News

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.

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.

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.

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.

With Open Sea Lab II, EMODnet is organising a second hackathon on open marine data. Interested participants can already register for a kick-off event on 24 May in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels. The Hackaton itself will take place from 4-6 September in the Zebrastraat in Ghent, Belgium.

On 8 May 2019, The Blue Cluster and the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) will organise the fifth edition of 'Marine Science Meets Maritime Industry'. At this event, companies that are members of the Blue Cluster and scientists are invited to discuss examples of collaboration and to come up with innovative ideas about collaboration between science and industry. The theme of this edition is "Financing sustainable business models in the blue economy".

Within the context of the national working group 'Marine litter' - coordinated by the Marine Environment Service - the VLIZ was asked to make a scientifically substantiated overview of the scientific studies available in 2019 on marine litter and microplastics in Belgian waters. The Belgian marine research landscape on this topic was also mapped out and the marine scientific community was allowed to reflect critically on the research needs. The 33-page study is the result of a close collaboration with various provincial, Flemish and federal knowledge and policy institutions.

JPI Oceans and JPI Climate launch a transnational call on "Oceans and climate". Funding bodies from Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Latvia and Norway have earmarked a total budget of 8.1 M EURO for this call.

"Together we know more and a sea of knowledge leads to a sea of opportunities for a sustainable blue future. With these words, Secretary of State for the North Sea, Philippe de Backer, concluded the North Sea Vision 2050 trajectory and paved the way for the 'Think Tank North Sea'.