As coordinator of PERCEBES, José Luis Acuña has participated in the kickoff meeting of the BIODIVERSA ERANET. It was an opportunity to witness the fascinating diversity of projects which were finally financed in this 2015-2016 call. These address some of the most relevant ecological issues in our continent: climate change in the arctic, connectivity among populations (e.g. bears), soil health in agriculture, healthy cities, novel ecosystems, etc… Some 14% of the funded proposals belong in the marine real, with projects on microbial communities in tidal flat sediments (BIO-Tide), marine forests and global change (MARFOR), connectivity of marine protected areas (RESERVEBENEFIT) and, of course, PERCEBES.
Dr. Koen Sabbe explains BIO-Tide to an audience of scientists and stakeholders
Attendants were exposed to the intricacies of project selection, to key project management issues and had the chance to interact with stakeholders in a separate R&I meeting. Thanks to Frédéric Lemaitre, Sarah Todd, Sophie Germain, Xavier Le Roux and all the BIODIVERSA team for a fruitful meeting.
Prof. Stephen Hawkins (UK) gave us a glimpse of the careful and painstaking project selection procedure. A very exigent job.
The meeting room at the BELSPO office, during a break. At the column, the PERCEBES poster.