the e-Science Infrastructure for
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research
Resources & Services
Access and use the resources and services for biodiversity and ecosystem researchers made available through our catalogues.
ESFRI Landmark Monitoring: LifeWatch ERIC undergoes its first five-year assessment
The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Landmarks were introduced in the ESFRI Roadmap 2016 as reference Research Infrastructures (RIs) and are pillars in the European Research Area (ERA) landscape, offering not only services to academic research but also supporting development and innovation. Guaranteeing the excellence of the Landmark label, ESFRI shoulders responsibility for monitoring the quality of the RIs listed in the ESFRI roadmap as Landmarks. Therefore, it has started the evaluation process of all active ERICs subdividing them in three batches, in 2022. LifeWatch ERIC had entered the ESFRI Roadmap back in 2006, while it was attributed...
LifeWatch ERIC and CREA to accelerate the farming system transition
On 28 and 29 May, LifeWatch ERIC and CREA will organise a meeting in the context of the Horizon Europe project "European partnership on accelerating farming systems transition—agroecology living labs and research infrastructures (AGROECOLOGY)". The meeting will take place at the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics in Rome, Italy. Our José Manuel Ávila-Castuera, Agroecology team Coordinator, Iria Soto Embodas, Agroecology Project Manager and Ana Mellado García, Project Executive Coordinator, will participate in the meeting representing LifeWatch ERIC. The meeting will focus on the project's tasks, following a participative approach of all partners involved in the Working Package 5 (Data...
Bridging science, policy, and innovation at the last Thematic Service Workshop in Portugal
LifeWatch Portugal, in collaboration with all LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities and National Distributed Centres, organised the sixth and final Thematic Service Workshop at the University of Aveiro in Portugal on May 3. The workshop, entitled "Habitat Mapping: From Science and Policy Needs to Solutions", aimed to explore the intersection of science, policy and innovative solutions in habitat mapping. It attracted a wide range of participants working in environmental conservation and data-driven decision-making. The workshop had 14 online and 17 face-to-face participants. Alberto Basset from the LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre presented the LifeWatch Thematic Core Service (TCS) and explored habitat mapping...
Advancing Earth Sciences: Highlights from the 2024 EGU General Assembly
From April 14 to 19, the 2024 General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) - a non-profit international union of scientists focused on planetary and space science research in Europe - occurred in Vienna, Austria. With around 19,500 members worldwide, the EGU24 General Assembly counted 20,979 registered attendees, with 18,388 present in Vienna from 116 countries and 2,591 people joining online from 109 countries. In a session with ICOS-ERIC and the EGI Foundation, LifeWatch-ERIC presented how to use the NaaVRE Virtual Research Environment (VRE), focusing on teaching participants the essential technologies for notebook containerisation, workflow composition and cloud automation...
Three new artificial nests in Bulgaria to protect European Green Belt biodiversity
In March 2024, Green Balkans - one of the oldest non-governmental organisation in Bulgaria dedicated to conserving natural habitats and a partner of LifeWatch Bulgaria, the national node of LifeWatch ERIC - installed three artificial nests for the Imperial Eagle within the European Green Belt. This ecological corridor is crucial for protecting biodiversity and stretches from the Baltic shores to the Black and Ionian Seas, passing through the central areas of Germany. Running along the historic Iron Curtain, which once split Europe into East and West, the European Green Belt is a natural sanctuary where wildlife has thrived amidst the...
Inmaculada Figueroa opens the 1st RICH Europe Symposium on Research Infrastructures
The Institute of Health Carlos III hosted the first RICH Europe Symposium on Research Infrastructures in Madrid, Spain, on May 7th. The symposium focused on integrating and developing open science within European research infrastructures (RIs) through a series of presentations and discussions held in three sessions. It also showcased relevant funded projects and promoted a global dialogue on research infrastructures. Inmaculada Figueroa, Vice Director General for Internationalization of Science and Innovation, General Secretariat for Research, member of the EOSC Steering Board, and Spanish Ministry delegate to the LifeWatch ERIC ERIC General Assembly, opened the first session. Participants discussed how research...
LifeWatch Slovenia hosted the 5th Thematic Service Workshop on Biodiversity Observatory Automation
On April 11, LifeWatch Slovenia recently hosted the 5th Thematic Service Workshop on Biodiversity Observatory Automation at the National Institute of Biology in Ljubljana. The workshop focused on reviewing and updating the requirements for effective biodiversity assessment in light of current environmental changes and biodiversity loss. The event had 33 participants who attended the workshop in person, while 30 others joined online. The workshop brought together experts to present the key achievements and obstacles in monitoring and observation approaches and discuss various stakeholders' drawbacks and needs through an extensive programme of twelve presentations. The event included a panel discussion among Prof Rudolf Meier from the Museum...
LifeWatch Italy, the CNR and the University of Salento launched the Virtual Museum of Ecosystems and the Natural Environment
On 22 April - during Earth Day, the international day for protecting and conserving the environment - LifeWatch Italy, the University of Salento and the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) celebrated by hosting an online webinar entitled "Knowing ecosystems to protect them". During the webinar, the hosts presented the Virtual Museum of Ecosystems and the Natural Environment, a dissemination and learning tool aimed at high school and first-year university students, alongside all citizens interested in understanding how the natural world around us works. The virtual museum features four rooms dedicated to natural environments - mountains, marine-coastal wetlands, semi-arid regions,...
LifeWatch ERIC’s CEO at the 8th European Conference of Scientific Diving in Heraklion, Greece
From April 22 to 26, the scientific diving community will gather in Heraklion, Crete, for the 8th European Conference of Scientific Diving (ECSD). Hosted by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research—a member of LifeWatch Greece, one of our National Nodes—and the European Panel for Occupational Scientific Diving, this year's conference covers a wide range of topics across the marine sciences spectrum, including biology, ecology, physical oceanography, biogeochemistry, geosciences, and archaeology. There's also a strong focus on cutting-edge technologies in scientific diving, diving education and training, and diving regulation. Newly emerging themes such as marine spatial planning and marine renewable energies...
Biogeography for conservation: a recap from our Thematic Workshop in Bologna
LifeWatch Italy, in partnership with the University of Bologna, organised a two-day workshop as part of the LifeWatch ERIC Thematic Service Workshop Series. The workshop, which took place from April 4th to 5th, brought together scientists and researchers to focus on biogeography and conservation strategies. The event aimed to facilitate in-depth exploration and collaboration and address the pressing challenges related to biodiversity preservation and habitat management. The symposium began with a welcome speech by Alessandro Chiarucci from the University of Bologna, followed by Prof. Alberto Basset from the Università del Salento and LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre Director. Prof. Basset gave...
Tracking biodiversity: it’s all about scale
Scale is a key ingredient when assessing and studying biodiversity: this is the video's key message just released by the MARBEFES project, focusing on the Baltic Sea Broad Belt Transect (BBT). The video is the first "Meet the BBTs"video series that will be released to explore current challenges faced by biodiversity in Europe. MARBEFES, the EU project in which LifeWatch ERIC is a partner, aims to identify the connections between marine biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and the resulting societal goods and benefits within coastal communities. The BBTs are the backbone of the MARBEFES research project, which aims to broaden...
EOSC and Beyond: LifeWatch ERIC at the project’s kickoff meeting to accelerate research applications
The EOSC Beyond kickoff meeting occurred on April 17, marking the beginning of an initiative to improve the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) by providing new foundational technical solutions. The outputs will enable developers of scientific application environments to leverage EOSC resources and present them as integrated functionalities to researchers. The ultimate goal is to increase the number of integrated providers and active users of EOSC. As a candidate EOSC node, LifeWatch ERIC - represented by Nicola Fiore, Service Centre ICT Coordinator - participated in the meeting by presenting services like the Metadata Catalogue and LifeBlock, particularly relevant to scientists...
Hic Sunt Lupi meets the citizens
On Wednesday 3 April, the “Hic Sunt Lupi” project held its first public meeting “The return of the wolf in Salento: let's get to know it” in Lecce, Italy. The meeting was opened by the Councilor for Environment of Regione Puglia, Anna Grazia Maraschio, the Mayor of Lecce, Carlo Salvemini and hosted representatives of the experts involved in the project, like Paolo Ciucci, Professor at Sapienza-University of Rome, and Francesco Cozzoli and Francesco De Leo, researchers at the National Research Council (CNR-IRET), Lecce, and Ruben Cataldo, archaeologist and President of Archeo-Rec. This was the first of a series of meetings...
LifeWatch ERIC attended the OSCARS kick-off meeting in Thessaloniki
The OSCARS kick-off meeting took place in Thessaloniki from 13 to 15 March. The event brought together the scientific communities of the five Science Clusters and all project partners to define the work plan for the first 12 months of the project. Our CEO, Christos Arvanitidis, attended the meeting. The OSCARS project stands for Open Science Clusters' Action for Research and Society. It brings together ESFRI and other world-class research infrastructures organised in five "Science Clusters": ENVRI-FAIR (environmental science) EOSC-Life (life science) ESCAPE (astronomy and particle physics) PaNOSC (neutron and light source science) SSHOC (social science and humanities) These clusters have collaborated over the last four...
WoRMS released the 2023 top ten new marine species
On March 19, The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), an initiative hosted by VLIZ, LifeWatch Belgium‘s focal point, released the top ten marine species described by researchers in 2023, coinciding with World Taxonomist Appreciation Day. The list highlights about 2,000 new marine species discovered each year. In 2023, WoRMS added almost 2,000 marine species, including some 330 fossils. In December 2023, World Register of Marine Species sent an invitation for nominations to editors of WoRMS and major taxonomy journals. The invitation was also posted on the WoRMS website and social media, allowing anyone to nominate their favourite marine species...
ESFRI Landmark Monitoring: LifeWatch ERIC undergoes its first five-year assessment
The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Landmarks were introduced in the ESFRI Roadmap 2016 as reference Research Infrastructures…
LifeWatch ERIC and CREA to accelerate the farming system transition
On 28 and 29 May, LifeWatch ERIC and CREA will organise a meeting in the context of the Horizon Europe…
Bridging science, policy, and innovation at the last Thematic Service Workshop in Portugal
LifeWatch Portugal, in collaboration with all LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities and National Distributed Centres, organised the sixth and final Thematic…
Advancing Earth Sciences: Highlights from the 2024 EGU General Assembly
From April 14 to 19, the 2024 General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) – a non-profit international union…
Three new artificial nests in Bulgaria to protect European Green Belt biodiversity
In March 2024, Green Balkans – one of the oldest non-governmental organisation in Bulgaria dedicated to conserving natural habitats and…
Inmaculada Figueroa opens the 1st RICH Europe Symposium on Research Infrastructures
The Institute of Health Carlos III hosted the first RICH Europe Symposium on Research Infrastructures in Madrid, Spain, on May…
LifeWatch Slovenia hosted the 5th Thematic Service Workshop on Biodiversity Observatory Automation
On April 11, LifeWatch Slovenia recently hosted the 5th Thematic Service Workshop on Biodiversity Observatory Automation at the National Institute of Biology in Ljubljana.…
LifeWatch Italy, the CNR and the University of Salento launched the Virtual Museum of Ecosystems and the Natural Environment
On 22 April – during Earth Day, the international day for protecting and conserving the environment – LifeWatch Italy, the…
LifeWatch ERIC's CEO at the 8th European Conference of Scientific Diving in Heraklion, Greece
From April 22 to 26, the scientific diving community will gather in Heraklion, Crete, for the 8th European Conference of…
Biogeography for conservation: a recap from our Thematic Workshop in Bologna
LifeWatch Italy, in partnership with the University of Bologna, organised a two-day workshop as part of the LifeWatch ERIC Thematic…