On the 19th  - 23rd of September the European conference of the Ecosystem Services Partnership took place in Antwerpen and ECOPOTENTIAL partners participated with multiple session with presentations (for more information visit http://www.esconference2016.eu/86157, where also abstracts and presentations have been made available on line).

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From 24th to 26th of August a Workshop on PAs in transitional water ecosystems and wetlands took place in Curonian spit, Lithuania.
The meeting centered around finding the commonalities in the services that are being considered in the Lagoonal PAs within ECOPOTENTIAL. Each of the PAs made a presentation on the main services, pressures, and management practices being considered in their protected area. Subsequently, the data being used to monitor or evaluate the state of the system and potential capacity of the services was also proposed by each of the research group.

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Ilse Geijzendorffer, leader of WP12 in ECOPOTENTIAL project, meets Dania Abdul Malak from the sister Horizon2020 project SWOS at the GEO BON Open Science conference (Leipzig, 4-8 July 2016). Ilse presented talks on wetlands (sponsored by both SWOS and ECOPOTENTIAL), on sustainable development goals and on the identification of Essential Variables for Ecosystem Services.

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The first ECOPOTENTIAL General Assembly is taking place from 27 to 30 June on the island of Texel, which is transformed into a meeting point for scientists from all over Europe and beyond.
The participants will discuss the most advanced technologies and methodologies for monitoring and modelling ecosystems. During their time on Texel, they will also look at the results and the activities to be implemented in the future as part of the project. The programme will include a visit to the Wadden Sea conservation area.

12-19 September 2016, Frascati, Italy

For the fifth time, ESA will be inviting 20 developers to its ESRIN location in Frascati (including travel expenses and accommodation). The Space App Camp is an opportunity to spend a week with like-minded people, gaining insight into the European Space Programmes, and learning how to enrich mobile applications with satellite data. Especially with the recently launched radar and high-res image satellites from the Sentinel fleet, of the Copernicus programme doors will be open to countless potential mobile applications. The winning team will be rewarded with a cash prize worth EUR 2,500.

All information is available at the website www.app-camp.eu .

European Projects Workshop on Earth observation 2016

The 10th GEO European Projects Workshop was held in Berlin from 31 May to 2 June in Berlin, to present and discuss European initiatives contributing to the Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS).
Many Ecopotential partners took part in the conference, to discuss how the project contributes to GEOSS: Antonello Provenzale (CNR, Ecopotential Coordinator) presented the Ecopotential project, while Carl Beierkuhnlein (University of Bayreuth, Ecopotential Co-coordinator) coordinated a panel discussion; other Ecopotential researchers presenting in Berlin conference were Christoph Häuser (Museum of Natural History Berlin - MfN), Joan Masó (CREAF), Herman Hummel (NIOZ), Stefano Nativi (CNR) and Nektarios Chrysoulakis (FORTH).

For more information visit: https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/geo-european-projects-workshop-2016

ECOPOTENTIAL among the projects mentioned in the recent EU campaign #EuFactor!

#EuFactor is a project promoted by the Representation of the European Commission in Italy and the Information Office of the European Parliament in Italy. It is primarily addressed to young people, between 16 and 19 years old, who are thinking about their future university careers. The aim is to make them aware of the employment opportunities, in both the academic/research world and in the market, that exist in Europe for those who choose to pursuit science, technology and information technology.

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Helping nature to help us

19-23 September, University of Antwerp, Belgium

This conference will be the biggest European event in 2016 that links science, policy and practice on ecosystem services and natural capital. It will have a strong focus on practice and implementation.
The theme 'Helping nature to help us' focuses on the important role that healthy ecosystems play in supporting human well-being and the protection of nature.

More information can be found at: http://www.esconference2016.eu/

Mountains’ vulnerability to climate change: how can people and territories adapt and mitigate its effects?

3-5 October 2016, Bragança (Portugal)

Mountain areas have difficult climatic and environmental conditions, but mountain people are used to adapting to these. This X° European Mountain Convention will present a state-of-the-art of the situation in mountain areas and of how experience and technical knowledge have been used to provide solutions to adapt to and mitigate climate change.  The focus will be on solutions not only at the policy level, but also at the practitioners’ level, on different issues such as agriculture, energy, water, transport and tourism.

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Global Ocean Science Education Workshop

13-15 June 2016, Paris

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, together with the Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement, and the College of Exploration is co-hosting the 2016 Global Ocean Science Education Workshop.
The workshop will discuss science, education, policy and business role in advancing ocean science education for sustainable development, especially in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

More information can be found at: http://www.coexploration.org/gose/

To register go to:  https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1823867

Registration will close on 27 May 2016.

Mountains for Europe's Future:
Putting Mountains on the Agenda of Horizon 2020

25 April 2016, 12.00 to 18.00, Brussels

Mountains for Europe's Future is an initiative leading to a Strategic Research Agenda to promote the inclusion of specific mountain topics in the Horizon 2020 Work Programmes 2018-20 or other strategic documents.
A side event on ECOPOTENTIAL will be organized during the coffee break 14.00 to 15.00.

Detailed programme: www.chat-mountainalliance.eu/images/Mountains_for_Europes_Future_Brussels_2016_detailed_programme.pdf

Registration: www.chat-mountainalliance.eu/en/events/18-events/106-mountains-for-europe-future-the-event.html

The La Palma Science School 2016 led by Prof. Anke Jentsch (Disturbance Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Germany) and Dr. Severin Irl (Biogeography, University of Bayreuth, Germany) and supported by several international guest researchers will focus on research topics revolving around the novel concept of disturbance-driven island ecology and will integrate different aspects of island biogeography, island ecology and, where applicable, also remote sensing. The aim of the Science School is for students to experience all aspects of scientific research, ranging from the elaboration of research questions and hypotheses through developing adequate sampling methods to be applied in the field (during the stay on La Palma) and an in-depth analysis of the collected data to the final presentation of the results in written and oral form. Student groups (generally composed of three students each) will go through all of these steps independently to acquire basic and advanced scientific skills (e.g. field methods, statistics and modeling, scientific writing).

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Cross-Scale Interactions in the Coupled Geosphere-Biosphere System

15-24 June 2016, Valsavarenche, Valle d'Aosta (Italy)

This Summer Course aims at providing young researchers – in particular Ph.D. students  – with an up-to-date interdisciplinary course presenting a quantitative approach to the physical, chemical, geological, biological and ecological principles of geosphere-biosphere interactions on multiple spatial and temporal scales, focusing on the role of Earth Observations and of modelling approaches. The Course is organised in the framework and with funding from the H2020 European Project 641762 "ECOPOTENTIAL: Improving Future Ecosystem Benefits through Earth Observation".

Website of the course: www.to.isac.cnr.it/aosta

ECOPOTENTIAL workshop and field excursion in the Har HaNegev (Israel).

The workshop takes place on 23-26 February 2016 and it is devoted to the definition of the most compelling management and scientific questions in the Negev Protected Area and to the ways ECOPOTENTIAL can contribute to address them, by blending Remote Sensing observations, in-situ data and modelling approaches. The workshop is organized by the Ben Gurion University of the Negev and by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, both of which are partners in ECOPOTENTIAL.


Fostering Europe's role in Earth Observation GEO European Projects Workshop
31 May - 2 June 2016, Berlin, Germany
The conference is jointly organised by the European Commission, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure of Germany and the Museum für Naturkunde - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science.
Website of the conference: https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/geo-european-projects-workshop-2016