Invitation to the EuroMarine General Assembly - Dec 10-11, 2012 in Brussels, BE

Dear Colleague,

We would like to welcome EuroMarine project members, Advisory Board members as well as all former and present members of the EUR-OCEANS, EUR-OCEANS Consortium, MarBEF, MarBEF+ and MGE and the MARS network to the next EuroMarine General Assembly.

10-11 Dec, 2012 at the Royal Flemish Academy of Arts and Sciences (www.kvab.be) in Brussels (BE).

EuroMarine seeks to integrate the three major European marine FP6 networks of excellence - EUR-OCEANS, MarBEF and Marine Genomics Europe - into the "EuroMarine+".

  1. The programme of the General Assembly (GA) will present EuroMarine activities and strategies to date as well as put the EuroMarine initiative (EuroMarine+) into a European and International context. At this Assembly, we will present the proposed framework, governance, research strategy and membership benefits for ALL the partners in the former NoEs. EuroMarine is committed to represent the depth, breadth and rich potential of the European marine science community and this meeting will give you the opportunity to join in and influence the launch of this exciting new venture.
  2. We are also very pleased to announce the confirmed speakers below. The full programme will be posted on www.euromarineconsortium.eu.

 

  • European Commission, Manuela Soares
  • European Commission, Anne Glover
  • Marine Board – ESF, Niall McDonough
  • British Antarctic Survey, Melody Clark
  • Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Adrianna Ianora
  • Ifremer, Morgane Travers
  • IPBES and Diversitas, Anne Larigauderie or Anne-Helene Prieur-Richard
  • JPI Healthy and Productive Oceans, Kathrine Angell-Hansen
  • European Research Council, Donald Dingwell

 

            The general outline will be as below.

 

                   Dec 10 (Day 1)

                   10:00 – 19:00 General Assembly (incl lunch)

                   Dinner (19:30) at Aux Armes de Bruxelles

                            

                   Dec 11 (Day 2)

                   09:00 – 12:30 General Assembly

                   12:30 – 13:30 Lunch

                   Restricted meetings

                   13:30 – ca 15:30   MarBEF ExeC meeting (first 30 minutes jointly with MARS)

                   13:30 – ca 15:30   MARS meeting (first 30 minutes jointly with MarBEF)

                   13:30 – ca 15:30   Eur-Oceans ExeC meeting

                   15:30-16:30         EuroMarine ExeC meeting                            

  1. Costs

 

a)            Conference fees including all meals will be covered for all participants by EuroMarine.

b)            Travel and accommodation costs are only paid for the invited speakers and for Advisory Board members (travel costs will be reimbursed on the return, more details in due time).

c)             All other participants need to pay for their own travel and accommodation.

 

  1. Hotel information

 

  • We have block booked rooms and negotiated the price at the Thon Hotel EU: (www.thonhotels.com/hotels/countrys/belgium/brussels/thon-hotel-eu/) which is a short walking distance from the meeting venue. Cost: EUR 130/per person per night (if you book 2 nights) for a single room (1 night costs EUR 150). Please note that the rooms are released on the 28th of October.

 

Invited speakers and Advisory Board members: Please make your reservation at the Thon Hotel EU via email ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) and quote "EuroMarine Guest" in the subject line of the email. EuroMarine will pay for your accommodation.

 

Other participants: If you choose to stay at the Thon Hotel EU please make your reservation via email ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) and quote "EuroMarine" in the subject line of the email to receive the discounted rate. You will need to pay yourself for the accommodation.

 

             We have also block booked rooms at the following hotels in Brussels:

 

 

5.       Web broadcast.

 

Those who cannot attend the General Assembly in person are encouraged to participate in a live broadcast via a "virtual meeting room", which will allow remote participants to follow the presentations and to ask questions to the speakers. We will provide instructions to those who wish to participate. This can be individually or as a group in a seminar room. Please register your contact details in the registration form (below) and indicate that you wish to participate in the web broadcast.        

 

6.       Registration form (for all) at www.webropolsurveys.com/S/041F8464936F1C13.par, please fill in and submit by 30 November, 2012, at the latest.

 

For any questions please contact EuroMarine project officer Susan Gotensparre at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

 

Welcome & best wishes,

Mike Thorndyke, Catherine Boyen, Philippe Cury and Carlo Heip,

EuroMarine Coordinator & Coordinating Team members