2nd Marine Board Biennial Forum “Towards a European Network of Marine Observatories for Monitoring and Research” 16 September 2010, Brussels

It is of high priority for Europe to provide long-term time-series data sets from the marine environment to support science, industry and policy making. To maintain the momentum of marine and maritime RTD efforts in this field, to enhance their interactions and to secure long-term political support, the Marine Board considers it is timely to address and discuss at both managerial and strategic levels and on a multi-scale approach, generic and critical issues for the implementation, operation and maintenance of a European network of marine observatories.

The output of the Forum will be a statement on a vision and recommended actions towards a European network of long-term marine observatories.

This Vision Statement will include a roadmap with pragmatic, high-level recommendations and related milestones, targeted towards a wide range of stakeholders. A final discussion session will take place in the afternoon of the Forum in order to finalise the Forum Statement. The Statement will strive to convey integrated views and multidisciplinary consolidated advice for the future implementation and management a European network of marine observatories.

Programme and registration

Programme is available for download from the Forum webpage: www.esf.org/marineboard/2ndforum

Registration is now open, please go to the Forum webpage: www.esf.org/marineboard/2ndforum (Please note that owing to limited places, participation will be confirmed on a “first come, first served” basis).

Download Forum from www.esf.org/marineboard/2ndforum

We believe that this event will generate fruitful interactions between different stakeholders to exchange views and discuss best practices on marine observatories, from implementation to management and governance.

Yours faithfully,

Marine Board Secretariat

www.esf.org/marineboard