LifeWatch Flanders advisory board & open session on Corporate Biodiversity Reporting

corporate biodiversity reporting

As part of the LifeWatch Flanders advisory board, LifeWatch Belgium organises a session around Corporate Biodiversity Reporting.

The event explores private companies’ relationship with biodiversity data, tackling some of the difficulties these realities face, such as understanding what data is available, what requirements research infrastructures should take into account for this stakeholder, and possible bottlenecks in the use of such data.

The session aims at bridging these gaps and offers an overview of potential tools and services that biodiversity infrastructures, governmental institutes and NGOs can provide.

More information available on the LifeWatch Belgium website: https://www.lifewatch.be/event/lifewatch-flanders-advisory-board-open-session-corporate-biodiversity-reporting

ANERIS Second Annual Meeting

ANERIS Second Annual Meeting

Seville, Spain

In occasion of the ANERIS Second Annual Meeting, the project consortium is meeting in Seville, Spain, hosted at LifeWatch ERIC’s premises in Plaza de España to evaluate the project progress, discuss the next steps and align on the ongoing activities.

ANERIS (https://www.lifewatch.eu/ANERIS) stands for “operAtional seNsing lifE technologies for maRIne ecosystemS”, and proposes a co-design framework to develop the next generation of scientific instrumentation tools and methods for sensing marine-life (with the approach of Operational Marine Biology (OMB).

These results can benefit academia, industry, civil society and government; moreover, the consortium will develop a training program for the operation and use of these solutions, in particularly within the research infrastructures staff.

If you want to learn more about ANERIS developments, the project is also organising a workshop, split in two sessions, on “Underwater imaging, Bio-Optics, and Participatory technologies”, on 2nd and 4th December 2024.

This event is open to all researchers, technology developers, users, citizens and stakeholders from the broader scientific and technical community interested in advancing the field of marine science.

You can find more information here: https://www.lifewatch.eu/events/aneris-workshop-on-bioimaging or on the ANERIS website: https://aneris.eu

European Mission Soil Week 2024

european mission soil week

Brussels, Belgium

LifeWatch ERIC is proud to announce its participation in the European Mission Soil Week 2024, taking place from 12 to 13 November 2024, in Brussels.

This annual event aims at promoting the Horizon Europe Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe‘ (Mission Soil) raising awareness about the crucial importance of a healthy soil for our entire future, and driving action to protect and restore our soils.

Last year, the event took place in Madrid, Spain, with over 900 participants including researchers, policymakers, land managers, and the general public.

This second edition of the Mission Soil Week will provide a platform for research and innovation on soil health, to present and discuss efforts that contribute to the Mission Soil’s objectives:

  • Generating new knowledge
  • Harmonising soil monitoring
  • Co-designing innovations and test solutions on the ground
  • Increasing societal awareness and engagement
  • Supporting the green transition in more general terms

This year, LifeWatch ERIC members will attend representing our Agroecology team, and the Horizon Europe projects SUS-SOIL and AGROECOLOGY Partnership. Xavier Rottllan-Puig (Data Management Specialist) and José Manuel Ávila (Agroecology Coordinator) will bring expertise in soil research and agroecology sustainability to this key event.

A specific side-event for Mission Soil-funded projects will include cluster meetings focused on data and knowledge management, soil indicators and monitoring, as well as communication and stakeholder engagement.

Further details about the European Mission Soil Week 2024 can be found here: https://www.europeanmissionsoilweek2024.eu/en

EOSC Winter School 2025

EOSC Winter School 2025

Sevilla, Spain

EOSC Focus supports the co-programmed EOSC Partnership in delivering its mission of establishing Open Science across the European Union.

As part of its mandate, in response to collaboration needs among Horizon Europe EOSC-related projects, EOSC Focus organises the EOSC Winter School since last year. The second edition will take place in the week of 20 January 2025, in Seville, Spain.

This event was conceptualised following a suggestion at the European Commission’s June 2023 coordination meeting, which identified a significant collaboration gap in the Horizon Europe EOSC-related projects.

Stay tuned for updates on the EOSC Association website: https://eosc.eu/events/eosc-winter-school-2025/

CLIM-A: International Congress on Climate change

clim-a congress

 Cádiz, Spain

LifeWatch ERIC will attend the CLIM-A International Congress on Climate Change in Andalusia, on 23 and 24 October 2024, represented by José Manuel Ávila-Castuera, Agroecology Coordinator from our ICT-Core offices in Sevilla (Spain).

Mr. Ávila-Castuera will attend the Round Table 5, in the afternoon of 24 October, dedicated to Climate Services Research and Innovation and moderated by Ms. María López Sanchís, General Secretary of Sustainability and Environment at the Regional Government of Andalusia.

The CLIM-A congress brings together prominent leaders, experts, and environment professionals from all over the world, to discuss challenges and opportunities related to climate change, especially in Europe and in the Andalusian region.

The full agenda is available here: https://www.climacongress.org/#agenda

Energytran: Virtual Thematic Event on the Social Impact of the Energy Transition in Ibero-America

social impact of energy transition. energytran virtual event

Online

CSIC, project partner of the EULAC Energytran project (https://energytran.oei.int/), is organising the second Energytran Virtual Thematic Event on October 17th and 18th. The event addresses the social pillars of energy transformation in Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Six panels, featuring experts from both regions will be held, covering various social themes.

The event starts at 4 p.m. CEST on the 17th of October, with a dense agenda until 20 p.m., tackling the social dimension of energy transition and the relation between energy transition and territorial justice in Latin America, including gender equality. With the same timeline, the following day is dedicated to industrial policy and energy transition in the Ibero-American Space, public policies and open science.

Registrations for the virtual event are available at this link: https://oei.int/oficinas/secretaria-general/eventos/impacto-social-de-la-transicion-energetica-en-iberoamerica  

Biodiversity Monitoring in Luxembourg

Biodiversity monitoring Luxembourg LIST

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Structured data is essential in order to study the conservation status of certain species, update red lists at the national level, and produce new distribution atlases.

Moreover, it opens new opportunities for novel approaches to the analysis and processing of such data, generating indicators that can help understand the current situation of nature in Luxembourg.

The objective of the one-day event is to take stock of progress made in recent years, and discuss future opportunities and challenges for biodiversity monitoring.

For more info about the event and to submit your poster, visit: https://www.lifewatch.be/event/biodiversity-monitoring-luxembourg

7th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity

world conference marine biodiversity event banner

Bruges, Belgium

The 7th edition of the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Event, will take place from November 17-20th 2026 (WCMB 2026) in Bruges, Belgium, at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ).

Taking part in the conference is a major opportunity to share research outcomes, management and policy topics, and offers a platform to discuss current and emerging biodiversity issues.

This year, the main theme will be “The marine biodiversity insights we need, for the ocean we want“.

The WCMB 2026 Scientific Committee identified several sub-themes which will guide the overall organisation:

  • Challenges to achieve the UN Ocean Decade goals
  • Marine biodiversity: it’s all about the base(line)s and trends
  • Building e-oceans to help us fill our knowledge gaps
  • Marine biodiversity enthusiasts and stewards for the future: who are they, where do they come from, what are their needs and what drives them?
  • Challenges, changes and opportunities in marine taxonomic research: from specimens to genes
  • Science that makes a difference: supporting knowledge-based policies
  • Taking the pulse of the ocean: measuring our current marine biodiversity knowledge through monitoring networks and programs
  • Other

Moreover, the event committee organised a call for session proposals, linked to one of the above conference sub-themes. A session may be constructed around a network, project, initiative or a specific, clearly defined scientific topic or question of broad interest within the field of marine biodiversity and in connection with the chosen sub-theme. Sessions can be constructed as presentations only, or a combination of presentations and discussions.

Important deadlines:

  • 17 March 2026 – Deadline call for abstracts (No extensions!)
  • 5 November 2026 – Deadline late registration
  • 20 May 2026 – Abstract confirmation
  • 18 June 2026 – Deadline early bird registration
  • 18 October 2026 – Deadline normal registration

Information on the event and registration are available on the official page: https://www.wcmb2026.org/about

Science Summit 2024

Science Summit workshop

New York City, USA

LifeWatch ERIC and other European partners organise a workshop called Transforming Knowledge into Practice: Science, Technology and Innovation in Support of the UN SDGs.

The event will take place on Thursday, September 26, 2024, from 9:00am to 4:00pm EDT (3:00pm to 10:00pm CEST).

Online joiners can register for free and have the possibility to follow the livestream of the event, which will take place on the Rooftop of the Science Summit venue.

Click here for more information on the event agenda and registration: https://sciencesummit2024.sched.com/event/1jzig

EGI Conference 2024

Lecce, Italy

The annual EGI conference brings together international scientific communities, computing and service providers, European projects, security experts, community managers and policymakers to advance research and innovation in data-intensive processing and analytics. The event provides an open environment for in-depth discussions, new insights and networking opportunities. EGI is organising this event with the Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change (CMCC). CMCC is an Italian research centre focusing on climate and climate-related research, including climate variability, its causes and consequences. This research uses numerical models ranging from the global Earth system to regional models in the Euro-Mediterranean area.

A detailed agenda will be published soon on the EGI’s website: https://www.egi.eu/event/egi2024/