Workshop: e-Tools & resources to address key questions on Non-indigenous & Invasive Species

Metz Workshop

Metz, France, 21 November 2022.

LifeWatch ERIC ICT staff, in collaboration with scientists already engaged in developing research activities on non-indigenous and invasive species using LifeWatch ERIC’s Virtual Research Environment facilities, is organising the 4-hour computer-based Workshop: “e-Tools and resources to address key ecological questions on Non-indigenous and Invasive Species” from 14:00-18:00 in Room 13.
Interested attendees will be trained to access and use the Virtual Research Environments from their personal computers. The hands-on session will be introduced by an interactive session to guide the attendees on their first approach to the VREs and related e-tools.

The workshop is organised in the framework of the SFE2-GfÖ-EEF joint meeting “Ecology & Evolution: New perspectives and societal challenges“, on 21-25 November 2022 in Metz. It is being organised by the LIEC (University of Lorraine, CNRS) and other labs in northeastern France working in the fields of ecology and evolution.

Click here for more information.

Workshop description
Non-indigenous and Invasive Species (NIS) are considered one of the major threats to the ecosystem functioning and one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. Despite the advances in the understanding of introduction pathways, mechanisms of bio-invasions, and impacts of invasive species, the effective management and control of NIS still lag behind their spread.
For such reason, LifeWatch ERIC has developed e-science tools to assist researchers, stakeholders, and citizens in deepening knowledge and obtaining rapid responses to mitigate the risks and impacts of NIS in the terrestrial and aquatic domains.
This joint effort has resulted in the development of a series of ICT facilities and workflows to support scientists in running five case studies (CS) on NIS, tackling different key aspects, including:

  1. the evaluation of their trophic habits (CS 1);
  2. the early-detection of NIS invasion and spread, through standard monitoring procedures and metabarcoding (CS 2 & 3);
  3. the development of keystone NIS species dispersion scenarios for terrestrial Mediterranean ecosystems (CS 4);
  4. the EUNIS habitat and ecosystem vulnerability (CS 5).

The five case studies and workflows are embedded into Virtual Research Environments (VREs) that provide a series of web-services made available through a user-friendly interface and the datasets and services produced through the case studies are accessible through the LifeWatch ERIC catalogue.
 
The workshop aims at presenting the LifeWatch ERIC VREs and e-resources developed for NIS research. During the workshop, the scientific case study leaders, together with the LifeWatch ERIC ICT team, will introduce the aims and analytical tools (e.g. models, computing facilities) included in each workflow. The presentation of the case studies and web-services realised will be followed by a hands-on session where the attendees can access the VREs.
 
AGENDA
14:00-14:05: General introduction (10 mins)
Chairs:
Christos Arvanitidis – Chief Executive Officer, LifeWatch ERIC
Juan Miguel González-Aranda – Chief Technology Officer/ICT-Core Director, LifeWatch ERIC
Alberto Basset – Service Centre Director, LifeWatch ERIC

14:05-14:25: General introduction to Tesseract (15 mins)
LifeWatch ERIC ICT team presentation: Antonio José Sáenz-Albanés – LifeWatch ERIC
 
14:25-15:00: Case Study 1: Evaluation of NIS trophic habits – Crustaceans (35 mins)
Scientific leader presentation: Raffaele De Giorgi – University of Salento, LifeWatch ERIC Service Center
Hands-on session
Questions and discussion
 
15:00-15:35: Case Study 2: Early-detection of NIS invasion and spread through standard monitoring procedures and metabarcoding – ARMS (35 mins)
Scientific leader presentation: Katrina Exter – Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
Hands-on session
Questions and discussion
 
15:35-16:10: Case Study 3: Development of keystone NIS species dispersion scenarios
for terrestrial Mediterranean ecosystems. – Ailanthus altissima (35 mins)
Scientific leader presentation: Carmela Marangi – Italian National Research Council (CNR), Institute for applied mathematics (IAC)
Hands-on session
Questions and discussion
 
16:10-16:30: Break (20 mins)
 
16:30-17:05: Case Study 4: The EUNIS habitat and ecosystem vulnerability. Biotope
(35 mins)
Scientific leader presentation: Julien Radoux (Catholic University of Louvain) and Heliana Teixeira (University of Aveiro)
Hands-on session
Questions and discussion
 
17:05-17: 40: LifeBlock (35 mins)
LifeWatch ERIC team presentation: Juan Miguel González-Aranda, Joaquín López-Lérida, and Ana Mellado-García (LifeWatch ERIC, ICT-Core)
Hands-on session
 
17:40-17:55: Essential Biodiversity Variables using Remote Sensing (15 mins)
Scientific leader presentation: Joris Timmermans – LifeWatch ERIC VLIC
Questions and discussion
 
17:55-18:00: Final Remarks and Conclusion (5 mins)

EU, Latin American, Caribbean & Ibero-American meeting on Sustainable Ecosystem Management

EU-CELAC Meeting

Seville, Spain, 14 – 17 November 2022.

This meeting for collaboration with key Latin American and Caribbean agents (including Ibero-America) in the integration and use of information on Biodiversity and Research, Innovation and Sustainable Management of Ecosystems is organised by LifeWatch ERIC within the framework of “Andalusia ERDF POPE Project 2014-2020 SUMHAL/LifeWatch ERIC*. It will be held in the Leonardo da Vinci Room of the Cartuja Science and Technology Park, home of the LifeWatch ERIC ICT-Core and is planned as a series of work sessions on specific topics to achieve the following results:

1) An exploration of common issues regarding the development and consolidation of (e-) Infrastructures and services that, from the perspective of e-Science, contribute to:

–the best sustainable management of the territory;

–the conservation of biodiversity and the natural environment;

–the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, in synergy with the EU Green Deal, EU Blue Growth, EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and EU Farm to Fork programmes, among others.

2) Exchange of experiences and capacities in handling issues and challenges common to national and international infrastructures, data, information and knowledge in (e-) Biodiversity. A consensus document of conclusions including an EU-LAC Roadmap to co-develop, build and deploy through the financial support of the relevant calls (CYTED, GBIF, Cooperation Agencies, Horizon Europe, Neighborhood Development International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), etc.

3) The development of the above-mentioned points, based on the paradigm of biogeographical regions in the CELAC area, through national cross-border collaboration between the states involved, in collaboration with the European Union and the United Nations (for example, through IKRI: the Indigenous Knowledge Research Initiative), based on the aforementioned financial instruments.

*The SUMHAL project is co-financed by the ERDF for actions in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.

Remote operations of RI services and Data and access security

eRImote

Online, 24–25 October 2022.

In this second workshop of the eRImote project, we will focus on Remote Operations of RI services (including quality management) and questions of Data and Access Security. The workshop will be taking place virtually on 24th October 1-5pm CEST and 25th October 2022 from 10am – 2pm CEST. We will explore the topics from the perspectives of different scientific domains and types of RI services. The workshop is open to everyone and we strongly encourage anyone interested in these topics, particularly RI and core facility staff, to join us for active discussion and sharing of experience.

The workshop will consist of short presentations from experts from different scientific domains and RIs, breakout rooms for joint discussion of solutions and challenges in the topic areas, as well as a panel discussion. This event will also be a great opportunity to learn more about the eRImote project as a whole and get connected with the community.

LifeWatch ERIC CTO, Juan Miguel-González-Aranda, will take part in the panel at 16:00 on 24 October. Agenda here.

Please register here.

ALL-Ready Regional Workshop

ALL-Ready

Seville, Spain, 2 November 2022.

The ALL-Ready project is organising an interactive regional workshop on “Accelerating Agroecology Transition: Your potential role and benefits of contributing to a European network of Living Labs and Research Infrastructures”

Time: 2 November 2022, from 13.30 pm to 18 pm CET (including small lunch)
Organisers: José Manuel Ávila (LifeWatch ERIC) and Bastian Goldel (INRAE)
Venue: : LifeWatch ERIC ICT-Core Office, Cartuja Science and Technology Park, Seville, Spain

Description of the All-Ready Regional Workshop:

The European Partnership under Horizon Europe for Accelerating Farming Systems Transition by Agroecology Living Labs and Research Infrastructures is currently being prepared by the SCAR Agroecology Strategic Working Group. The two European projects ALL-Ready and AE4EU support the European Commission in preparing this partnership and work closely together with the SCAR Strategic Working group.

The partnership aims to support a European network of living labs and research infrastructures that will accelerate the transition towards agroecology throughout Europe. It will provide spaces for long-term, site-specific, multi-stakeholder and real-life experimentation, and direction for research activities on agroecology at the European and national levels.

One of our main goals is to map the work of agroecology initiatives (including living labs and research infrastructures) that support the transition towards agroecology across Europe. In our workshop it is foreseen to:

  1. explain to the participants the aims and outcomes of the ALL-Ready project including the pilot network, as well as the future network and partnership in which LLs and RIs are planned to play a central role. This helps to make people aware or even get on board of what is happening in the upcoming years, but also to illustrate how ALL-Ready is involved in accelerating the transition.
  2. we will test our developed questionnaire with the participants and initiatives to reflect on the extent to which their organisations are involved in the agroecology transition (maturity), and discuss possible activities that could be accelerated in a network of living labs and research infrastructures.

This will give us interesting insights on common understandings, focuses, problems and difficulties that initiatives are facing in the transition process. Hence, we want to debate possible solutions to overcome these obstacles, and also how a future European network could contribute to that.

The session is addressed to:

  • Researchers & academics
  • Living Lab representatives and practitioners
  • Innovators
  • Others, namely: Every participant of an initiative related to the agroecology transition

Participants of the workhop include: Consolación Vera Sánchez, Secretary General of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of the Junta de Andalucía; José Carlos Álvarez Martín, Managing Director of the Agricultural and Fisheries Management Agency of Andalusia (AGAPA); Juan Miguel González Aranda, Technological Director of LifeWatch ERIC and of the Spanish Technical Headquarters; Heather McKhann, Coordinator of ALL-Ready from the National Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), a French institution with headquarters in Paris; Muriel Mambrini-Doudet, INRAE ​​researcher, and José Manuel Ávila, Coordinator of the Agroecology Area at LifeWatch ERIC.

PTE Disruptive B2B Meeting

Online, 19 October 2022.

On 19 October at 9:30 CEST, the PTE Disruptive Online B2B Meeting will take place, featuring LifeWatch ERIC CTO Juan Miguel González Aranda. The meeting will focus on the application of disruptive technologies in the biotech sector and biodiversity.

The agenda can be found here and sign-up form can be found here (in Spanish).

Speakers include:

Maria Ángeles Ferre – AIE
Gabriel Anzaldi Varas – Eurecat – Technology Centre of Catalonia
Raquel Álvarez Fernández – Spanish Association of Biocompanies
Juan Miguel González-Aranda – LifeWatch ERIC

Use cases of Exheus, Zymvol Biomodeling SL and Honey.AI will also be discussed

PTE Disruptive is the Spanish Technological Platform for Disruptive Technologies, Association of Science and Technology Parks of Spain (APTE), with funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain through the AIE.

Ibergrid 2022

Ibergrid 2022

Faro, 10 – 13 October 2022.

The 11th Iberian Grid Conference will take place in Faro, Portgual. LifeWatch ERIC will hold two workshops called “IBERLifeWatch: a scientific, technology and innovation communities of good practices approach“, on the Tuesday and the Thursday.

The conference will be hosted by the University of Algarve (UALG) at Campus da Penha.

IBERGRID 2022 will focus in topics related with  the development, integration quality and adoption of services, applications and digital twins to support cutting-edge research.

The call for papers is built around the following topics:

  • Cooperation between Iberian Research Communities
  • Research Applications in advanced Digital Infrastructures
  • Development of Innovative Software Services
  • R&D for computing services, networking, and data-driven science
  • Quality of software, services and data
  • Design of Digital twins
  • Enabling and fostering Open Science adoption in EOSC

Detailed Information is available at the IBERGRID 2022  Indico site.

Mareamico’s 31st Conference of the Sea

Mareamico 2022

Gallipoli, Italy, 6–9 October 2022.

Following last year, Mareamico is bringing back the Conference of the Sea in 2022, reaching its 31st edition, held in Gallipoli at the Galleria dei due mari from 6–9 October 2022. The theme this year will be SAFEGUARDING BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES AND THE BLUE ECONOMY.

Among the issues that will be discussed at Mareamico 2022 are the management and recognition of the value of these resources, both by experts (including Professor Alberto Basset, director of the LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre), and local and national institutional and political representatives.

For more information and the programme, please visit the Mareamico website (in Italian).

EU-LAC ResInfra Conference at ICRI 2022

Hybrid, 18 October 2022.

The event will take place on Thursday, 18 October 2022 from 14:00-18:00 in a hybrid format, with in-person attendance capacity and online participation spots.

The EU-LAC RESINFRA event will be the Final Conference of the project, aiming to present a summary of the most relevant conclusions and outcomes of the EU-LAC RESINFRA project as well as provide an open debate for the future EU-LAC cooperation on RI.

A proposal for a 5-year EU-LAC RIs cooperation Sustainability Plan will be presented. The plan will include recommended specific actions and instruments for co-funding RIs of common interest in order to maximise the impact of the RI collaboration in the construction of the EU-CELAC Common Research Area.

The results of this open discussion will be considered as relevant inputs for the final version of the Sustainability Plan.

Science Summit at UNGA77

SSUNGA77

Hybrid, New York/Online, 13–30 September 2022.

ISC is organising the 8th edition of the UNGA77 Science Summit around the 77th United Nations General Assembly (SSUNGA77) in September 2022. This is a hybrid event with some sessions being held in New York and others online.

LifeWatch ERIC will be convening a Biodiversity Plenary with GBIF on Friday 16 September from 15:00–23:30 CEST; see our news item for more details.

The role and contribution of science to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be the central theme of this conference. The objective is to develop and launch science collaboration to demonstrate global science mechanisms and activities to support the attainment of the UN SDGs, Agenda 2030 and Local203o.

A central theme of the UNGA77 Science Summit will be inclusiveness: a range of discussions will explore how scientific excellence can be pursued based on inclusiveness at the global level. Another theme will be exploring at the science system works: policies, regulation and funding for science stem from deep in the last century. The pandemic provides a chance to rethink and co-design a new system for science for a new set of urgent challenges. A redesign of the global science system is urgent.

A call for session proposals has been published here.

Science infrastructures and digital research capacity building are crucial to enable scientists to collaborate at an international level to create opportunities for wide-ranging initiatives that can produce innovations to respond to challenges in health, climate, environment, energy, agriculture and food, amongst other things.

LifeWatch Belgium Biodiversity Day

LW BE Biodiversity Day

Brussels, Belgium, 26 January 2022.

Join LifeWatch Belgium on 26 January 2022 (09:30 – 17:00 CET) for their annual event on biodiversity, where science meets citizens, policy and industry.

The second LifeWatch Belgium Biodiversity Day (postponed from the original date in October due to strikes) will focus on biotope and habitat mapping in biodiversity and ecosystem research – this technique provides the essential data for biodiversity research and conservation. Prepare for an overview of open remote sensing data and various practical applications in the field. Ready to discover, learn, connect and be inspired?

The event takes place at the KVAB (Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts), Palace of the Academies, Rue Ducale 1, 1000 Brussels.

More information about the programme and how to register (free; before 19 January) at www.lifewatch.be.