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?'.
Eight months after the start of the North Sea Forum the final reports of the working groups are presented to Secretary of State for North Sea, Philippe de Backer. The reports pave the way towards an integrated ‘North Sea 2050’ vision. The stakeholders are very pleased with the constructive atmosphere and ambitious goals envisioned for our North Sea.
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.
In the autumn of 2018 a new version of the Compendium for Coast and Sea will be launched. In view of this next version, the Compendium Secretariat organized the first Expert Group Meeting (EG) of the new preparation process on the 24th of May. The EG, which is responsible for the strategic follow-up of the process and the quality assurance of end products, is expanding with some newly represented organizations (overview members) related to the extension of the renewed VLIZ mandate.
On the 8th 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.
On June 2nd 2016, the new policy statement from the Secretary of State for Combating social fraud , Privacy and North Sea, Philippe De Backer, was published. The policy statement can be downloaded here.
The Secretary of State will implement a.o. the following issues during his term:
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 24th of November, the Compendium for Coast and Sea 2015 was successfully presented at the Flemish Parliament in the presence of a.o. Mr. Carl Decaluwé, governor of the Province West Flanders, Mr. Eric Sleeckx, Advisor at the Office of the Flemish Minister for Economy and Innovation, and Bart Dumolyn, assistant to the director at the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) of the Flemish Government.
On the 24th 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').
The Guide on Funding Instruments for Marine Research and Innovation Projects has been launched on the VLIZ Young Marine Scientists' Day 2015 (20th February). This publication (currently only available in Dutch) overviews the most relevant funding channels for marine research and innovation projects on a European, federal and Flemish level.
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 new coalition agreement of the Federal Government (2014) was presented on Thursday 9 October 2014. This agreement stipulates major policy decisions for the next legislature. It also includes actions and measures affecting (marine) research and marine and maritime policy. An overview of some actions is given in the Dutch news section.
The thematic chapters “Maritime transport, shipping and ports” and “Fisheries” are updated based on new published figures:
The new coalition agreement of the Flemish Government (2014-2019) was presented on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. This agreement stipulates major policy decisions for the next legislature. It also includes actions and measures affecting (marine) research and marine and coastal policy. An overview of some actions is given in the Dutch news section.
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.
On April 4th 2014, the law regarding the protection of underwater cultural heritage was adopted, followed by the adoption of the Royal Decree of April 25th 2014. The texts of the thematic chapter ‘Maritime and coastal heritage’ and Chapter 3 ‘marine science – policy interface’ were therefore adapted based on the new rules of law.
Photo: research on 'De Kogge' (Flanders Heritage Agency)
The thematic chapters of Chapter 2 are updated in function of the revisions in the frame of the Marine Spatial Plan, adopted by Royal Decree of 20 March 2014. Updates of time series occur throughout the year.
The Compendium secretariat was manning an info desk at the Invasive Alien Species conference on April 1th in Ghent and on the 28th conference of the European Cetacean Society on April 7th in Liège.
