Agroecology Monitoring experts meet in Rome

Agroecology meetings

The European AGROECOLOGY Partnership gathers together the European Commission and 72 partners across member states, associated countries, and third countries, in order to accelerate the transition to agroecology, making farming systems more resilient, productive, and climate/biodiversity-friendly through Living Labs and Research Infrastructures.

Currently, the Partnership is developing an innovative monitoring framework that includes indicators, methodologies, and data management tools to track and measure the social, economic, environmental performances and impacts of the agroecology transition in Europe.

In the initial stage of this process, three thematic workshops were organised, focusing on agro-environmental, economic, and socio-cultural/governance, to build on expert knowledge generated by previous experiences. These workshops identified key priorities, needs and shared challenges that have informed the development of a Conceptual Framework (CF) proposing a logical structure for monitoring agroecology and its sustainability effects.

Building on this foundation, a second event was organised in Rome, on 9 and 10 June, to review and refine the Framework and identify shared priorities and recommendations through collaborative expert engagement. The event featured two discussion sessions, one consolidating lessons learnt from the previous thematic workshops, and one fostering a shared vision for the future.

The experts met in the Coopertiva Coraggio premises for two and a half days to identify priority areas of action of the AGROECOLOGY Partnership, structure an action plan, and validate the Conceptual Framework structure and its three monitoring lenses.

For more information about the partnership, visit: https://www.agroecologypartnership.eu/en

Processing open weather radar data in an operational pipeline

IRAC 2026 (1)

From 24 to 26 June 2026, the University of Amsterdam hosts the 5th International Radar Aeroecology Conference (IRAC 2026: https://hirad.science/irac-2026).

This event covers the latest international developments relevant to the use of different types of radars to monitor and understand flying animals, and this year it includes an optional two-day workshop taking place before the conference, on the use of weather radar for applications in aeroecology.

On this occasion, researchers from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics presented their latest work: processing weather radar data from across Europe to create vertical profiles, revealing the movements of animals migrating through the skies.

High-quality radar data is only available for a few days, so workflows must run regularly to capture it. That’s why LifeWatch ERIC teamed up with these researchers to build a new feature in our software, enabling scientists to schedule their workflows automatically, and ensuring vertical profiles are generated while the data is still available.

You can read the full abstract here: https://hirad.science/irac-2026/abstracts/#bakr

Exploring Ocean Connections Through Interactive Science with “Marine SABRES in Fairs” in Iceland

MarineSABRES in Fairs - Iceland

On 7 June 2026, the “Marine SABRES in Fairs” initiative took part in the Fishermen’s Day celebration (Sjómannadagurinn) in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, contributing to a public outreach event organised by the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (Hafrannsóknastofnun – Hafró), with the support of LifeWatch ERIC for Marine SABRES activities.

The annual celebration, deeply rooted in Iceland’s maritime culture, brought together a broad audience and offered a valuable opportunity to engage the public with marine science. In this context, Marine SABRES and the ICEWATER projects set up an interactive space dedicated to marine ecosystems, fisheries, and the relationship between people and the ocean.

Marine SABRES focused on topics such as food webs, ecosystem connectivity, fisheries, marine research, and the human dimension of marine systems, while ICEWATER highlighted coastal ecosystems and marine biodiversity. Visitors were invited to explore these themes through a combination of visual materials, informal discussions, and hands-on activities.

Throughout the day, visitors were introduced to the Marine SABRES project through presentations, visual displays, and interactive activities, including the serious game developed by LifeWatch ERIC. Participants could build marine food webs, explore fish otoliths (ear bones) used by scientists to estimate fish age, learn about cod anatomy, discover how researchers study the ocean using research vessels and scientific equipment, observe live phytoplankton through a microscope connected to a display screen, and take part in a range of hands-on activities and puzzles.

The programme also extended outdoors, where visitors could explore a fish exhibition featuring a variety of species, including crabs, cephalopods, and deep-sea organisms. Many also had the opportunity to visit Hafró’s newest research vessel, Þórunn Þórðardóttir, and learn more about marine research at sea.

The event welcomed a steady flow of visitors throughout the day, including families, students, tourists, and local residents. It provided an excellent opportunity to showcase Marine SABRES research in an accessible and interactive way, demonstrating how science communication can strengthen ocean literacy and foster dialogue between researchers and society. The combination of hands-on activities, visual storytelling, real scientific material, immersive underwater footage, and direct interaction with researchers encouraged visitors not only to learn about marine ecosystems and fisheries, but also to discuss how people, science, and the ocean are connected.

Take a look at our photogallery and relive the highlights of the day, exploring fisheries, marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and ocean research.

We would like to thank all volunteers and collaborators from the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute for their contribution to the event, and especially Sandra Rybicki for the collaboration and for providing the summary text and photographs.

For more information about the project, visit Marine SABRES official website:
www.marinesabres.eu