infrastructuur te beheren en in te zetten.
De eerste resultaten van AQUA-LIT, verzameld tijdens de eerste maanden van het project, zijn nu beschikbaar. De resultaten geven een blik op de huidige aquacultuurpraktijken in de drie verschillende Europese zeebekkens, de soorten zwerfvuil in de mariene aquacultuur en de hoeveelheden die ervan op de Europese stranden en zeeën worden aangetroffen. Daarnaast is een overzicht opgesteld van de bestaande regionale, nationale, Europese en mondiale aanpak en beleidsmaatregelen ter bestrijding van zwerfvuil op zee door de aquacultuur. Deze opgedane kennis zal de basis vormen voor de "AQUA-LIT Learning Labs" die zich zullen richten op het vinden van tastbare oplossingen en instrumenten voor de aanpak van zwerfvuil op zee.
Are you interested in the Blue Economy and how science can help Ostend marine life or do you want to convert your idea into a business case? Within the framework of the European project BluAct, which connects and stimulates several European port cities to focus on the Blue Economy, the city of Ostend is introducing the 'SeaZone' competition.
Flemish Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Koen Van den Heuvel prohibits pulse fishing in the Belgian twelve-mile zone. The ban came into force on 14 August of this year, and Belgium, like France, is thus issuing the European regulation that will come into force on 1 July 2021 ahead of schedule.
The 22nd edition of the world's largest cluster conference, TCI2019, will take place this year in Antwerp from 8-10 October. TCI 2019 is aimed at prominent figures from the government, business and academia. The theme chosen is 'strategic clusters for sustainable growth - new trends and practices'. On the first day of the conference there a 'Coastal Marine Tour' in Ostend is scheduled.
From 9-20 September 2019 UGent Campus Oostende organizes the newest edition of the UGent Blue Growth Summer School. The programme includes extensive interdisciplinary training with both maritime and marine modules on innovative Blue Economy themes such as wind and wave energy, aquaculture, blue biotechnology, ecosystems, marine spatial planning, etc., combined with practical exercises and excursions. The course is aimed at engineers, bio-engineers, geologists, marine biologists and other "young marine professionals" of a master or PhD level. Interested candidates can register until 19 August 2019.
How can we give our coast the resilience it needs to withstand a changing climate? This research question was central to the project CREST - what stands for Climate Resilient Coast - which over a period of four years tried to deepen the Flemish expertise with regard to coastal processes by means of field measurements, laboratory tests and numerical modelling. The findings will be presented at the CREST final conference on Thursday 26 September 2019 in Greenbridge Ostend. Registration is free of charge, but is compulsory before 19 September. Language of the conference: English.
The FWO launches a first call for joint exchange projects with researchers from the State of São Paulo (Brazil) on the 30th of July 2019.
Navigating the Future V was launched today during EurOCEAN2019, the European Marine Board high-level marine science policy conference in Paris. NFV provides governments with robust, independent scientific advice on future seas and ocean research from now until 2030 and beyond. The future we want requires a healthy ocean and the sustainable use of marine resources. However, the ocean is under threat from multiple interacting stressors. Moreover, we are still developing the scientific knowledge base and technology to fully explore, understand, observe and predict the ocean and the effect of human activities. NFV recommends a solutions-oriented, transdisciplinary marine research agenda, co-designed with all stakeholders and with the governance of sustainability at its core.
In the framework of their collaboration agreement, Ghent University (UGent) and Campus Zeeland would like to invite you to the symposium 'Sea Level Rise in the Flemish-Dutch Delta', together with their partners Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). The event will take place on Tuesday 25 June 2019 from 9:30 onwards at Greenbridge (UGent Campus Oostende).
The Ostend Research Tower, the result of the Blue Accelerator project, is operational. This new innovation and development platform 500 m outside the port of Ostend will serve as a 'living lab' to carry out tests in the context of the development of Blue Energy projects (offshore wind energy and wave and tidal energy) and the broader blue economy. For efficient research into innovative technological developments, it is of great value to scale up and test these in real-life sea conditions. The Ostend Research Tower hence meets the needs of scientific institutions and maritime companies.
In 2018, the estimated 2,900 Belgian recreational sea fishermen accounted for a total supply of 169 tonnes of sea fish and 102 tonnes of grey shrimp. This is evident from the first official report that focuses on the ecological and socio-economic impact of the Belgian recreational sea fishery. This means that the recreational sea fishing sector represents 3.7% of the total supply (commercial and recreational) from the Belgian part of the North Sea. The direct expenditures of the sector are estimated to be at least 8.6 million euros on an annual basis. You can consult the full report (Dutch) here.
An estimated 35,000 tonnes of dumped ammunition can be found on the Paardenmarkt, a sandbank just off the coast of Knokke. Although there is no danger to the marine environment or public health to date, the Government of Flanders wants to test in the project 'Removal of dumped war ammunition in the North Sea’ the innovative way in which this munitions dump could be disposed of safely and time- and cost-efficiently.
The Compendium for Coast and Sea was recently taken up as a national Good Practice example by the European Maritime Spatial Platform (MSP). The MSP provides all involved with marine spatial planning in EU-Member States a single interface of experience and expertise through exchanging and creating knowledge. The MSP is funded by the EC Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
