The Crete Declaration (https://www.lifewatch.eu/crete-declaration) is a Declaration of Intent signed on 30 June 2025, on the occasion of the BEeS 2025 Conference, during the “Working Table on Life component of the Biosphere: Complementarities and Synergies”. The event gathered European Research Infrastructures (RIs), projects and organisations with the common goal of exploring shared solutions to today’s global challenges. Coordinated by LifeWatch ERIC, the signing of the Crete Declaration followed the Working Table's objective of defining a collaborative roadmap among the parties. Their shared ambition is to advance the One Health approach, a strategy to optimise the health of people, animals, and...

The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), has launched SoundLib, its Marine Sound Library collecting underwater sound data from the Belgian part of the North Sea. The open database counts thousands of recordings and advanced analysis tools, and provides new insights into the region's highly dynamic and complex acoustic environment. These data could support scientists, policymakers and the public in understanding how natural and human-made sounds affect marine ecosystems and even create new opportunities for AI-driven research. The database also contributed to the Waves of Resonance artistic project in June (https://www.lifewatch.eu/2025/09/25/waves-of-resonance), that explores the psychological impact of climate change and the therapeutic...

LifeWatch ERIC is co-organising two interesting sessions during EGU 2026, the European GeoSciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, from 3-8 May 2026. One of the biggest conferences on environmental and earth sciences expects to welcome around 20,000 scientists, presenting their work and learning from and networking with other researchers. The first session focuses on Virtual Research Environments in Earth and Environmental science, which is at the heart of LifeWatch services and organised in close collaboration with our colleagues in the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), the University of Amsterdam and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. This session...

Animal tracking is the practice of monitoring and studying animal movements and behaviour in their natural environment from a distance, across various spatial and temporal scales, through a suit of tools and technologies. Thanks to this methodology, researchers are able to gather key information about the biology and ecology of organisms, providing insights for conservation frameworks and regulations. In addition, the analysis covers extended temporal periods, regardless of weather conditions, with minimal environmental and individual disturbance. A practical example is the landmark study co-authored by LifeWatch Belgium's researchers Pieterjan Verhelst and Jan Reubens (who is also coordinating LifeWatch ERIC's Thematic...

The Living Data 2025 Conference took place in Bogotá, Colombia, from 21-24 October 2025, bringing together biodiversity networks, scientists, researchers, practitioners and other experts from around the world. The event offered an opportunity to connect with the Latin American community and exchange experiences with global biodiversity data initiatives. This year's programme focused on three main themes: Building standards that promote data sharing and interoperability; Bringing together and providing access to diverse sources of information; Monitoring our progress toward conserving and restoring the planet’s biodiversity. LifeWatch ERIC participated actively in the event, co-organising a symposium led by Christos Arvanitidis, CEO, together...

The OntoPortal Workshop 2025, hosted by Freie Universität Berlin at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, took place in Berlin from 29 September to 2 October. Every year, the Workshop brings together members of the OntoPortal Alliance to discuss strategies and future activities. The OntoPortal Alliance is in fact a consortium of several research and infrastructure teams dedicated to promoting the development of ontology repositories, in science and other disciplines, based on the open, collaboratively developed OntoPortal open source software (Source: Clement Jonquet, Jennifer L Vendetti, Guillaume Alviset, Ilaria Rosati, John Graybeal, et al.. OntoPortal Workshop 2024 Report. INRAE;...

From 22 to 26 September 2025, the EULAC ENERGYTRAN project delivered the e-learning Course "Environmental Challenges and Open Science - an approach to Innovation and Technology" in San José, Costa Rica. Organised in a hybrid format, with in-person sessions hosted at the Centro Nacional de Alta Tecnología (CeNAT) and streamed online, the event brought together a wide range of countries and institutions from across Latin America and Europe. The course was designed to train professionals in the principles and practices of Open Science, and potential applications to tackle global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation. Experts...

The ERSAC Conference 2025 (European Research Services on Agroecology), from 1 to 3 October 2025, brought together scientists, decision-makers and practitioners across Europe to exchange strategies for a sustainable and resilient agriculture sector and advance actions in support of the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. LifeWatch ERIC joined the conference under the framework of the AgroServ Project (https://www.lifewatch.eu/agroserv): a network of research infrastructures that offer integrated services, with the objective of accelerating the agroecological transition. LifeWatch ERIC contributes through its infrastructure, data services and coordination in order to strengthen the collaboration across infrastructures. Iria Soto Embodas...

For one night, research and discovery took centre stage in Lecce at the European Researchers’ Night – ERN Apulia Med 2025. LifeWatch ERIC welcomed more than 80 visitors at its 'Marine SABRES in Fairs' stand, offering an immersive journey into marine biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, and the future of the blue economy. Children, families, students, and curious citizens explored the results of Marine SABRES, a Horizon Europe project that is working across Europe to restore marine ecosystems and ensure sustainable use of ocean resources. Posters, brochures, videos and hands-on materials guided the audience through the project’s work and its mission to...

In June 2025, the European Marine Board launched the sound project "Waves of Resonance", with the artist Elise Guillaume and her scientific collaborators: Clea Parcerisas (LifeWatch Belgium) and Marine Severin (VLIZ). The Belgian artist works on the interactions between psychology, ecology and notions of care. With Waves of Resonance she explores the psychological impact of climate change and the therapeutic potential of ocean sounds. The project started during the EMBracing the Ocean artist-in-residence programme under the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development: a unique idea combining a wide range of different sounds, such as singing whales and cracking...

After a successful 2024 edition with 10 classes playing from across Europe, Marine SABRES launches a new online serious game and School Competition to help students explore the links between human activities, changes in marine ecosystems and impacts on our well-being. Registration is now open for teachers. Marine SABRES invites secondary school teachers across Europe to take part in the Marine SABRES School Competition 2025, an online learning experience built around a new serious game that brings pupils closer to the science of our seas. The 2025 edition will take place on World Fisheries Day, Friday 21 November 2025, from...

San José, Costa Rica, 18 September 2025. LifeWatch ERIC participated in the High-Level Meeting on Energy Transition and Climate Sustainability, organised by the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) at the Consejo Nacional de Rectores (CONARE). The event brought together regional and international leaders, as well as representatives from international organisations, embassies, universities, research centres, and civil society, to forge strategic alliances for accelerating the energy transition across Ibero-America and Europe. Representing LifeWatch ERIC, Maite Irazabal delivered a presentation on the preliminary results of the EULAC ENERGYTRAN project, highlighting its contributions to strengthening collaboration between Europe and Latin America. Among the...

On September 26, 2025, LifeWatch ERIC will participate in the European Researchers’ Night, contributing to its programme and engaging with participants, thanks to its research stand "Marine SABRES in Fairs". On this occasion, LifeWatch ERIC will present the project Marine SABRES, organising the initiative “Marine SABRES in Fairs: protecting and restoring biodiversity, sustainable blue economy, and ecotourism”. Marine SABRES – Marine Systems Approaches for Biodiversity Resilience and Ecosystem Sustainability, is a research project funded by the European Union that aims to conserve and protect biodiversity by integrating healthy, sustainably-used ecosystems and a resilient blue economy. To make Ecosystem-based Management more achievable...

A strategic boost to European collaboration: LifeWatch ERIC warmly welcomes Austria’s integration into DiSSCo via OSCA. This national-level mobilisation is a model of how local strengths can be federated into a European knowledge system for biodiversity and ecosystem research. Natural History Museums and Botanical Gardens form undoubtedly the largest Research Infrastructure in Europe. The added value their specimens and their research products they take from joining Research Infrastructure is huge and it provides a serious return to the countries and societies invested in them. Complementary missions, shared vision: DiSSCo’s work in digitising and harmonising specimen-based collections can be used in...

ProteusWatch vLab's Research, part of the LifeWatch Slovenia Consortium, has been featured on Nautilus Magazine. Deep beneath Europe’s karst landscapes lives the olm (Proteus anguinus), a pale, blind amphibian once thought to be the offspring of dragons. Elusive and long-lived, it is exquisitely sensitive to changes in groundwater quality and temperature, making it a living gauge of ecosystem health in subterranean aquifers that supply drinking water to millions. Since 1960, the Tular Cave Laboratory in Kranj, Slovenia, has advanced olm research and conservation from a unique underground facility. Building on innovations that ranged from early CCTV systems to digital infrared video,...