The European Marine Board (EMB) is the leading European think tank in marine science policy. It provides a platform to advance marine research and to bridge the gap between science and policy.

Recent Publications

Building Coastal Resilience in Europe

European coasts face multiple, interacting and cumulative pressures including those resulting from increasing greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. sea-level rise, Ocean warming, Ocean acidification, extreme events) and localised activities such as fishing, aquaculture, waste disposal and coastal urbanisation. These create a unique set of context-specific issues that need to be addressed holistically using a systems approach, considering the dynamics between both coastal societies and ecosystems as part of interconnected social-ecological systems. EMB Position Paper No. 27 ‘Building Coastal Resilience in Europe’ presents key policy, scientific and community recommendations on how to build coastal resilience and enhance capacity to cope with impacts from climate change and other coastal pressures.
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Blue Carbon: Challenges and opportunities to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises

Blue Carbon ecosystems are a Nature-based Solution that can help mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises, while stabilising livelihoods, protecting coasts, and supporting other societal needs such as food security from the Ocean. EMB Policy Brief No. 11 describes different types and benefits of Blue Carbon ecosystems, and discusses uncertainties and challenges for the conservation and restoration of Blue Carbon ecosystems as a climate change solution. The document also highlights the wider role of the Ocean in mitigating climate change through the carbon cycle, and closes with key research and management recommendations.
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EMB Annual Report 2022

In 2022, the EMB Secretariat moved to the brand-new InnovOcean campus in Ostend (Belgium), where many valuable interactions and discussions have already taken place. Throughout the year, EMB organised a range of impactful initiatives, such as the CommOCEAN conference, a Brown Bag Lunch, and the launch of three new foresight publications. EMB also took a new turn by launching 'EMBracing the Ocean', an artist-in-residence programme which stimulated collaboration between Ocean scientists and artists, leading to remarkable artworks that reflect the deep connection between art and ocean sciences. To learn more about EMB’s activities and achievements, dive into the EMB's 2022 Annual Report.

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Report from foresight workshop on ensuring accurate climate related predictions in Europe in 2035

The European Marine Board Secretariat organized a foresight workshop on the sustainability of the ocean observing and forecasting system, supported by the EU Innovation Action EuroSea, on 15-16 March 2023 at the Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels (Belgium). The workshop aimed to gather key recommendations or considerations for possible future mechanisms to sustainably fund and coordinate ocean observation, prediction and information delivery in Europe.
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Ocean oxygen: The role of the Ocean in the oxygen we breathe and the threat of deoxygenation

EMB Future Science Brief No. 10 highlights the most recent science on Ocean oxygen, including causes, impacts and mitigation strategies of Ocean oxygen loss, and whether “every second breath we take comes from the Ocean”. It closes with key policy, management and research recommendations to address Ocean deoxygenation and communicate more accurately about the role of the Ocean in Earth’s oxygen.  

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News

EMB attends the EcoScope General Assembly in Cyprus

On 6-9 November 2023, EMB Executive Director, Sheila Heymans, attended the third General Assembly of the EU funded EcoScope project, which was held in Larnaca, Cyprus.

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EurOCEAN 2023 - One Ocean, One Mission, One Decade, One Voice

The EurOCEAN 2023 conference, co-organised by the European Marine Board, took place on 10-11 October 2023 at the Auditorio y Palacio de Congresos Mar de Vigo, Vigo, Galicia, Spain. The conference highlighted the synergies between the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030, other EU research and innovation and management initiatives, and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.
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EMB launches two new publications on Coastal Resilience and Blue Carbon at EurOCEAN 2023 conference

Today, on 10 October 2023 at the EurOCEAN2023 conference in Vigo, Spain, EMB launches Position Paper No. 27 ‘Building Coastal Resilience in Europe’ and Policy Brief No. 11 ‘Blue Carbon: Challenges and opportunities to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crises’ during a dedicated session. The session is moderated by the co-Chair of the EMB Working Group on Coastal Resilience, Kristin Richter, and features presentations by Sebastian Villasante (Chair of the EMB Working Group on Coastal Resilience) and Natalie Hicks (member of EMB Working Group on Blue Carbon), as well as insights from Ana Isabel Lillebo (Lead of A-AAGORA project) as part on the panel discussion.
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Policy Brief Scoping Workshop at BRIDGE Black Sea General Assembly (Ankara, Turkiye)

On 27 -29 October 2023, Sheila Heymans and Britt Alexander from the EMB Secretariat attended the BRIDGE Black Sea General Assembly in Ankara, Turkiye.
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EMB Young Ambassadors Training Workshop 2023

On 15-16 June 2023, the EMB Young Ambassadors attended a training workshop in Ostend, Belgium. 

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Upcoming events

ECOP Wednesdays December

06 December 2023

On Wednesday, 6 December 2023, EMB and its Young Ambassadors willl host its 15th ECOP Wednesday series event featuring Ricardo Serrão Santos from the University of the Azores & Portuguese Academy of Sciences. Ricardo will give a talk on the multifaceted relationship between humans and the Ocean "Ocean, society and cultural anachronism". The talk will be followed by an interactive Q&A discussion. The event will held over lunch and will be one hour long, from 12:00 - 13:00. Registration is open via the link below.  

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Sailing for oxygen - how citizen science can help understand ocean deoxygenation

07 December 2023

On Thursday 7 December 2023, EMB will host its 35th Third Thursday Science Webinar featuring Toste Tanhua who will speak about "Sailing for oxygen - how citizen science can help understand ocean deoxygenation".
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Events Overview

The European Marine Board (EMB) is the leading European think tank in marine science policy. It provides a platform to advance marine research and to bridge the gap between science and policy.