Report first JPI Oceans conference

The First JPI Oceans Conference, held at the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, in Brussels, Belgium, 7 May 2015, as a success with 175 participants from 29 different countries.

The conference was opened by the Chair of the JPI Oceans Management Board, Caron Montgomery. After welcoming all participants she gave the floor to Belgian State Secretary Bart Tommelein. The State Secretary presented himself as a man of the ocean, born by the sea and still living at the sea. He highlighted the role of Belgium in the initiative and especially looked forward to joint initiatives on marine spatial planning. After the intervention of the Belgian State Secretary, Norwegian State Secretary Dilek Ayhan underlined the potential and complexity of the oceans. She argued that “Nations need to cooperate to maximize the oceans potential”. She presented JPI Oceans as a part of the solution in order to achieve a stronger cooperation between nations. The opening session was concluded by Director General Robert-Jan Smits who stated that the JPI Oceans Vision document and the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda have made a significant contribution to the Blue Growth agenda of the European Commission and that it is now time to focus on implementation. At the end of the session the first copies of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda were handed by Caron Montgomery to Norwegian State Secretary Dilek Ayhan, Belgian State Secretary Bart Tommelein and, Director General of DG Research and Innovation, European Commission Robert-Jan Smits.

Read the full report here.

Find the porwerpoint presentations here.

Find the video presentations here.