In 2022, VLIZ celebrated several important anniversaries. The following are three examples:
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), which was founded in 2007, celebrated its 15th anniversary. WoRMS makes an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of all marine organisms available worldwide. At the end of 2022, WoRMS contained 241,000 valid species names. Between 2007 and 2022, this number increased on average by 2,200 newly described species a year. This increase is due to the contributions of the 320 members of the international editorial board and the externally hosted and managed databases which WoRMS closely collaborates with. So as not to let this anniversary pass by unnoticed, WoRMS published a 15-week series of stories providing a look behind the scenes of the successful system. WoRMS is an important part of the taxonomic backbone of LifeWatch, aimed at bringing together taxonomic and species-related data and filling the gaps in our knowledge.
In 2022, it was exactly ten years ago that the first conference on ocean literacy in Europe was held at Provinciaal Hof in Bruges. On 12 October 2012, VLIZ and the European Marine Board welcomed the founders of the American Ocean Literacy movement, Craig Strang and Peter Tuddenham, as well as representatives from IOC UNESCO, the European Commission, EMSEA, National Geographic Society, World Ocean Network, BBC Blue Planet, EUAC, European Schoolnet, Ciencia Viva and numerous local stakeholders to discuss the future of ocean literacy. The concept of ocean literacy, defined as "ensuring that every citizen has insight into the influence of the ocean on us, and our influence on the ocean", has found its way into important policy documents as well as informal and formal educational and information activities around the world. VLIZ introduced the ocean literacy movement in Europe and has reaped the rewards ever since, e.g. by participating in international projects concerning this topic.
In September 2012, Flemish research vessel Simon Stevin went on its first trip. Ten years later, the ship had spent 1,630 days at sea and travelled over 150,000 kilometres, remaining an indispensable platform for marine scientists. On the occasion of this 10th anniversary, VLIZ and DAB Fleet organised a real scientific expedition from 21 to 27 November 2022. In one week, a group of scientists sailed from Ostend via the Belgian part of the North Sea and the Western Scheldt to Antwerp. On the way, they made full use of the infrastructure and technology on board the ship to investigate climate change, plastic pollution and biodiversity. The results of the expedition were made public at a press conference on Friday 25 November. This took place in the building of De Vlaamse Waterweg on the Willebroek Canal in the presence of governor of the province of West Flanders and VLIZ chairman Carl Decaluwé as well as representatives from UNESCO and the European Commission, amongst others. VLIZ and the Flemish government (in particular the Department of Economy, Science & Innovation) signed the Charter ‘Mission Ocean and Waters’ during the press conference. They thus expressed their ambition to continue to support the European Commission in its Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters" aimed at protecting and restoring the health of our seas and inland waters by 2030. The next Sunday, the ship docked in Antwerp for the annual Science Day. The general public was introduced to the ship’s facilities, could meet the researchers and learnt more about the research conducted on board.
