Find out first-hand from experts how EMODnet will boost your business and research at the upcoming Stress-testing European Marine Data conference
Are you a researcher or a professional involved in the maritime economy dealing with fisheries, shipping or off-shore energy facilities? If you make use of distributed data, metadata and products on European coastal and ocean waters or produce them yourself, EMODnet is a key asset for improving your activities.
Wondering how?
Join us at the upcoming EMODnet Stakeholder Conference and Sea-basin Workshop, 14-15 February in Brussels, to hear first hand from a unique team of experts about the added value delivered by EMODnet, your gateway to European Marine Data.
The focus of this year’s conference is on how to improve and coordinate marine monitoring and observation activities in Europe. The conference will be chaired by Phil Weaver, chair of the EMODnet Steering Committee and Scientific Coordinator of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI), and will be opened by Jan-Bart Calewaert, head of the EMODnet Secretariat, who will introduce the EMODnet achievements, challenges and activities. Valerie Cummins, University College Cork and co-founder of the Irish Maritime Energy Resource Cluster, will set the scene for the conference focusing on the importance of data and information for the users of ocean and coastal space and, most importantly, highlighting the dual key role of industry as both data users and providers.
Iain Shepherd from the European Commission Directorate-General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries will report on the early results of the Sea-basin Checkpoints, also known as the EMODnet data stress-tests. “The EMODnet Seabasin Checkpoints are fundamental to assess the quality and usefulness of the current observation and monitoring data at the level of the regional sea-basins.” stresses Mr Shepherd, “These Checkpoints are our concrete bridge with the users and thanks to them we now have a better picture about the basic information we have and what is still missing to solve concrete problems related to managing and using our seas and oceans resources. For example, we know that there are about 94 alien species which invaded the Arctic Ocean; we are aware that the quality of the wind speed and strength data in the Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea is good enough to use the available data to determine suitable areas for wind farms, we know that monitoring of bathyal and abyssal habitats is not undertaken in many sub-regions of the Atlantic ocean. These are only some examples of the powerful knowledge we have gained which can help us improve our marine observation and monitoring activities”.
The detailed results of the six sea-basin checkpoints will be analysed and further discussed on 14 February in the afternoon during a series of dedicated parallel workshops coordinated by Sea-basin Checkpoint representatives:
- Jun She, EMODnet Baltic Sea Checkpoint and senior researcher at the Danish Metereological Institute
- Nadia Pinardi, EMODnet Mediterranean Sea Checkpoint and associate tenure professor of Oceanography at Bologna University, Italy
- Quillon Harpham, EMODnet North Sea Checkpoint and principal scientist in the Hydrodynamics and Metocean Group at HR Wallingford
- Mickaël Vasquez, EMODnet Atlantic Checkpoint and marine mapping scientist at Ifremer
- Atanas Palazov, EMODnet Black Sea Checkpoint and Head of the Bulgarian National Oceanographic Data Centre and former Director of IO-BAS
- Belinda Kater, EMODnet Artic Checkpoint and leader of the work on Marine and Aquatic Ecology of the Nature Department at ARCADIS
Besides a plenary discussion on how to improve Europe’s marine observation capacity, on day two, participants will have the opportunity to hear from Glenn Nolan, EuroGOOS, about the outcomes of the consultation on establishing a European Ocean Observing System and from Claire O’Neill, UK Met Office, on the status and advances in marine data and observations for storm surge forecasting.
This unique event will culminate in an interactive panel session chaired by Bernhard Friess (DG MARE), who will invite Niall McDonough (European Marine Board), Simon Jennings (ICES), Samantha Burges (WWF) and Val Cummins (Irish Maritime Energy Resource Cluster) to provide their expertise and personal views on how to improve marine data collection and availability in Europe, for their respective sectors, and for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Don’t miss out! See the programme here