News

Students from 10 secondary schools from Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde and Morocco contribute as citizen scientists to the international research project COLLECT. In addition to contributing to the knowledge on the distribution of plastic pollution on African beaches, the project also aims to promote local awareness about plastic waste.

Scientific research yields many different products, such as publications, datasets, software, patents, conference contributions and citizen science initiatives. VLIZ is convinced that the evaluation of the research output cannot be controlled solely by means of quantitative indicators, but that all aspects of the scientific research process (from the research question and methods to knowledge and...

On September 6th, 2021 EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginjus Sinkevicius paid a visit to the city of Ostend to familiarise himself with a number of local initiatives within the sustainable blue economy in Belgium. In the company of Flemish Minister of Economy, Innovation and Agriculture, Hilde Crevits, the EU Commissioner visited, among other things, the Marien...

The increasing presence of marine litter in the seas and ocean is one of the major societal challenges of our time. Public organisations, policy makers and the business community are all looking for solutions to tackle this urgent problem. Still, incentives for behavioral change and a smart policy remain the most effective measures to prevent litter from entering the environment. Preventing...

The latest edition of the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) containing, 31 million quality controlled in situ observations from the period 1957-2021, shows how CO2 uptake by the global ocean has increased. The Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) – both supported by the Flanders’ government – also contribute to this community-driven database. Atlas-based...

The global ocean captures approximately 25% of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. However, this figure still entails large uncertainties. For the next two weeks, the global marine carbon observation community gathers with developers of relevant measuring systems and sensors in Ostend, Belgium for a large intercalibration exercise in the Marine Station Oostende of VLIZ. The European...

On Tuesday 22nd of June 2021, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and the North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne visited Ostend at the invitation of The Blue Cluster to get to know more about a number of exciting initiatives within the blue economy. The program included a visit to the VLIZ' Marine Robotics Centre and a demonstration of the uncrewed surface vehicle 'Adhemar'.

Today, the first sampling campaign in the framework of the brand new European Marine Omics Biodiversity Observation Network (EMO BON) takes place. The aim of the observation network is to ensure a steady, continuous generation of biodiversity data. EMO BON will ultimately provide Europe with a means to monitor and understand its marine biodiversity, and fill the current gaps in the European...

UN delivers the first-ever global assessment report after 7 years’ work by 109 experts in 35 countries – among them VLIZ researcher Maarten De Rijcke – creating a baseline to detect and gauge the changing distribution, frequency, and intensity of harmful, often poisonous algal blooms. Trends in the number of HAB events found to vary across regions. Overexploitation, however, acts as a natural...

ICOS, Integrated Carbon Observation System, announces that 12 more greenhouse gas measurement stations have passed the rigorous ICOS quality assurance process for standardised data production. The newly certified stations, among which the Flemish research vessel Simon Stevin, are located in seven out of 13 ICOS member countries, and in all three ICOS domains – atmosphere, ecosystem and ocean...

Ever since the Ever Given incident, MarineTraffic needs no introduction. Chances are you have taken a look yourself to check the status of the unfortunate ship in the Suez Canal. MarineTraffic displays the movement of over 550.000 vessels worldwide, based on their Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals. The website attracts millions of users on a monthly basis. Since March 31st, these...

Every year VLIZ recruits several job students for the summer months of July, August or September. For the summer of 2021 we are still looking for a number of enthusiastic students with knowledge of IT, video editing, journalism and language. You can submit your candidacy until June 15, 2021.

On 21 April 2021, the United Nations launched its second World Ocean Assessment (WOA II). In this 1,000-page document, hundreds of marine scientists assessed the current state of the world's oceans, and identifies knowledge gaps. Among them also experts from the Ostend based VLIZ data center and ‘Ocean Biogeographic Information System’ (OBIS), both supported by Flanders.

The 2020 annual report presents the highlights for VLIZ in 2020 and focuses on the services VLIZ offers to the marine scientific community, policymakers, the industry, educators and the general public. Performance indicators (KPIs), numbers and lists all together give a transparent overview of the organization and functioning of the institute.

A cross-Channel partnership will use innovative underwater acoustic tracking technology to identify the environmental conditions a range of important marine species need in order to thrive. The €4million FISH INTEL project, supported by €2.8million from the European Regional Development Fund via the Interreg France (Channel) England programme, will focus on a series of sites along the coastlines...

Today, on the eve of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), Flanders takes stock of its true maritime identity, its broad expertise, long-standing traditions, maritime skills and capacities. It reaches out to share these and shape strong and far-reaching collaborations based on ocean science, knowledge and innovative approaches. A new publication 'Gearing up our...

Did you know Flanders has been able to develop a unique set of biodiversity data systems and observation infrastructure? And that these services are consulted daily by hundreds to thousands of users worldwide? This achievement was possible due to the many years (2012-2020) of commitment by the Flemish government to the European LifeWatch ESFRI infrastructure – an ambitious project to support...

Barely 7 months after laying the foundation stone of the new InnovOcean Campus in Oostende the shell of the six-storey building is a fact. The boards of ILVO and VLIZ visited the site in the presence of the contractor. They were assured that the construction is well on track to move into the new campus in the autumn of 2022.