This Policy Brief focuses on in situ Ocean observations and highlights their benefits, funding and governance challenges, and the investment needed for their transformation and sustainability. This document is the result of an ad hoc Working Group established by the European Marine Board to address this topic, in light of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, and the start of Age of the Digital Ocean.
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During summer 2020, the EMB Secretariat conducted a survey to ask EMB member organizations about the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns had on their research and teaching activities. In a follow up, the survey was re-launched in February 2021 to find out what had changed.
The 7th EMB Forum took place online on 23rd October 2020 on the topic of 'Big Data in Marine Science: Supporting the European Green Deal, the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, and a Digital Twin Ocean'. 192 participants from Europe and further afield were present, representing academia, government, industry, and NGOs. Experts gave presentations and participated in panel discussions, with audience interaction. This document is a summary of the discussions, and full recordings of the sessions are available on the EMB YouTube Channel.
This report captures the major foresight initiatives and documents relevant for European ocean observation and forecasting.
This Policy Brief highlights the inextricable links between oceans health and human health. It presents the main challenges in moving towards a European policy framework that supports and enables Oceans and Human Health to be addressed in a holistic manner. It highlights the research, training, data, monitoring and funding needs to enable such a policy framework to be developed. This publication was produced together with the EU-funded SOPHIE project.
This Future Science Brief outlines recent advances, challenges and opportunities for big data to support marine science. To develop solutions to key societal challenges, there is an increasing need for more complex, transdisciplinary analyses across traditionally siloed disciplines and sectors. To achieve these goals, we need to move towards increased digitalization and the adoption of big data in marine science. The publication identifies overarching challenges and recommendations within the categories of data acquisition, data handling and management, service interoperability, computing infrastructures and data accessibility, data sharing, big data analytics, and training networks and collaboration. These are explored through topics and case studies on climate science and marine biogeochemistry, habitat mapping for marine conservation, marine biological observations, and pest control in the aquaculture sector.
Strategic Reseach Agenda for Oceans and Human Health Research in Europe, arising from the H2020 SOPHIE project
The year 2019 was one of great achievements for the European Marine Board with several important events and publications such as the launch of our Flagship publication “Navigating the Future V” (NFV), and the organization of the EurOCEAN 2019 Conference. EMB also focused on the preparation of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and the forthcoming Horizon Europe, which will both be of great influence to steer marine science further in the EU and beyond. Find out all about our activities in the EMB Annual Report 2019.
This Policy Brief outlines why we need research vessels, noting the multiple roles they play in supporting marine science and ocean observing. It presents an overview of the current European fleet and its capabilities, and highlights the importance of transnational access within this context. It also briefly outlines the concerns around training for vessel crew, marine technicians and shore-based staff. It then presents the main recommendations of EMB Position Paper 25. This publication summarises the main messages and recommendations of the recent EMB Position Paper 25 on “Next Generation European Research Vessels: Current Status and Foreseeable Evolution”, which was produced in collaboration with the European Research Vessel Operators (ERVO) community.
The European Marine Board (EMB) Policy Brief No6 ‘Navigating the Future V: Recommendations for the Ocean Decade’ provides recommendations on the science needed to achieve the societal outcomes of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.