DEVOTES Newsletter N° 1

> Editorial

DEVOTES, the first step of a long journey

DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understandig mar ine b iodivers i ty and assess ing good Environmental Status

Inside this issue:- Editorial by the Coordinator- DEVOTES Outline - DEVOTES Kicked-off - Upcoming events - Information from DEVOTES partners

Dr. Angel BorjaProject Coordinator

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Dear colleague,

This is the first newsletter of the European project DEVOTES, one of the multiple ways we will use to communicate. The newsletter will put the DEVOTES community in contact with the stakeholders and scientists interested in marine biodiversity and environmental assessment, within the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

DEVOTES is an ambitious project to implement innovative tools (i.e. indicators, models, monitoring methods), that allow the scientific and managerial community to assess the environmental status of marine waters in an harmonized way.

This journey of scientific discovery, which started the 1st November 2012 and will last until 30th October 2016, will promote research across regional seas and international areas,within the fields of biodiversity, food-webs and seafloor integrity. The involvement of partners from around Europe and also from countries sharing European and adjacent seas (e.g. Ukraine, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, USA), will further improve overseas collaboration in biodiversity marine assessment. Our newsletters will communicate to you the news and calls from DEVOTES, including important meetings, workshops and summer schools. Of course, you can also follow these on our web page (www.devotes-project.eu) and in different social networks (e.g. Facebook,

Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, Google+). Your inputs, collaboration, information and questions are welcome.

Even the longest journey starts will a small step, but the “DEVOTES boots” will allow scientists and manager to take great strides -as in the “Seven-league boots” tale- resulting in rapid progress in the assessment of the environmental status of marine waters.

We hope to find you along this exciting journey!

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DEVOTES Newsletter N° 1

> DEVOTES Outline

DEVOTES is organized in 8 Work Packages (WPs)

Preparatory tasks

Phase 1Where to monitor

Phase 2What to monitor

WPs 1, 2, 5

Phase 3Indicators and

targets

Phase 4Evidence

collection and monitoring trends

WP 7

WP 7

WP 4, 5

Phase 5Assessment

andreporting

Phase 6Programme of

Measures

Phase 7Adaptative

Management

End users(Policy and

Management)

WP 6

WPs 7, 8European Research

WP 3

The overall goal of DEVOTES is to better understand the relationships between pressures from human activities and climatic influences and their effects on marine ecosystems, including biological diversity, in order to support the ecosystem based management and fully achieve the Good Environmental Status (GES) of marine waters. To achieve this goal, DEVOTES will test and validate existing indicators and develop new indicators, modelling and monitoring tools, when necessary, to establish an integrated way for assessing the environmental status of biodiversity (at genetic, species, habitat and ecosystem levels) and marine waters in a cost-effective manner.

WP 1 is designed to determine the relative contribution of human pressures to the status/changes of biodiversity, our current understanding and monitoring adequacy, and the challenges of shifting baselines of climatic change.

The main aim of WP 2 is to determine socio-economic implications of maintaining or changing monitoring and management practices aimed at achieving and maintaining GES

WP 3 is designed to review existing GES indicators; identify strengths and gaps of existing GES indicators and develop and validate new indicators.

The main aim of WP 4 is to develop a suite of modelling tools to address key questions regarding the state of biological diversity and its relationship to food-webs, seafloor integrity, human impacts and climate change, going far beyond the state-of-the-art in previous EU projects.

The aim of WP5 is to develop innovative monitoring systems to refine and deepen our ability to detect environmental/ biotic variables utilized in marine monitoring.

The aim of WP 6 is to take information from and build on WPs 1-5 to develop and validate a toolbox which integrates biodiversity assessments at various scales, from local to sub-regional, culminating in a mechanism for regional-scale characterization.

The main objectives of WP7 are to build a network with key stakeholders and to provide effective and efficient dissemination of the DEVOTES project.

The outcomes of DEVOTES will contribute towards fulfilling knowledge gaps and existing needs in the assessment of environmental status, within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, in an harmonized way across the Mediterranean, Baltic, North Seas and the Atlantic Ocean.

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> DEVOTES Kicked off

Palma de Mallorca, 6th Nov.2012

DEVOTES was launched on November 6th in Palma de Mallorca (Spain), with the participation of 23 partners and the Advisory Board Panel. A total of 71 experts attended the meeting.

This meeting allowed:

> Meeting all partners involved in the project (e.g. administration, financial issues, technical issues, etc.) in one location to become familiar w i th each other and ensure f luent communication between and within the different organisations involved in DEVOTES.

> Getting to know both the views of Advisory Board on issues that will be tackled throughout the project, and other EU projects complementary to DEVOTES.

> Agreeing on administrative and development procedures for the well-functioning of the project.

> Reviewing and validating DEVOTES objectives.

> Establishing activities and goals to be achieved in the short-term.

> Discussing dissemination plans to make DEVOTES accessible to a broad audience.

The kick-off meeting was structured into plenary sessions, work-package meetings and Sterring Committe and Advisory Board meetings. Separate roundtables were held for each work-package with the aim to plan and define the different tasks that will enable DEVOTES to meet its goal, objectives and deadlines. A plenary sessions to discuss data availability (i.e., database), organization of the tasks and responsibilities of participants was also carried out.In addition, Steering Committee and Advisory Board meetings focused on setting up the basis fort he well-functioning of DEVOTES and provided guidance on existing work that can be considered in the development of the project.

The presentations given at the kick-off meeting can be downloaded from the DEVOTES website.

www.devotes-project.eu/devotes-kicked-off

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> Upcomings events

Meetings and Workshops

Summer school“Genomic tools in marine ecosystem monitoring, status assessment and management, within European marine policy legislation and governance”15th – 17th July 2013University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian

More information here:http://www.devotes-project.eu/xxxiisummerschool/

DEVOTES SCIENTIFIC CALENDAR:http://www.devotes-project.eu/calendar-scientific-events/

The aim of the school is to provide an overview on the application of genomics to ocean and coastal management, integrating assessment and monitoring in support of informed ocean governance for resilience and sustainability in a changing world.

CELEBRATIONS IN YOUR COUNTRY

The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. When first created by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly in late 1993, 29 December (the date of entry into force of the Convention of Biological Diversity), was designated The International Day for Biological Diversity.

Water is essential for life.No living being on planet Earth can survive without it.

It is a prerequisite for human health and well-beingas well as for the preservation of the environment.

In December 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted 22 May as IDB, to commemorate the adoption of the text of the Convention on 22 May 1992 by the Nairobi Final Act of the Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Thiswas partly done because it was difficult for many countries to plan and carry out suitable celebrations for the date of 29 December, given the number of holidays that coincide around that time of year.The theme Water and Biodiversity was chosen to coincide with the United Nations designation of 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation. Water and Biodiversity is the theme for International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) in 2013. Designation of IDB 2013 on the theme ofwater provides Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the public at large the opportunity to raise awareness about this vital issue, and to increase positive action.Coincidently, the period 2005-2015 is the International Decade for Action 'WATER FOR LIFE'.

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For further information: http://www.sgmeet.com/cerf2013/

FOUR SYMPOSIA WITHIN A CONFERENCECERF 2013 breaks the mold by introducing key plenary sessions that lay the foundation for topical invited sessions. These four “internal symposia” on topics that challenge both scientists and resource managers alike, have been organized by leading experts in the field. This meeting architecture was designed to promote a deeper exchange on plenary topics by attracting leading experts and those charged with identifying policy options on these issues.

Don't miss the special session organized by AZTI:Genomic tools in marine ecosystem monitoring and assessment, within ocean policy

legislation and governance

UK-IMON International Workshop on New Monitoring Technologies: A Workshop to Prioritise Future Investment

10th – 12th September 2013 National Oceanographic Center Southampton

This workshop will allow to identify those technologies that can increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of (UK) marine monitoring over the next 5–10 years.

Workshop Themes are- Conventional platforms (including ships, buoys, moorings, landers)- Authonomous platforms (including aerial, surface and sub-surface)- Sensors- Earth observation

More information here

MARES2020 International Conference "Marine Research Horizon 2020"17th – 20th September 2013 Hotel Admiral, Golden sands Resort, Bulgaria

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its foundation IO-BAS will organize an International Conference on Regional Ocean Research to share achievements and outline future prospects in marine science during the next decade.In line with the recent advance in ocean science and technologies and important science- policy developments such as The Future we want (UNCSD Rio+20) and the Horizon 2020 (EC), this International forum will bring together scientists, industry and policy representatives to address key research topics and promote international collaboration in marine science and technology for the sustainable management of the regional seas.

Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation conferenceToward Resilient Coasts and Estuaries, Science for sustainable solutions3rd – 7th November 2013Country Convention Center, San Diego (CA)

More information here: http://mares2020.io-bas.bg

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> Information from DEVOTES partners

Partners involved

AZTI-Tecnalia (AZTI) - Spainwww.azti.es

Norsk institutt for luftforskning (NILU) - Norwaywww.nilu.no

Suomen ymparistokeskus (SYKE) - Finlandwww.ymparisto.fi

Aarhus Universitet (AU) - Denmarkwww.au.dk

University of Hull (UHULL) - United Kingdomwww2.hull.ac.uk

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (CEFAS) - United Kingdomwww.cefas.defra.gov.uk

Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) - United Kingdomwww.pml.ac.uk

Instituto do Mar (IMAR) - Portugalhttp://www1.ci.uc.pt/imar/unit/

Institute Of Oceanology – Bulgarian Academy ofSciences (IO-BAS) - Bulgariawww.io-bas.bg/

Joint Research Centre (JRC) – European Commissionec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/index.cfm

Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) - Greecewww.hcmr.gr/en

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Partners involved

Klaipedos Universitetas (KUCORPI) - Lithuaniawww.ku.lt

Akvaplan-niva AS (APN) - Norwaywww.akvaplan.niva.no/en

COnsorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per leScienze del MAre (CONISMA) - Italywww.conisma.it

Stichting Koninklijk Nederlands instituut voorZeeonderzoek (NIOZ) - Netherlandswww.nioz.nl

Agencia estatal Consejo Superior de InvestigacionesCientíficas (CSIC) - Spainwww.csic.es

Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi (DEU) - Turkeywww.deu.edu.tr/deuwebv2/en

Marine Hydrophysical Institute - Ukrainian NationalAcademy of Sciences (MHI-NASU) -Ukrainewww.nas.gov.ua/mhi

MariLim Gesellschaft für GewasseruntersuchungmbH (MARLIM) - Germanywww.marilim.de/en

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique(CNRS)- Francewww.cnrs.fr

OceanDTM - United Kingdomwww.oceandtm.com

Ecoreach srl (ECOREACH) - Italywww.ecoreach.it

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology(KAUST) - Saudi Arabiawww.kaust.edu.sa

EPA and NOAA from USA are involved as observers

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Take a tour of our website!

Discover DEVOTES papers published so far onhttp://www.devotes-project.eu/publications/

Copyright © 2013 DEVOTES Dissemination Team, All rights reserved.

The DEVOTES website (www.devotes-project.eu) is the central point of communication within the project.

We need your help to do it better!If you have any suggestion or if you want to contribute to the projectdissemination with news and pictures on marine biodiversity research,

please let us know!Contact us at devotes.project@gmail.com

Are you interested in becoming a DEVOTES stakeholder?Visit our website and fill this form: