Over 120 stakeholders, including marine scientists, industry members, policymakers, and students, gathered at the European Parliament on 8 February 2017 to contribute to the EuroMarine event “Blue Science for Blue Growth, EuroMarine: connecting ideas and people”. EuroMarine, a marine science network with 73 member institutions from 23 countries, aimed to create a forum on the importance of marine science and on how its members are collaborating to advance marine science with innovative and adaptive ideas.
MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos opened the session with an enthusiastic call to action: “The balance between promoting economic growth in the ocean and protecting the health of marine ecosystems will be a complex mission. Without good science, blue growth may drift toward wrong paths.”
A short introductory video was then screened on the importance of the ocean in our lives and on how EuroMarine works to improve our understanding of the marine world, both to increase our capacity to use the oceans responsibly and to contribute to their protection.
The EuroMarine Chairs, Catherine Boyen (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) and Philippe Cury (L’Institut de recherche pour le développement, IRD), presented the network and its role in helping scientists collaborate, innovate, and promote marine science. Its achievements can be seen through the remarkable work of more than 800 scientists who have participated in over 37 EuroMarine-supported events in just the last two years.
Four EuroMarine activities were presented, highlighting the potential to achieve major results through incentive funding. The talks covered a wide marine spectrum, from pathogens to the chemical ecology of marine interactions, marine trophic models, and even ecosystem-based solutions for resilient urban harbours. These presentations showcased EuroMarine’s vision, achievements, and perspectives, while also providing an engaging narrative on marine issues.
In the subsequent discussion on innovation for global challenges and the role of marine science, the moderator Jean-Marc Châtaigner (Managing Director of IRD) highlighted the value of interactions and interdisciplinarity in addressing global challenges, as well as the need to move toward a forum that empowers scientific communities worldwide.
As co-moderator of the discussion on the added value of EuroMarine in the European marine landscape, MEP José Inácio Faria highlighted the need for concerted collective action to secure the valuable resources of the oceans. The Executive Secretary of the European Marine Board, Niall McDonough, as well as Kathrine Angell-Hansen, Director of JPI Oceans, and Ilaria Nardello, Executive Director of EMBRC, presented their visions on how these different initiatives can work together and complement each other within the complex European marine landscape, stressing the need for diverse approaches but also for unified action. Sigi Gruber, Head of the Marine Unit at DG Research, provided some positive insights into how EuroMarine, as a group of leading researchers, can deliver responsive science to topical issues and meet the needs for capacity building in marine sciences.
Proving to be a resounding success, the event resulted in a thought-provoking and illuminating dialogue about our oceans, and introduced the work and aims of EuroMarine to a wider audience.
Reporting on the success of the meeting, Catherine Boyen said: “EuroMarine is a unique initiative that brings together the best European expertise in marine sciences. We now need to build on these promising achievements to make further progress for the future of our blue planet.”
See the full list of talks and presentations
Copy of the press release, including notes for editors and photo captions.
For more information about EuroMarine and its work, visit: www.euromarinenetwork.eu.
