Between 27-30 November 2023 over 340 partners, associated partners, and stakeholders of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) gathered in Brussels for the third EMODnet Open Conference and Jamboree. The week kicked off with a Partner Jamboree with the >120 partners exchanging on their latest service developments and joint activities. The Open Conference was a public event, moderated by Karen Coleman. With a line-up of over 75 speakers across the 1.5 days, the event highlighted EMODnet’s crucial role in the European Marine Data Ecosystem, focusing on a "Digital and Green Future." If you missed a session or want to revisit the insights, the Plenary video recordings together with event photos are now available on the Conference website, with Plenary and Townhall presentations also being made available over the next few days. A full conference report will follow in early 2024. This November 2023 EMODnet News Digest is dedicated to Conference and Jamboree 2023 highlights, with news articles also posted on the EMODnet Portal (see links below). Further updates of the EMOD-network activities will come in the end of year issue, coming out end of December.
Highlight
The 14th EMODnet Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting, was held online on 18th October 2023. At the TWG, EMODnet technical experts exchanged on the latest EMODnet Central Portal developments, including user-driven evolution for 2024 and beyond.
EMODnet attended the Erasmus Maris Days which took place in Valencia, Spain on 26-27 October 2023, building upon ongoing dialogues between the Erasmus Maris citizen science initiative and EMODnet Chemistry and Data Ingestion which are working together to ingest marine litter and wider data collected by schools and wider citizens from inland waters and seas into EMODnet and the European Atlas of the Seas.
EMODnet centralisation may be complete, but EMODnet services continue to evolve. Discover the enhancements and latest technical upgrades to the EMODnet Map Viewer, brought to you by the Central Portal Technical team. These upgrades improve marine data discovery and visualization, including new map projections, customized parameter exploration, offering a more efficient and precise marine data exploration than ever before.
On 27-30 June 2023, EMODnet Physics Coordinating organization, ETT, Italy was a co-organizer of the Ocean Data Week, an event held during The Ocean Race Finale in Genoa, Italy. The event brought together experts from EMODnet Secretariat, Physics, Chemistry and Data Ingestion together with wider stakeholders from the European Commission DG MARE, RTD, IOC-UNESCO, research, civil society and the private sector to exchange on topics spanning European Ocean Observation, the Marine Knowledge Value Chain, the role of Marine Data in EU Policy and Climate Change and Smart Sustainable Cities. EMODnet showcased the importance of diverse data sources highlighting the partnership with The Ocean Race, which saw EMODnet Physics making surface ocean physics data collected from sensors on the racing yacht hulls publicly available in near real-time via the EMODnet Physics dashboard, in collaboration with Copernicus Marine Service.
On 23rd May 2023 the EMODnet Steering Committee (SC) met in Brest, France, for its 18th meeting, hosted by Ifremer. At the 18th SC meeting, the EMODnet Secretariat announced a change in leadership, with Kate Larkin taking up the position of Head of Secretariat from April 2023 (read her welcome message here). Long-standing Head Jan-Bart Calewaert continues to work in the ocean data space, with more focus on global ocean data partnerships.
On 27-28 March 2023, over 500 registered participants from 83 countries worldwide joined together for the OSL 3.0 hackathon, representing a diverse community of marine science practitioners, data scientists, IT professionals and innovators.
On 17th February 2023 the EMODnet Secretariat and wider representatives attended the first Annual Forum of the Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030" (Mission Ocean).
At the beginning of every new year, we take a moment to reflect with you on the previous year, to take stock of EMODnet’s achievements and look forward to what the coming year will bring for our growing network of data providing partners, service implementers and users. And What A Year 2022 Was! In 2022 EMODnet reached another important milestone with the unification of all EMODnet data services and resources into one single shared portal. EMODnet has reached a new stage, putting it in a stronger position to contribute to the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’, the wider goals of the EU Green Deal and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Read the full New Year’s letter from the Secretariat.
This thematic unification simplifies access and enhances the EMODnet user experience. Central to the upgrade and major improvement is the release of the common map viewer, which offers the user easy and seamless access to discover, visualise and download marine data across seven thematics spanning marine environment and human activities and hundreds of data and data products from one place, powered by a searchable unified catalogue.
On 23 November 2022, experts from EMODnet and the National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS) of China met for the final meeting of the EU-China project EMOD-PACE and Chinese counterpart project CEMDnet connecting EMODnet with NMDIS services. The results of the very productive collaboration were presented with a particular focus on the data interoperability solutions deployed and the data products that were co-developed, all available via the new EMODnet Central Portal map viewer. The final meeting was preceded by an EMOD-PACE CEMDnet open workshop which took place on 22 November 2022, to showcase the results of the EMODnet-NMDIS collaboration to other interested experts, users and stakeholders with a view to ensure uptake of the outputs, connect with global data sharing initiatives and expand the partnership in Europe and Asia.
The EMODnet Secretariat team wishes you peace, joy, good health and prosperity throughout the coming year. Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We look forward to working with you in 2023!
The EMODnet Steering Committee (SC) met with EMODnet coordinators and technical experts at its 17th meeting on 7 and 8 November 2022, with a key focus on the upcoming centralization of all EMODnet services into one unified EMODnet data service. Other topics included highlights from the seven EMODnet thematic lots and data ingestion, including latest outputs and partnerships planning for two upcoming EMODnet flagship events in 2023, namely the 3rd edition of the EMODnet Open Sea Lab hackathon, kicking off on 7 March 2023 and the EMODnet Open Conference & Jamboree, taking place in late Autumn 2023. The EC Marine Knowledge Expert Group joined the 17th EMODnet SC Open Session and also met for a second closed session on 29th November 2022.
On 17-18 October 2022, ocean stakeholders gathered in Venice, Italy for the first edition of the Sea Level Rise Conference. The conference was organised by the Knowledge Hub on Sea Level Rise, a joint effort between JPI Climate and JPI Oceans, in collaboration with its Italian partners and with endorsement by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Conference brought together researchers, stakeholders and policy professionals to exchange on regional to local sea level change in Europe. Jan-Bart Calewaert, Head of the EMODnet Secretariat, participated in the closing panel as Co-leader of the Task Group on Communication. Also present on a panel that took stock of existing capability was Dr. Antonio Novellino, Research Manager at ETT and Coordinator of EMODnet Physics who shed light on the vast amount of open, free and harmonised data and information related to Sea Level Rise and coastal adaptation already available via EMODnet services.
In July 2022, EMODnet and Euro-ARGO ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium for Observing the Ocean) jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise the ongoing dialogues and relationship between EMODnet and the Euro‐Argo ERIC. EMODnet co-signatories to the MoU included the Coordinators of EMODnet Physics, EMODnet Chemistry and the EMODnet Secretariat. Read the full article, including the many areas of collaboration in the link below. EMODnet will actively participate in the 7th Argo Science Workshop on 11-13 October 2022 in Brussels, Belgium (see upcoming meetings below).
From 27 June – 1 July 2022, ocean stakeholders gathered in Lisbon (Portugal) for the second UN Ocean Conference. Experts from across the EMOD-network co-organised and participated in a number of activities, including a side event on Marine Data Interoperability co-organised by EMODnet, IOC-UNESCO, Fugro, IODE/IOC, VLIZ, Copernicus Marine Service and the Intertidal Agency, in collaboration with the EC and the UN Ocean Decade Data Coordination Group, for which EMODnet is a co-Chair, and a side event on “Digital Ocean Systems” co-organised by Mercator Ocean International, amongst others.
Ocean Literacy also featured highly on the agenda with a side event on Ocean Literacy Dialogues co-organised by the EC DG MARE, the European Ocean Literacy Coalition EU4Ocean and IOC-UNESCO.
In addition, EMODnet was highlighted as a key marine data service and infrastructure for the EU Green Deal, Digital Twin Ocean, UN 2030 Agenda and the UN Ocean Decade. The European Atlas of the Seas communication tool was also noted to be the mapping tool selected by the EC for reporting the evolution of Mission “Restore our Ocean, seas and inland waters by 2030”. And it was celebrated as a tool for education at the event Creating Good Vibes' Generations which brought together the Escola Azul community, the Portuguese network of Blue Schools, a key component of the European Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Coalition.
EMODnet is pleased to announce that Fugro has joined the EMOD-network as an Associated Partner in June 2022. Fugro is the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, operating at sea, on land and by air in the fields of geodetic, geotechnical, and geophysical business. The partnership recognises the many areas of ongoing collaboration and sets the scene for stronger collaboration into the future spanning data sharing and use to the exchange of standards and best practices for data collection and management.
On 29 June, Fugro and EMODnet co-organised a side event on Marine Data Interoperability at the UN Ocean Conference (see news above), discussing public-private marine environmental data sharing and much more.
From 27 June – 1 July 2022, ocean stakeholders gathered in Lisbon, Portugal for the second UN Ocean Conference. Experts from across the EMOD-network co-organised and participated in a number of activities, including a side event on Marine Data Interoperability co-organised by EMODnet, IOC-UNESCO, Fugro, IODE/IOC, VLIZ, Copernicus Marine Service and the Intertidal Agency, in collaboration with the EC and the UN Ocean Decade Data Coordination Group, for which EMODnet is a co-Chair, and a side event on “Digital Ocean Systems” co-organised by Mercator Ocean International, amongst others.
Ocean Literacy also featured highly on the agenda with a side event on Ocean Literacy Dialogues co-organised by the EC DG MARE, the European Ocean Literacy Coalition EU4Ocean and IOC-UNESCO.
In addition, EMODnet was highlighted as a key marine data service and infrastructure for the EU Green Deal, Digital Twin Ocean, UN 2030 Agenda and the UN Ocean Decade. The European Atlas of the Seas communication tool was also noted to be the mapping tool selected by the EC for reporting the evolution of Mission “Restore our Ocean, seas and inland waters by 2030”. And it was celebrated as a tool for education at the event Creating Good Vibes' Generations which brought together the Escola Azul community, the Portuguese network of Blue Schools, a key component of the European Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Coalition.
EMODnet Secretariat is recruiting! Will you become our next colleague?
Do you have a passion for the Ocean? Do you want to join EMODnet’s mission in making marine data and knowledge open, free and available for all? Are you enthusiastic and motivated to join our team based in Ostend (Belgium)? Then check out our new vacancies!
The EMODnet Secretariat is looking for:
- A Communication & Partnership Relations Officer
- An ICT & GIS Support Officer
- Jobstudents and/or interns
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Full details of the vacancies:
https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/news
Application:
recruitment@seascapebelgium.be
On 19-20 May 2022, EMODnet experts from across the network joined hundreds of marine and maritime stakeholders in Ravenna, Italy and online for European Maritime Day 2022. At the event, EC DG MARE hosted a workshop on Ocean Observation and the Blue Economy Observatory, which presented the ‘EC Ocean Observation – sharing responsibility’ initiative, explored synergies with the Blue Economy Observatory and launched the EC Blue Economy Report 2022 co-produced with the Joint Research Centre (JRC) which features EMODnet and the European Atlas of the Seas.
On 19 May, EMODnet co-organised a workshop with European projects EuroSea and Blue-Cloud on ‘Ocean Observations, marine data and services for the European Green Deal’ with EMODnet Chemistry and the Secretariat presenting concrete use cases of EMODnet data and data products for the EU Green Deal. In addition, EMODnet Human Activities moderated a workshop on Aquaculture and EMODnet Biology presented at a workshop on the Digital Ocean.
Read more on EMODnet’s activities at EMD2022, including further information on EMODnet and European Atlas of the Seas’ contribution to the EC Blue Economy Report 2022.