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.
On the 20th of March 2014, the methodogy used for the mapping of the marine scientific research in Belgium (Chapter 1) was explained in the offices of DG Research (Marine Resources Unit).
This year, the VLIZ Young Marine Scientists' Day was the platform for the official launch of the Vademecum 'Marine policy instruments and legislation for the Belgian part of the North Sea', a new product linked to the Compendium for Coast and Sea. Currently, this document is only available in Dutch.
On the 7th of March 2014, the fourtheenth VLIZ Young Marine Scientists' Day was organised in Bruges and welcomed 333 participants. The Compendium was presented during a half hour keynote speech. Participants could get more informed about the Compendium at the info desk.
The 'Coastal Forum 2014' was organised on the 26th of Februari in the casino of Koksijde. The Compendium was presented on the Coastal Forum by a pitch presentation of 5 minutes. After the presentation, participants could obtain more information at the Compendium info desk. Through this forum, we were able to reach many people with different backgrounds (guides, gouvernement (federal, Flemish, provinces, local), industry, etc.).
From today onwards, the Compendium will also be available on USB. The following products are uploaded on the first batch of USBs, an expansion of the number of documents is foreseen for the next order:
On the 29th of Januari 2014, the Compendium was presented on the Blue Growth event (Anwerp), organised by Flanders' Maritime Cluster.
Based on data obtained in the frame of Chapter 1 of the Compendium for Coast and Sea, an infographic is designed highlighting some prominent figures regarding the Belgian marine scientific research. The infographic is now available on the download page under the title 'associated communication products'.
On the 21th of November 2013 the Compendium was presented at the JPI-Oceans (Joint Programming Initiative for Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans) headquarter in Brussel in the presence of Ana-Teresa Caetano (EC, DG Research), and respresentatives of JPI-Oceans, the Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) and the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.
On the 14th of November 2013, the Compendium was officially launched in the Flemish Parliament (room De Schelp) in the presence of the Vice-Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister of Innovation, Public Investment, Media and Poverty Reduction Ingrid Lieten, the governor of the Province West-Flanders Carl Decaluwé and the Secretary-general of the department Economy, Science and Innovation (EWI) Dirk Van Melkebeke.
