Blue Science for Blue Growth | Euromarine Network

Activity Overview

Type: Other
Start Date: February 8, 2017
End Date: February 8, 2017
Venue: EU Parliament, Brussels (Belgium)
Contact: EuroMarine Secretariat
E-mail: secretariat [at] euromarinenetwork.eu

Decision Body: EuroMarine Steering Committee

Early registration deadline: November 30, 2016
Application/registration deadline: January 31, 2017

As a side event to its 2017 General Assembly meeting and upon a decision of its Steering Committee, EuroMarine is organising a meeting at the EU Parliament on 8 Feb. 2017 afternoon.

The event is titled Blue Science for Blue Growth - EuroMarine, connecting ideas and people.

It will be hosted by MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos, and is open to all those interested.

Registration

Please register by 31 January 2017 (final deadline) using the online form that applies to your case below:

Schedule

14:00: EU Parliament security control (ID required; sticker delivered; you will be escorted to the meeting room)
15:00-18:00: EuroMarine event

Venue

EU Parliament, room PHS 03 C 050.

External participants who do not have regular access to the European Parliament buildings are requested to present themselves outside the Info Point between 14:00 – 14:30 (as indicated on the map below).

Here they will be met by a representative of Ricardo Santos and escorted up to the room.

Participants are reminded that they will need their personal identification with them, that given at the time of registration.

For any queries, please contact commeuromarinenetwork [dot] eu

Programme

The event includes a short film, 'EuroMarine' presentations, 'external' presentations, and two panel discussions. A provisional programme is attached.

Over 120 stakeholders, comprising of marine scientists, industry members, policymakers, and students, convened at the European Parliament on 8 February 2017 to contribute to the EuroMarine event “Blue Science for Blue Growth, EuroMarine: connecting ideas and people”. EuroMarine, a marine science network with 73 member institutions from 23 countries, intended to create a forum on the importance of marine science, and how its members are collaborating to advance marine science with innovative and responsive ideas.

MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos opened the session with a rousing call to action, “The balance between encouraging economic growth in the ocean and nurturing the health of ocean ecosystems will be a complex mission. Without good science, blue growth can turn on wrong pathways."

A short introductory film followed (see below) on the significance of the ocean in our lives and how EuroMarine works to enhance our knowledge on the marine world, both to increase our capacity to use the oceans wisely, and to contribute to its protection.

EuroMarine Chairs Catherine Boyen (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) and Philippe Cury (L'Institut de recherche pour le développement, IRD) introduced the network and its role in assisting scientists to collaborate, innovate and advocate for marine science. Its successes can be seen through the remarkable work of over 800 scientists who participated in over 37 EuroMarine supported events in the last two years alone.

Four EuroMarine activities were presented, highlighting the potential to achieve big results with incentive funding. The talks covered the wide marine spectrum, from pathogens to chemical ecology of marine interactions, marine trophodynamic models and even ecosystem based solutions for resilient urban harbours. These showcased the EuroMarine vision, its achievements and perspectives, while simultaneously presenting an engaging narrative on marine issues.

In the discussion that followed on innovation for global challenges and the role of marine science, moderator Jean-Marc Châtaigner (IRD Managing Director) emphasised the value of interactions and interdisciplinarity to face global challenges, and the need to progress toward a forum which empowers scientific communities worldwide.

As co-moderator of the discussion on the added value of EuroMarine to the European marine landscape, MEP José Inácio Faria noted the need for concerted collective action to secure the valuable resources of the Oceans. The Executive Secretary of the European Marine Board, Niall McDonough, as well as Kathrine Angell-Hansen, JPI Oceans Director, and Iliaria Nardello, EMBRC Executive Director, each presented their visions of how these different initiatives can work together to complement each other in the complex European Marine landscape, stressing the need for the different approaches but also unified action. Sigi Gruber, Head of marine unit, DG research, provided some positive insights into how EuroMarine, as a group of core researchers, can provide responsive science to topical issues and meet the needs for capacity building in marine sciences.

Proving to be a resounding success, the event turned out to be a thought-provoking and illuminating dialogue on our oceans, and introduced the work and aims of EuroMarine to a wider audience.

Reporting on the success of the meeting, Catherine Boyen said, “EuroMarine is a unique initiative bringing together the best European expertise in marine sciences. We now have to capitalize on these promising achievements, to make more progress for the future of our blue planet.”

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