European Researchers’ Night 2026: taking science across Europe

European Researchers' Night 2026

On 25 September 2026, LifeWatch ERIC and its Distributed Centres participated in several initiatives of the European Researchers’ Night (#ERN), bringing biodiversity science, research and innovation closer to citizens across Europe.

  • Understanding the importance of marine ecosystems

In Lecce, Italy, the former Olivetani Monastery hosted a series of informative events, such as project booths, documentary projections, and small-scale reconstructions of extremely fascinating scientific experiments. The Marine SABRES project was present with a “Marine SABRES in Fairs” booth.

Visitors could test the Marine SABRES Serious Game, developed by LifeWatch ERIC as an interactive experience designed to explore the complex relationships between human activities, marine ecosystems, and human well-being, while reflecting on the choices and trade-offs involved in achieving a more sustainable future.

The event also featured the screening of “Tides of Balance”, the Marine SABRES documentary directed by Fabrizio Lecce, offering perspectives on the challenges and opportunities surrounding the sustainable use and management of marine ecosystems.

  • Exploring solutions for mine-impacted waters

The ERN in Huelva, Spain, included a series of activities, interactive labs, and dialogues promoted by the University of Huelva with the objective to bring science closer to the public. The RECUP-DAS project was there, and presented a workshop on “Ecological treatment of acid mine drainage”, through the Environmental Mineralogy and Geochemistry Group of the University of Huelva (one of the project partners).

The workshop introduced the technology at the core of RECUP-DAS: Dispersed Alkaline Substrate (DAS), a passive treatment system that can neutralise the acidity of water from mining-impacted sites while efficiently retaining metals.

The technology was developed by researchers of the Tharsis research group at the University of Huelva, and will be applied as part of RECUP-DAS in the surroundings of Mina La Poderosa, by building a new DAS treatment plant within the Tinto and Odiel river basins, historically affected by the presence of metals. A real-time monitoring system developed by LifeWatch ERIC will also support the creation of a digital twin of the treatment plant, demonstrating how digital technologies can contribute to environmental monitoring and research.

  • Learning about the herborisation of algae specimens

In Porto, Portugal, the ERN rolled out with interactive experiences, demonstrations with scientists, games, workshops, and much more. The Portuguese National Distributed Centre of LifeWatch ERIC is managed by PORBIOTA. In Porto, Portugal, PORBIOTA was represented by the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto at the European Researchers’ Night held at the i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health.

As part of the “Bridges for Science” project, the team organised a workshop on the herborisation of algae specimens, offering participants a hands-on opportunity to explore biodiversity research and scientific collections.

Overall, participating in these initiatives across Europe has been a great chance to bring scientific work beyond the research community, where it can open a dialogue with citizens and show the value of biodiversity and ecosystem research to address environmental challenges.

LifeWatch ERIC joins ECSA 61: the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association Conference 2026

ECSA 61 (2)

From 24 to 27 August 2026, a global, multidisciplinary community of researchers and professionals is gathering in Belgium to discuss the urgent challenges posed by the triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – with threats to biodiversity representing a particularly major concern for both the planet health and human societies.

This is, in fact, the focus of “ECSA 61: Bridging the gap between science and policy in estuarine and coastal marine biodiversity: the way forward“.

Organised by Elsevier and the ECSA Association, the conference features sessions and workshops across four main topics: Physics, Ecology, Biogeochemistry, and the Human Dimension. The focus is on international collaborative actions, in particular across maritime areas, where there is urgent need to assess and manage threats, and to plan future initiatives that ensure a sustainable use of estuaries, coasts, and seas.

Building on the results of several Horizon Europe projects, this is also an opportunity to showcase the most recent advances in coastal marine research, and their application for European and international policies. For the first time, ECSA 61 also includes a “Science-meets-Policy” day on 27 August, providing an opportunity to discuss research findings with managers and decision-makers.

LifeWatch ERIC members Joaquin Lopez-Lerida, Cristina Huertas-Olivares, Julio Paneque, and CEO Christos Arvanitidis are attending the conference, contributing to two Special Sessions and presenting two posters:

In the Special Session “Toolboxes and Decision Support Systems for marine and estuarine management needs, uses and misuses”, chaired by Anita Franco (International Estuarine and Coastal Specialist Ltd, UK), they present the MARBEFES project toolbox, which integrates ecological, economic, and social analyses of marine biodiversity, together with the project partners.

In the Special Session “Environmental DNA for coastal and estuarine biodiversity monitoring and assessment: connecting scientific innovation with policy needs”, chaired by Jan Pawlowski (Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland), and Raffaele Siano (Ifremer DYNECO, France) they present tools for integrating citizen scientists into genomic observatories, to enhance coastal marine biomonitoring and ecological assessment, as well as operational eDNA workflows for biodiversity monitoring in coastal ecosystems within LifeWatch ERIC.

They also present the following posters: “Integrating decision support systems and toolboxes through the European Research Infrastructure Consortium LifeWatch”, and “From eDNA metabarcoding to operational marine biodiversity products: workflows within LifeWatch ERIC”.

Finally, they will also take part in the General Session on “Coastal and estuarine biodiversity and ecosystems”, on 26 August, where they will propose a holistic understanding of European marine biodiversity and the human communities that live within it.

For more information on this event and the full programme, visit: https://www.estuarinecoastalconference.com

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

Tracking sharks in the North Sea

Tracking sharks

Researchers from the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) are tagging sharks in the Belgian part of the North Sea to gain insights on their habits. With the support of LifeWatch Belgium and the European Tracking Network (ETN), data gathered through this work might help guide targeted protection and management actions.

By implanting small acoustic transmitters into sharks, researchers are in fact able to track their movements across borders (read this article to see how ETN makes cross-borders science possible). Moreover, they use other techniques such as ultrasound, underwater video systems, and genetics to gain other insights on reproduction, diet, species distribution and more.

So far, they have tagged over 140 typical shark species of the North Sea, like the small-spotted catshark, the starry smooth-hound, and the majestic basking shark.

Despite being top predators, and despite their crucial role in keeping the ecosystem healthy, these species are highly vulnerable due to their slow growth and low reproductive rate. Monitoring them doesn’t only provide information about their health and habits: their presence is also an important indicator of good marine biodiversity in the area.

Read the full article on LifeWatch Belgium and find out the recents results of these studies: https://www.lifewatch.be/news/tracking-sharks-north-sea-better-protection-and-management

Agroecology Partnership Meeting in Plasencia

Plasencia

On 11 November 2025, LifeWatch ERIC took part in the Meeting of Living Labs and Research Infrastructures in Agroecology, at the Centro de Agricultura Ecológica y de Montaña (CAEM–CICYTEX) in Plasencia (Spain), within the framework of the European Partnership for Agroecology (https://www.lifewatch.eu/agroecology-partnership).

The meeting gathered Spanish members of the Partnership to share the progress of ongoing activities, present new joiners and introducing work packages starting in the second phase.

It was also a chance to explore the ground for potential synergies and future collaboration opportunities. During the event, Iria Soto, Senior Scientific Manager at LifeWatch ERIC, facilitated the Working Table on Research Infrastructures and Links with Living Labs, together with José Manuel Ávila, Senior Scientific Manager at LifeWatch ERIC.

This session aimed to identify challenges, barriers, and opportunities in the interaction between Research Infrastructures and Living Labs, as well as to discuss tools and models for stronger, long-term connections beyond project-based collaborations.

The activity is part of a broader task, in which LifeWatch ERIC contributes to strengthening collaboration between scientific infrastructures and agroecological territories, leveraging its expertise in e-Science, FAIR data, and virtual research environments to support the transition toward more sustainable food systems.

The meeting also featured representatives from several institutions, including CSIC, AEI, CDTI, Junta de Extremadura, FUNDECYT-PCTEX, AGAPA, and the University of Córdoba, among other Spanish partners of the Partnership.

LifeWatch ERIC at TICAL 2025: Sustainable Science and Strategic Alliances

TICAL 2025

LifeWatch ERIC took part in TICAL 2025, the annual conference of the RedCLARA organisation in San José, Costa Rica (November 11–13, 2025), where leaders from digital research infrastructures, academia, and innovation networks from across Latin America and Europe exchange experiences of sustainable collaboration.

Maite Irazábal, Scientific Coordination Support, and Christos Arvanitidis, CEO, contributed with talks and panel discussions to this year’s conference theme “Innovation that Transforms”.

Maite Irazábal presented “FAIR Tools for Assessing the Environmental Impact of Energy Transition Policies”, in the framework of the EU–LAC EnergyTran project. These prototype tools support evidence-based policymaking in the context of the energy transition, by integrating FAIR data and workflow-based analytics from European and Latin American Research Infrastructures (RIs).

The presentation highlighted the importance of data interoperability and open collaboration in addressing sustainability challenges, and the role of infrastructures like LifeWatch ERIC in connecting science with policy.

Christos Arvanitidis offered a broader perspective on the role of RIs in tackling planetary challenges. He highlighted their potential to break barriers and promote innovation and sustainable science. In LifeWatch ERIC, this is made possible thanks to the RI’s multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach, which federates FAIR data, reproducible analytics, and mobilised research communities to accelerate scientific progress and produce synthetic knowledge.

He also presented LifeWatch ERIC’s technological developments such as its Virtual Research Environments (VREs) and Science Knowledge Graphs (SKG), digital ecosystems where researchers can co-develop workflows, access high-performance computing resources, and transform data into actionable insights.

One of the highlights of the conference was the panel on “Research Infrastructures that Transform: Connecting Knowledge and Collaboration between Latin America and Europe,” moderated by Paola Arellano (REUNA Chile). The discussions reiterated the importance of interoperability among research infrastructures and the need for joint work between Latin American and European scientific communities.

Key reflections that emerged from this discussion are that European RIs should open their resources and developments to Latin America to enable collaborative science, and that strengthened EU–LAC international cooperation, political dialogue, mutual understanding, and equitable access to research, could bring better results in science, technology, and innovation.

These interventions reinforced the importance of strategic and sustainable alliances between Europe and Latin America. LifeWatch ERIC and RedCLARA, bound by a Memorandum of Understanding, continue to strengthen cooperation in open science, FAIR data management, and the creation of shared digital tools.

For more information about TICAL, visit https://tical2025.redclara.net/en/programa.

The cave-dwelling olm: a sentinel for environmental change – LifeWatch Slovenia on Nautilus Magazine

ProteusWatch_Gregor_Aljancic

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, the team has  revealed the behaviour and ecology of olm, from its unique cave-related sensoric capabilities to reproduction. Yet caves are dangerous and difficult to access, and lab studies can only go so far.

To bridge this gap, the research team from the Tular Cave Laboratory together with their colleagues from Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU (both partners in LifeWatch Slovenia Consortium), and in partnership with LifeWatch ERIC Virtual Lab Innovation Center (the Netherlands), have mapped out plans for the ProteusWatch Virtual Lab: a virtual cave laboratory that brings long-term, in-situ monitoring to the karst underworld. Combining low-impact video analysis, machine learning, advanced sensors, imaging sonar and underwater drones, ProteusWatch aims to observe the olm’s behaviour – movement, foraging, interactions and breeding – in real time, without disturbing its fragile habitat. A second virtual lab, the Karst Groundwater Virtual Lab, will track groundwater dynamics to assess ecosystem stability and pressures of pollution.

“The main reason for building the cave laboratory 65 years ago was to circumvent the inaccessibility of Proteus’ natural habitat and allow long-term observations under more controlled conditions,” said Gregor and Magdalena Aljančič. “With advanced technologies, the idea of studying olms in the wild is becoming more and more realistic. The new approach would not only be more efficient but could also save lives.”

Christos Arvanitidis, CEO of LifeWatch ERIC, is backing the team’s efforts as a new leading example of accessible, multidisciplinary science. “You can show your data to other communities in [a] way they can take advantage of, prove to them that this type of research can be done, and they can perhaps use their own data, for the same kind of analysis,” he says. “That’s amazing, because it leads progressively to a kind of knowledge which is produced by as many data, from as many domains, as possible.”

Read the full article on Nautilus Magazine.

Photo credit: Gregor Aljančič.

ENVRI-Hub launches User Group

ENVRI-Hub User Group

The ENVRI-Hub User Group is a collaborative space where researchers, data scientists, and environmental professionals can contribute to shaping the development of the ENVRI-Hub, a platform that provides access to environmental research infrastructures, data and digital tools across disciplines.

The ENVRI-Hub helps researchers access what they need to tackle challenges in climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem services and other environmental fields, through its catalogue of FAIR resources. Members of the ENVRI-Hub User Group (launched in February 2025) will have the opportunity to test new tools, provide direct feedback and define training needs, so that the platform can authentically provide a service tailored to the end-user needs.

Additionally, members of the User Group will get access to a network of like-minded individuals and gain practical experience in consulting, testing and platform validation. They will be able to interact directly with the technical development team and be the first to see and test each new release of the ENVRI-Hub services.

For more information on the advantages of the User Group and on how to join, visit: https://envri.eu/envri-hub-user-group/.

Sandy Beaches Symposium: the world’s leading experts gather in Lecce

The IX International Sandy Beaches Symposium was held in Lecce, Italy, on June 24-27 2024. The event was an opportunity to bring the world’s leading experts on sandy coastal ecosystems together in the city.
Past, present, and future of sandy beaches were at the center of the symposium: biodiversity loss, abundance, distribution and dynamics of species of sandy beach ecosystems, climate change impacts, anthropogenic pressures (fisheries, tourism, etc), urbanization, the key role of marine protected areas, and the challenges of creating a network between them, coastal erosion and mitigation strategies, insights from environmental DNA metabarcoding and advanced statistical models, are some of the many topics brought up for discussion by experts from all over the globe.

From Orkney sandy beaches, in Scotland, to the coastal ecosystems of Namibia and Costa Rica, to the sandy beaches of California and Apulia region: the event gathered some of the most renowned experts in the field, offering a unique opportunity to explore the latest research and developments in this disciplinary area, while illustrating to the public the importance of sandy beaches and the challenges we are facing in safeguarding these fragile and threatened ecosystems.

The symposium was an opportunity to present and discuss the state of the art in the field of sandy beach research, from a national, regional and global perspective. The event was organized by the University of Salento, with the support of LifeWatch ERIC.

Among the scientists invited as high-level keynote speakers were: Prof. John M Baxter, University of St Andrews and Heriot-Watt University; Prof. Omar Defeo, Unidad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay; Prof. Mike Elliott, Professor of Estuarine and Coastal Sciences at the University of Hull, UK; Dr. Shinji Sassa, Chair of the International Technical Committee on Scour and Erosion National Institute of Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology, Japan; Prof. Alberto Basset, Full Professor of Ecology at the University of Salento and LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre Director; Dr. Lucia Fanini, researcher at the University of Salento, etc.

To learn more about the International Sandy Beaches Symposium, please visit the dedicated website: https://isbsymposium.org/

LifeWatch ERIC at the kick-off meeting of the European Partnership on Agroecology

On February 28, the European Commission launched the European Partnership on Agroecology and the European Partnership on Animal Health and Welfare. LifeWatch ERIC, represented by Iria Soto and José Manuel Ávila, participated in the first, which introduced the “European Partnership on Accelerating Farming Systems Transition: Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures.” The two events represent a significant milestone in advancing European resilient agri-food systems.

The partnership is a large-scale European research and innovation initiative that involves the European Commission, 26 Member States, associated countries, and third countries.

The European Partnership on Agroecology aims to support agriculture that meets the challenges of climate change, food security, biodiversity loss, and environmental sustainability. It strives to make farming profitable and attractive for farmers by pooling resources of the European Commission. Also, it involved states to fund high-level research aligned with the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda.

LifeWatch ERIC leads Working Package n°5 on Data and Monitoring for Agroecology Transition. The goal is to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework, methodologies, indicators, and an efficient data management strategy and tools to monitor and evaluate the transition. The process will be participative, including stakeholder and expert consultations.

A partnership has launched a co-funded call to accelerate the transition of farming systems. The pre-proposal deadline for submission is April 26, while the full proposal deadline is September 19. Eligible countries for the call are Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Switzerland, Lithuania, Estonia, Cyprus, and Turkey. For more information, please visit the following website: https://agroecology.ptj.de/