EGU General Assembly 2025

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27/04/2025

02/05/2025

Vienna, Austria

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is the leading organisation for Earth, planetary and space science research in Europe, fostering geoscience research, alongside applied research that addresses key societal and environmental challenges. The EGU’s vision is to realise a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet.

Every year, the EGU organises its General Assembly: a large event, attracting geoscientists from all over the world (in 2004, over 21,000 attended the meeting). The sessions cover a wide range of topics, including volcanology, planetary exploration, the Earth’s internal structure and atmosphere, climate, as well as energy and resources.

The EGU General Assembly aims to provide a forum for scientists and early career researchers to present their work and discuss their idea with experts.

In 2025, the GA will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 27 April to 2 May 2025, and LifeWatch ERIC is proud to attend, joining the ENVRI-Hub NEXT team in the ENVRI Community Booth.

Here’s an overview of the sessions where members of the vLab & Innovations Centre Jacco Konijn and Gabriel Pelouze will be present:

SESSION: Advancing Environmental Science through Integrated Research Infrastructures (EGU25-2813 | Orals | ITS3.11/ERE6.3). Mon, 28 Apr, 08:30-12:30 (CEST): “ENVRI-Hub Advancing Integrated Environmental Research and Policy“. (Authors: Anca Hienola, Ulrich Bundke, Alex Vermeulen, Angeliki Adamaki, Marta Gutierez, Federico Drago, Magdalena Brus, Daniele Bailo, Claudio Dema, and Zhiming Zhao) – Room 2.24
- Mon, 28 Apr, 16:15-18:00 (CEST): “The role and challenges of LifeWatch ERIC in the European Environmental Research Infrastructure landscape“. (Authors: Jacco Konijn, Christos Arvanitidis, and Zhiming Zhao) – Hall X4 | X4.99
SESSION: Science, No Fiction: Touchdown. The Environmental Open Science Starship Returns to Earth – The Next Generation of Open Scientists! Town hall Meeting (TM11). Wed, 30 Apr, 19:00-20:00 (CEST). Convener: Jacco Konijn (LifeWatch ERIC, University of Amsterdam)| Co-convener: Magdalena Brus (EGI) – Room N1
SESSION: Advancing Environmental and Earth Sciences with Research infrastructures and e-Infrastructures: Case Studies on Cross-Discipline Data Sharing and Virtual Research Environments. Convener: Eugenio Trumpy | Co-conveners: Massimiliano Assante, Angeliki Adamaki, Jacco Konijn, Magdalena Brus, Anca Hienola, Marta Gutierrez. – Hall X4 (EGU25-11500 | Posters on site | ESSI2.3).
- Thu, 1 May, 10:45-12:30: “Radar Agroecology in the cloud. A Virtual Lab for continental scale Agroecological analysis“. (Authors: Berend-Christiaan Wijers, Gabriel Pelouze, Spiros Koulouzis, Koen Greuell, and Zhiming Zhao). Hall X4 | X4.59
- Thu, 1 May, 14:15-14:25 (CEST): “Notebook-as-a-VRE (NaaVRE): collaborative virtual labs to build digital twins of ecosystems“. (Authors: Gabriel Pelouze, Spiros Koulouzis, Koen Greuell, Nafiseh Soveizi, and Zhiming Zhao). Room 2.92
- Thu, 1 May, 14:55-15:05 (CEST): “The ENVRI-Hub: Advancing Multidisciplinary Collaboration and FAIR Data Integration in Environmental Research“. (Authors: Ulrich Bundke, Angeliki Adamaki, Daniele Bailo, Magdalena Brus, Claudio Dema, Dario De Nart, Federico Drago, Marta Gutierrez David, Anca Hienola, Andreas Petzold, Alex Vermeulen, and Zhiming Zhao) – Room 2.92

Moreover, come join members of the ENVRI Community in the booths exhibition area: booths 64 and 65!

For more information on the conference, see: https://www.egu25.eu/

Policy Relevance and Uptake

End of May 2026 – Policy-brief to demonstrate the application of habitat-based mapping in supporting EU strategies (e.g., Biodiversity Strategy, Nature Restoration Law).

Mapping user requirements

End of January 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines addressing ecological responses to climate change;
February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders.

Greece

The Greek National Distributed Centre is funded by the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Technology and is coordinated by the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, in conjunction with 47 associated partner institutions.

To know more about how Greece contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Italy

The Italian National Distributed Centre is led and managed by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and is coordinated by a Joint Research Unit, currently comprising 35 members. Moreover, Italy hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Service Centre.

To know more about how Italy contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Netherlands

The Dutch National Distributed Centre is hosted by the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam. Moreover, The Netherlands hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Virtual Laboratory and Innovation Centre.

To know more about how The Netherlands contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Portugal

The Portuguese National Distributed Centre is managed by PORBIOTA, the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity. Led by BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO – Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, PORBIOTA connects the principal Portuguese research institutions working in biodiversity.

To know more about how Portugal contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Slovenia

The Slovenian National Distributed Centre is led by the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). It focuses on the development of technological solutions in the field of biodiversity and socio-ecosystem research.

To know more about how Slovenia contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Spain

The Spanish National Distributed Centre is supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Guadalquivir River Basin Authority (Ministry for Ecological Transition-MITECO). Moreover, Spain is the hosting Member State of LifeWatch ERIC, the location of its Statutory Seat & ICT e-Infrastructure Technical Office (LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities).

To know more about how Spain contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Bulgaria

The Bulgarian National Distributed Centre is represented by the Agricultural University-Plovdiv.

To know more about how Bulgaria contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Implementing services

End of January 2025 – Internal distribution of a questionnaire on the most used/relevant model resources in the WG member research activity;
February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders.

Knowledge Exchange and Capacity Building

End of December 2025 – Create a shared repository of guidance documents, tools, templates, and data resources accessible to WG members and broader communities.

Organising WG workshops and conferences

End of January 2025 – Setting priority research lines and contributions to the BEeS 2025 LifeWatch Conference for the session on the “Ecological responses to climate change”;
March/April 2025 (TBD) – Workshop ‘Ecological modelling and eco-informatics to address functional responses of biodiversity and ecosystems to climate change’ co-organised with the University of Salento;
30 June – 3 July 2025 – Participation to LifeWatch 2025 BEeS Conference on “Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis”.

Fund raising

End of January 2025 – Establishing a WG Committee on scouting project application opportunities and fundraising.

Meetings, Webinars, International Conferences & Networking (2025/2026)

Organising and participating at discussions on emerging technologies in biodiversity monitoring;
Organising webinars on machine learning, eDNA analysis, and automated data collection;
Fostering collaboration between researchers, technologists, and decision-makers.

Collaborative Research & Case Studies (2025/2026)

Conducting pilot projects to test new monitoring methods;
Publishing scientific and popular science papers and reports on advancements in biodiversity assessment.

Data Standardisation & FAIR Principles Implementation (2025/2026)

Developing best practices for data curation and sharing;
Ensuring that biodiversity data aligns with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) standards.

Development of VREs for Ecosystem Simulation (2026)

Creating virtual models of ecosystems to predict environmental changes;
Enhancing conservation strategies through AI-driven simulations.

Mapping Requirements and Gap Analysis

End of December 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines Ecosystem services mapping.

Methodological Alignment and Innovation

End of January 2026 – Online working table on mapping standards, classification systems, and indicators across members;
End of January 2026 – Catalogue of advanced techniques (e.g., remote sensing, GIS modelling, and machine learning) for scalable, habitat-based ecosystem service mapping;
End December 2026 – Methodological framework to support methodological innovation through joint development and testing of mapping approaches, especially linking ecosystem service supply and demand.

Belgium

The Belgian National Distributed Centre makes varied and complementary in-kind contributions to LifeWatch ERIC. These are implemented in the form of long-lasting projects by various research centres and universities distributed throughout the country and supported by each respective political authority.

To know more about how Belgium contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.