GEO Blue Planet News: January 2019

Tweet Share Forward January 2019 Newsletter Inside this Issue Request for Contributions to the GEO Blue Planet Secretariat  2018 Highlights The 4th GEO Blue Planet Symposium  Workshops Projects & Working Group Activities  Request for Contributions  to the Secretariat GEO Blue Planet invites government agencies, research institutions and NGOs to submit an expression of interest to host a Secretariat node or provide resources (secondments or funding for staff/fellows) to the GEO Blue Planet Secretariat's principal office.   Submission deadline: February 28, 2019 Click here for more information 2018 Highlights The 4th GEO Blue Planet Symposium  4th GEO Blue Planet Symposium was held from July 4 – 6, 2018 in Toulouse, France. The symposium was hosted by Mercator Ocean, member of the GEO Blue Planet Initiative and entrusted by the European Commission to operate the European Union's Copernicus Marine Service. The symposium was the first GEO Blue Planet symposium organized in Europe and served as a forum for discussion of ocean and coastal information needs for sustainable development, Blue Growth and societal awareness. The symposium took place over three days and consisted of sessions with presentations and panel discussions and poster sessions. A total of 300 delegates attended the symposium from international organizations and networks, research scientists, government agencies, various industries, ocean science communicators and graduate students. Workshops  GEO Blue Planet collaborated with partners to organize several workshops. Workshop on Sargassum and Oil Spills Monitoring Pilot Project for the Caribbean Sea & Adjacent Regions Workshop on Technologies for Observing and Monitoring Plastics in the Oceans Workshop on Implementing and Monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals in the Caribbean: The Role of the Ocean Workshop on Understanding Flooding on Reef-lined Island Coasts Projects and Working Group Activities  Early Warning System for Marine Flooding of Reef-lined Islands   The project aims to develop a simplified Early Warning System (EWS) that covers most of the Pacific Islands and provides a marine flooding forecast out to about ten days. Read more.... Multi-hazard Information and Alert System for the Wider Caribbean IOCARIBE of IOC UNESCO, its GOOS Regional Alliance IOCARIBE-GOOS and GEO Blue Planet are working with partner organizations and stakeholders to develop a multi-hazard information system for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions. The project will first focus on sargassum and oil spills and expand to include additional hazards as identified by local stakeholders.  Read more.... Stakeholder Engagement and Societal Awareness   GEO Blue Planet working group on stakeholders and societal awareness works to promote communication between those who need better knowledge of the ocean and coasts with those who are capable of producing that knowledge using ocean and coastal observation technologies. Activities in 2018 have included providing support for SDG 14.1.1 (Index of Coastal Eutrophication and Floating Debris Density) and production of a brochure on ocean observing products. Read more... Ocean Communicators United The "Ocean Communicators United" (OCU) Working Group is an informal grouping of representatives of international, regional or national oceanographic research organisations that provides a forum for its members to share information, expertise, best practices and materials related to marine science communications. Read more... Water-associated Diseases Working Group A scoping meeting, funded by POGO, for the GEO Blue Planet Working Group on "Earth Observations for Ecology and Epidemiology of Water-associated Diseases" has led to the establishment of a core group of scientists with common interests in water-associated diseases, with expertise and interest in microbiology, genetics, epidemiology of infectious diseases, remote sensing and epidemic modelling, as a basis for international collaboration on public health issues related to water quality. Read more... Have an announcement for our next newsletter?  Send your update to info@geoblueplanet.org.  geoblueplanet.org info@geoblueplanet.org @GEOBluePlanet