“Ostend Declaration” calls for a Blue Future for Europe

Marine scientists from across Europe gathered in Ostend at the EurOCEAN 2010 Conference to discuss the future priorities for European marine research in the coming decade and unanimously agree that the Seas and Oceans are one of the Grand Challenges for the 21st Century. This message is the headline of the Ostend Declaration which was adopted on the second day of the Conference (13 October 2010) following a broad consultation with the marine and maritime research community and relevant stakeholders in Europe in the months leading up to the Conference.

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Handover of the Ostend Declaration to European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan Quinn and Wim de Vos after its adoption at the EurOCEAN 2010 Closing Session (13 October 2010). From left to rigth: Lars Horn (Chair of the Marine Board-ESF, Research Council of Norway), Wim De Vos (representative of the Cabinet of Sabine Laruelle, Belgian Federal Minister for SMEs, Independents, Agriculture and Science Polic), Máire Geoghegan Quinn (European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science), Kostas Nittis (Chair of the Ostend Declaration Drafting Group, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece) and Edward Hill (National Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom).

Grand challenges for marine research in the next decade

EurOCEAN 2010

The EurOCEAN 2010 Conference (Ostend, 12-13 October 2010) will provide a unique forum for the European marine science community to consider, discuss and respond to new policy developments and achievements since the last EurOCEAN conference (2007, Aberdeen), and to highlight new challenges and opportunities for marine research in the next decade. The EurOCEAN 2010 Conference and Ostend Declaration (October 2010) will come at a crucial time for the European marine science community to influence how marine science is supported in Europe in the coming decade. It will provide a timely opportunity to reinforce the importance of marine science in effective maritime policy making and the key role it will play in the path towards economic growth and recovery in Europe.

EurOCEAN 2010 Conference is a Belgian EU Presidency event, organised in close collaboration with the European Commission and the Marine Board-ESF.

Messages from:

Achim Kopf MARUM - University of Bremen	Carlo Heip NIOZ Ghent University University of Groningen	Fanny Douvere UNESCO - World Heritage Marine Programme	Karin Lochte Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Michael Thorndyke Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences University of Gothenburg	Ole Arve Misund Institute of Marine Research, Norway	Peter Herzig IFM-GEOMAR, Germany	Peter M. Haugan Geophysical Institute, Norway	Wendy Watson-Wright IOC - UNESCO

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