Join EMODnet at the EMD 2025 in Cork, Ireland, from 21-23 May 2025 where EMODnet and EU DTO will be exhibiting, together with other key actors in the European marine and maritime landscape, engaging also in stakeholder workshops and plenary sessions, including continuing the Oceans and Fisheries dialogues that are shaping the European Ocean Pact. Apply now to secure your spot: https://maritime-forum.ec.europa.eu/theme/governance/european-maritime-day_en

On 25–27 March 2025, over 400 people joined the EMODnet Open Sea Lab 4.0 online, bringing together marine data users, data scientists, developers, and innovators from across Europe and beyond. Their mission: to co-create solutions to real-world ocean and coastal challenges using the EMODnet service and other open-source data. For this edition, participants were also given exclusive access to the full EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service data collections via the European Digital Twin Ocean cloud-based service, which also offers state-of-the-art analytical tools and modelling capabilities. The two top winning teams will pitch their solutions at European Maritime Day 2025 in Cork, Ireland! This flagship event ended a bumper Marine Knowledge Month following EU Ocean Days 2025 (see news articles below for more information).

A new data set containing over 67,000 charted, uncharted, wrecks from around the world is now available on EMODnet. The data set is maintained by the UK Hydrographic Office and receives regular quarterly updates.

This new product, developed by Deltares in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, identifies areas suitable for reef habitats in the North Sea based on four key species occurrences and environmental variables such as bathymetry, grain size distribution, temperature and salinity.

EMODnet showcased its partnership with Scuba Schools International and the German Foundation (GOF) at BOOT 2025, presenting the joint citizen science initiative which delivers ocean environmental data collected by scuba divers’ dive computers into EMODnet. The partnership was launched one year ago with EC DG MARE and EMODnet Physics, and already has thousands of data submitted to EMODnet, with the projection to include millions of ocean temperature data profiles alone! This year, the EMODnet Secretariat presented on the ‘Love your Ocean’ stage and had a stand together with GOF who also presented EMODnet during the week. BOOT is a world-leading boating and watersports exhibition, held in Düsseldorf, Germany, this year between 18-26 January 2025.

The EMODnet Secretariat presented highlights of an EMODnet for ports, marinas and boating sectors workshop at BOOT 2025, the international watersports show in Düsseldorf, Germany. The workshop, co-organised with the European Boating Industry, TransEurope marinas and the European Sea Ports Organisation produced a report in December 2024, with key outcomes presented directly to stakeholders from these Blue Economy sectors as part of the Blue Innovation Dock at BOOT 2025. Click below to read the full report.

Less than 2 months ago, EMODnet held its fourth Blue Economy workshop, with this edition’s focus on the Ports, Marinas and boating sectors. And now you can read all about it in the workshop report, released this week for public access and download. The event was held online on 22 October 2024, co-organised by EMODnet, EC DG MARE, the European Boating Industry (EIB), TransEurope Marinas and the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO). The event brought together over 70 experts, including representatives from local and national port authorities, representatives of marinas, boating operators, European networks of these Blue Economy sectors, and wider stakeholders from the public and private sectors, together with EMODnet experts and wider open data specialists. Recommendations include marine data needs from these sectors, current and emerging uses of EMODnet data to support ports, marinas and boating operations and planning, and the value of data sharing, including how EMODnet’s data ingestion can support this process to ensure FAIR data, for the benefit of all.

What do you get if you combine the EMODnet marine data service and the European Digital Twin Ocean (EDITO) platform in a Hackathon? A world-first opportunity to ideate and innovate using Europe’s most comprehensive  in situ  marine data and data products, on the cloud! From 25–27 March 2024, the fourth edition of the EMODnet Open Sea Lab (OSL 4.0) Hackathon will offer exactly that. And, as a free, online event, this hackathon is truly open to all. Registration is now open, just in time for the festive season! Don’t miss this chance to join a community of ocean innovators—register now and turn your data-driven vision into action! Winning teams will receive a variety of prizes. Terms and conditions apply.

Mark your calendars for the 4th edition of the EMODnet Open Sea Lab (OSL) Hackathon, happening online from 25 to 27 March 2025. The hackathon builds on the last 3 successful editions, with one key difference: In addition to using EMODnet services, participants will be given unparalleled access to the EMODnet and Copernicus Marine Service offer via the European Digital Twin Ocean infrastructure (EDITO). This is a very exciting time for marine digital services, and we invite all interested stakeholders, from data scientists to IT specialists and from policy makers to researchers, students and the private sector to join EMODnet in this unique hackathon - Stay tuned for more details, coming soon!

Your Feedback Matters! EMODnet continues to evolve to better serve your needs. Our survey is designed to gather your valuable feedback on our services. Whether you have spotted a technical bug, or you visited to search for the latest data products or use cases, we want to hear from you! Your input is crucial in enhancing our website's user-friendliness and usability. Share your thoughts and help us improve your EMODnet experience by filling out our survey!

On 22 October 2024, more than 70 experts gathered for an EMODnet online workshop titled “EMODnet Marine Data for Ports, Marinas, and Boating.” The event was co-designed with key stakeholder networks from these Blue Economy sectors, including the European Boating Industry, TransEurope Marinas and the European Sea Port Organisation, in collaboration with the EC DG MARE and CINEA.

In July 2024 EMODnet launched a 2-month public consultation for the EMODnet Vision 2035. The consultation is open to all EMODnet stakeholders and the broader community, both in Europe and globally. Whether you are responding as an individual, organization, network, project, or initiative, your input is valuable. Have your say before 11 September 2024 Midnight CEST!

Join us on 22 October 2024 for the EMODent for Business online workshop "Marine data for ports, marinas and boating". The workshop will demonstrate the EMODnet service for the ports, marinas and boating industry sectors including how these Blue Economy sectors can further use and benefit from EMODnet, together with opportunities for data sharing. The workshop is by invitation only. To express interest to attend, please contact: emodnet4business@emodnet.eu

Your Feedback Matters! EMODnet continues to evolve to better serve your needs. Our survey is designed to gather your valuable feedback on our services. Whether you have spotted a technical bug, or you visited to search for the latest data products or use cases, we want to hear from you! Your input is crucial in enhancing our website's user-friendliness and usability. Share your thoughts and help us improve your EMODnet experience by filling out our survey. 

In Spring 2024 EMODnet launched a technical blog, championed by the EMODnet Technical Coordinator Conor Delaney, to update EMODnet's diverse user community on latest service developments. This latest blog (#2 in the series) focuses on the EMODnet Map viewer, explaining how this key tool can be used to discover EMODnet's diverse offer of marine environmental and human activities data and data products and the latest features and functionalities, from map projections to visualisations. Dive in and discover EMODnet!

2023 was a milestone year for EMODnet with the unification of thematic services, the OSL 3.0 Hackathon, the EMODnet Open Conference 2023 and much more! Learn more in the EMODnet Annual Report 2023, now published. This provides a comprehensive overview of the EMODnet service’s main achievements in 2023, user metrics and key facts and figures, thematic offer updates including new data products, new coverage for the Caribbean Sea and Caspian Sea, EMODnet data ingestion, EMODnet for the European Digital Twin Ocean, wider EU and global partnerships and EMODnet’s key role in the EC communication tool European Atlas of the Seas, etc.

BLOG #1 (March 2024): EMODnet’s technical state-of-the-art as a unified Portal. The EMODnet EC in situ marine data service is enabled by a large expert community of technical experts in thematic data, data and web services, data ingestion and more. One year on from the launch of EMODnet’s unified Portal, EMODnet launches a technical blog that brings the technical developments and achievements of the EMOD-network to the forefront, championed by EMODnet’s Technical Coordinator, Conor Delaney. The blog is intended for wider stakeholders who use and/or contribute to EMODnet and would like to know more about the latest state-of-the-art in EMODnet services. The technical blog will be released quarterly.

On 26-27 September 2023, EMODnet together with the European Commission, DG MARE, organised an online workshop on ‘’EMODnet Marine Data for Coastal Tourism’’. The main objective of the workshop was to facilitate cross-sectoral dialogue and share experiences from key coastal tourism stakeholders regarding their in situ data needs, existing and emerging uses of EMODnet and wider open source marine environmental and human activities data for coastal tourism operations and applications, and opportunities for private-public data sharing, including optimization of dataflows and EMODnet data ingestion as a public service supporting the European ocean observation and data collection community to enable Findable, Accessible, Reusable and Interoperable (FAIR) data.

The Open Conference 2023 Closing Session began with a speech by Delilah Al Khudhairy, Director of Maritime Policy and Blue Economy, EC DG MARE, who noted that “EMODnet has been one of the most important investments of DG MARE…We will move forward together” .  A Panel of 7 experts from the EMODnet stakeholder community exchanged on EMODnet’s achievements to-date and looked to the future of EMODnet and its evolution. Kate Larkin, Head of EMODnet Secretariat then presented an EMODnet Call to Action on behalf of the EMODnet Partnership (see article above).

Before the plenary stage opened for the EMODnet Open Conference 2023, the EMODnet community convened for the EMODnet Partner Jamboree 2023—an exclusive gathering of EMODnet partners and Associated Partners. This pre-conference event was attended by > 150 representatives of the EMOD-network and provided a unique setting for in-depth discussions, partner meetings, cross-thematic dialogues, and collaborative endeavors, setting the stage for the subsequent conference. Topics of discussion spanned EMODnet and Citizen Science, EMODnet Communication, EMODnet and the EU Digital Twin Ocean, and EMODnet content evolution, ranging from the coast to the deep sea and from the surface ocean to the seafloor, including ideas for new cross-thematic data products. A Partnership Dinner on 28th November evening included speeches by Kestutis Sadauskas, Deputy Director-General EC DG MARE and Kate Larkin, Head of the EMODnet Secretariat.