The EMODnet partnership held its 16th EMODnet Steering Committee and 11th Technical Working Group meetings between 26-28th April 2022. The hybrid meetings brought together more than 40 experts with representatives from the EMODnet secretariat, Central Portal, Data Ingestion and EC convening in Ostend - where the EMODnet Secretariat offices are based – together with a large online participation of EMODnet Coordinators and Technical experts from across Europe.

The #OceanChallenge4Africa online hackathon aims to tackle ocean challenges in the coastal and marine regions of Africa and to pool African energies to grasp opportunities offered by the ocean. It is organized by Mercator Ocean International, IOC Africa and Garage48; and supported by the EU’s Copernicus Marine Service and Segal Family Foundation. It is further held in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme GEMS Ocean, GEO Blue Planet and the African Group on Earth Observations (AfriGEO). The deadline for idea submission and team formation is 22 March 2022.

EMODnet Biology partners assembled virtually from 28 February to 3 March 2022 for an intensive workshop to develop innovative data products using EMODnet data. They worked collaboratively to develop brand new products (e.g., modelling the distribution of an invasive seaweed) and to significantly improve previous products (e.g., expanding the product on the presence and absence of benthic species to cover all European waters). More focus was placed on changes in Europe’s marine biodiversity through time. They also ran sessions led by two data science experts on good practice in data product development, including tips on a range of methods and techniques to improve the reproducibility and documentation of EMODnet Biology’s products.

Ocean-based industries and conservation organisations are working towards 2030 targets to reduce harmful practices and restore ocean health. The summit will assess whether the targets are ambitious enough, and what policymakers, industry, and investors should do to achieve them.

The EMOD-PACE (EMODnet PArtnership for China and Europe) project is a collaborative pilot initiative between core implementors of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS) of China. It aims to promote effective international ocean governance and support the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources. 

EMOD-PACE is currently organising a survey to obtain feedback from users and stakeholders interested in marine data and information covering the study area on the usefulness and relevance of the project’s activities, its outputs and provided tools/services. This will help the project partners to (i) gain insight into the effectiveness of the project towards reaching its objectives; (ii) gauge the general appreciation of the outputs and activities by users and stakeholders; and (iii) to help identify areas of possible improvement and/or further action.

Did you know that the EMODnet Open Conference virtual exhibition is still open for the public? The exhibition, set up for the EMODnet Open Conference in June 2021 takes the user through an informative journey of the past decade of EMODnet achievements, the latest state-of-the-art in in situ marine data services, key partnerships at EU and global levels – including with the ocean observation community, and EMODnet’s increasing win-win collaborations with the Blue Economy and Business sectors.  There is information on the diverse activities of EMODnet, you can visit the gallery of community posters and get informed on related initiatives such as European Atlas of the Seas. The virtual exhibition closes in Spring 2022.

The Ocean Sciences Meeting 2022 ("Come Together and Connect") will focus on the importance of strong pilina for the ocean science community. Pilina means connection, relationship, and association and is an important value in Hawaiian culture that encourages inclusivity and collaborations to achieve results that cannot be accomplished with one person alone. EMODnet will be actively contributing to a number of sessions including the scientific session: "OD11 The uptake of data by citizen scientists, aggregators and end-users: successes, challenges and gaps in the dataflow".

The 6th edition of the EU Datathon, the annual EU open data competition, includes four challenges. 

The finals will take place on 20 October 2022.

As we do each year at the beginning of a new calendar year, we invite you to take a moment to reflect with us on the previous year, to collectively consider EMODnet’s main achievements of 2021 and look forward to what the coming year will bring for our growing network of data providing partners, implementers and users. This is a good time to do so as a lot of progress has been made over the past few years and more is on the horizon, as new vision objectives will drive EMODnet to adapt to the evolving needs of those who rely upon the resources and services we provide.