The DTO-BioFlow project (https://www.lifewatch.eu/dto-bioflow/) is launching its second open call for marine biodiversity monitoring data. The project is dedicated to developing and integrating the biological component of the Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO), including new digital tools and services. Data on biodiversity, and related human and environmental pressures are crucial to understand its current state and how this may change. Protecting and restoring biodiversity is one of three objectives of the Horizon Europe Mission to restore our oceans and waters by 2030, enabling the EU to reach its Green Deal and Biodiversity 2030 targets. Identified as one of the...

The Agroecology Partnership project (https://www.lifewatch.eu/agroecology-partnership) aims to facilitate the transition of the agricultural sector towards agroecology in Europe. Its mission is to address climate change, biodiversity loss, food security and environmental degradation while ensuring profitability for farmers. LifeWatch ERIC is leading an international team within the project's WP5 (Data and Monitoring Agroecology Transition) to develop and implement an innovative conceptual framework for the monitoring and evaluation of agroecology transitions. As a way to achieve the project's objectives, the European Network of Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures gathers initiatives that enhance knowledge sharing of agroecology innovations across Europe. Members of...

From 10 to 13 December 2024, over 1500 ecologists gathered in Liverpool for Europe’s largest conference dedicated to ecology. The event held particular relevance for LifeWatch ERIC, thanks to a rich programme of Thematic sessions, addressing the biodiversity crisis, nature restoration policies and practices, novels tools and technologies to tackle current challenges, and much more. This annual meeting also brought together one of the most relevant scientific communities for LifeWatch ERIC’s mission. Earlier this year, LifeWatch ERIC was featured in the autumn issue of the British Ecological Society's Niche magazine, reinforcing the strong connection between the research infrastructure and the...

At the end of November, the team of the project Life for Lesser Kestrel - LIFE19 NAT/BG/001017 by Green Balkans, (https://lesserkestrellife.greenbalkans.org/en/) funded by the EU’s LIFE program, participated in the second edition of the Plovdiv Science Festival. The event provided an excellent opportunity to highlight the collaboration with LifeWatch ERIC. Hosted by the Center for Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB) in Plovdiv, the Festival was organised for the second consecutive year by the Beautiful Science Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science and the Municipality of Plovdiv. Over four days, the festival featured more than 100...

The 5th RESTORE4Cs General Assembly, held from 19-21 November 2024 in the stunning Camargue region of France, brought together project partners and stakeholders to review progress and shape the future of wetland restoration and conservation across Europe. LifeWatch ERIC played a key role in the event, sharing significant developments in communication, digital tools, and policy outreach. At the assembly, LifeWatch ERIC’s Madeira Scauri, leader of Work Package 8 (Communication, dissemination, and exploitation), provided an update on the second phase of the project’s communication strategy. She revealed the upcoming Camargue Case Pilot teaser and announced the launch of the highly anticipated...

On 4-8 November 2024, LifeWatch ERIC attended the Tropical Summit 2024 in Lisbon, being present with a stand in the “Biodiversity and digitalisation” section of the Exhibition Hall.The event was a key opportunity to present our Research Infrastructure to the people stopping at our booth, highlighting its main services and tools, and presenting some demos on Metadata Catalogue and EcoPortal. We also proposed a survey we prepared for the participants, that people can fill as an additional form of engagement. Moreover, LifeWatch ERIC presented the project Marine SABRES, showing the project brochure, and the videos we produced in the framework...

The Ghent University Museum (GUM) and Botanical Garden represent an innovative approach to science communication in Flanders and beyond. Located in the heart of Ghent’s Botanical Garden, this institution is the first recognised university museum in Flandres. With a history spanning over 200 years and a collection of more than 400,000 items, the GUM is an example of how universities can bridge the gap between academia and society. As a "Forum for Science, Doubt & Art," the GUM showcases how scientists think and work, encouraging visitors - be they students, researchers, or the general public - to embrace the processes...

LifeWatch ERIC, as an active member of the European Network of Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures, will participate in the network's upcoming Annual Meeting. This in-person event will take place in Helsinki, Finland, from 5 to 8 November 2024, as part of the AGROECOLOGY Partnership (https://www.lifewatch.eu/agroecology-partnership/), and gathers key stakeholders dedicated to advancing agroecological transitions. Iria Soto, Senior Scientific Manager, will represent LifeWatch ERIC, sharing research progress and engaging with other experts to discuss strategy and future collaborations. The Network’s mission is to foster multi-actor collaborations that accelerate innovation for the agroecological transition: this transformative approach can bring significant...

At the end of September, we received important news from our National Distributed Centre in LifeWatch Belgium: the first ETN datasets from the Permanent Belgian Acoustic Receiver Network are now available via GBIF. The datasets include 507,095 occurrences of 10 fish species from Belgian freshwater, intertidal, and marine habitats.  What does that mean?  LifeWatch Belgium uses innovative tracking technologies to understand fishes’ movement behaviour, and get insights into their migration routes. Through acoustic telemetry, they actively track fish through implanted tags that emit acoustic signals.  The importance of having such data and being able to understand fish routes, can be...

The RitrainPlus project is organising a Knowledge Exchange Workshop, and a Community of Practice meeting, both taking place this November. RitrainPlus aims to bring together research infrastructures, core facilities, business management schools and European universities, in an innovative collaboration designed to transform the access and empowerment of human resources. European research infrastructures and core facilities will benefit from the RitrainPlus skill-base, helping to drive their professionalisation, efficiency and long-term value creation. Knowledge Exchange Workshop: Organised jointly by ICOS and ACTRIS, the online workshop is dedicated to the management of a portfolio of European projects at 360 degrees.  This event is...

LifeWatch ERIC and Wageningen University & Research are organising a series of online thematic workshops under the AGROECOLOGY Partnership, co-funded by Horizon Europe.These workshops aim to accelerate the transition towards more environmentally and people-friendly agroecosystems, by promoting the development of reliable monitoring frameworks and tools.The ICT Core Scientific Team held the first event of the series on 15 October 2024, focusing on the agro-environmental domain. The panel featured experts from leading organisations, including the European Commission DG Agri, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), CIFOR-ICRAF, FiBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture), and Wageningen University & Research (WUR)....

LifeWatch ERIC participated in the EGI Conference 2024, held in Lecce from September 30 to October 4. Co-hosted by EGI and CMCC, the conference took place at the Hilton Garden Inn, located in the same city as our Service Centre. This conference provided an ideal platform for our team to showcase innovative solutions that apply disruptive technologies - such as AI and Blockchain - to ecological research.  LifeWatch ERIC and EGI share a mission to advance scientific understanding across Europe. The collaboration between these two organisations has been consolidated over time through several European Projects. Two of these, EOSC Beyond...

The European research project SUS-SOIL, promoting sustainable soil and subsoil health, held its kick-off meeting in Lugo, Spain, on 2nd October 2024. Funded by Horizon Europe with a budget of nearly 6 million euros, it aims to raise awareness about soil health's role in tackling climate change, over its four years of activity. Coordinated by the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), the project has brought together a consortium of 22 organisations, including universities, research institutions, technical entities, foundations, companies, and public bodies from 13 countries.SUS-SOIL, which stands for “Sustainable Soil and Subsoil Health Promotion”, will focus on implementing agro-ecological...

On October 2nd, 2024, LifeWatch ERIC achieved formal accreditation as a Knowledge Agent by the Junta de Andalucía. This milestone marks the end of a process initiated on January 24th, 2024, affirming LifeWatch ERIC’s role in advancing research, technological development, and innovative projects that benefit both the scientific community and society at large. The accreditation acknowledges the organisation's dedication to accelerate the research efforts of the scientific community, according to its mission to deliver a European state-of-the-art e-Science Research Infrastructure on biodiversity and ecosystem research, through key scientific services. Moreover, it highlights its alignment with the researchers' need for key...

LifeWatch ERIC presented the project Marine SABRES at the European Researchers’ Night, a unique event to meet researchers, learn more about their work and get closer to their world for one night (and beyond). LifeWatch ERIC organised in particular the first Marine SABRES fair, that is, the initiative “Marine SABRES in fairs: biodiversity conservation and restoration, sustainable blue economy and the benefits of ecotourism”. More than 100 people, including enthusiastic children, young people, families and the general public at large, passionate university students and researchers visited our stand and learned more about how to restore marine biodiversity and support a...