In 2022, VLIZ and its national and international partners moved into the brand-new VLIZ headquarters: the InnovOcean Campus. This building, with its eye-catching blue façade, is not just a hub for marine science and innovation in Flanders and beyond, but also a landmark on the Ostend east bank. In addition, VLIZ launched a new logo and organisational identity in 2022. The 22-year-old logo featuring a blue square made way for a fresher and more modern version. The combination of the new building and this new organisational look-and-feel gave VLIZ more visibility outside the marine scientific community in 2022. And that was also picked up by the media. In 2022, the media coverage of VLIZ and its (research) activities reached a high level: VLIZ actively sent out 14 press releases, while 204 news articles and radio or television reports mentioned the research institute.
In addition, VLIZ increased its visibility in 2022 through the organisation of various events, both on its own premises and off site. We have selected three such events.
The first major international event that took place on the InnovOcean Campus was a plenary meeting of the European Marine Board, attended by 32 participants from 12 countries. Back-to-back, a workshop took place with 36 experts who covered the topic ‘Navigating the Future VI’, a visionary report listing the priorities which ocean research (and its funding) should focus on in the coming decade.
In October 2022, VLIZ organised the seminar ‘Fossils from the North Sea’ in cooperation with experts from various institutions. With 139 participants –ranging from researchers to amateur collectors and citizen scientists – this seminar was a major success. In the morning session, the experts shared their knowledge on mammal, bird, fish and mollusc fossils found in the North Sea and on the beach, and explained the research and current collections in museums. In the interactive afternoon session, the public got the chance to show bone remains found on the beach to the experts.
Stakeholder Engagement was the topic of the Blue Economy Science Summit held in Bluebridge (Ostend Science Park) on 18 May 2022. This annual network event organised by VLIZ and Blue Cluster brings together marine science and industry. In addition to interesting keynote speeches, explanations and discussions, there was an extensive innovation fair where 81 participants were introduced to an array of marine research and innovation projects.