On 30th November 2023, an EMODnet Call to Action was launched at the Closing Session of the 3rd EMODnet Open Conference 2023. The Call to Action called upon the >120 partners of EMODnet and key actors in the European and Global community to actively contribute to developing an EMODnet Vision to 2035, with an implementation roadmap that would realise the full potential of EMODnet.
To coordinate the EMODnet Vision 2035, and ensure the content reflects the vision of the diverse EMODnet community, the EMODnet Secretariat set up an “EMODnet Vision 2035 Drafting Group (EMODnet-VDG)”, as an informal working group specifically convened for the EMODnet Vision 2035. A Terms of Reference was produced and rom the start it was agreed that the EMODnet-VDG composition should be representative of all components of EMODnet, namely the Central Portal, seven thematics, data ingestion, Secretariat, Sea-basin Checkpoints (SBCP), and Associated Partners and a call for nominations was launched by the Secretariat in February 2024, in close collaboration with EMODnet thematic and data ingestion Coordinators as key ambassadors and conduits to their respective EMODnet consortia. In addition, the EMODnet community nominated several wider stakeholders who were considered to have key roles in the EMODnet marine knowledge value chain and as a result EMODnet-VDG also has representation from several external stakeholders.
In 2024 the EMODnet-VDG held four meetings in April, June, September and November, coordinated, hosted and reported by the EMODnet Secretariat. The Secretariat also consulted with SBCP Coordinators (as part of an annual tele-meeting), Associated Partners and EMODnet Coordinators, together with input from the public stakeholder consultation launched for two months during summer 2024 (mid-July to mid-September 2024). The EMODnet-VDG serves as a platform and forum for strategic and foresight discussions representing the EMODnet community and taking into consideration guidance and recommendation from the wider stakeholder community. The EMODnet-VDG’s primary goal is to produce an external Vision 2035 document that is short and highly visual. And with its specific mandate it is a time-limited WG, with activities aimed to end in late Spring 2025, after launch and initial promotion of the EMODnet Vision 2035, noting that communication and dissemination of the external Vision 2035 document. Public consultation 2024
2025: EMODnet’s input to the European Ocean Pact and launch of Vision 2035
In February 2025, the EMODnet Steering Committee of thematic and data ingestion Coordinators, the Central Portal and Secretariat provided an EMODnet response to the call for evidence of the European Ocean Pact. The full response provided by EMODnet communicated the core mandate and key assets of EMODnet today, how EMODnet is already making a difference to support Policy implementation, the Blue Economy and more and outlined the EMODnet Vision 2035. This is now taken forward in a detailed Vision 2035 for EMODnet’s service evolution, developed by the EMODnet community to help inform policy makers and funders at National, Regional and European scales of the opportunities for EMODnet’s consolidation and expansion over the next decade, and to guide wider stakeholders of just how central EMODnet is in the European marine data landscape and global ocean data ecosystem, and how society at large can benefit from EMODnet as Europe’s in situ marine data service.
The EMODnet Vision 2035 will be launched online in summer 2025, with a public webinar in early September 2025 (date tbc) that will bring together members of the EMODnet Vision Drafting Group, wider EMODnet partners and associated partners and external stakeholders to communicate EMODnet’s core assets and to share the community view on EMODnet service evolution over the next decade. This will be a precursor to the EMODnet Open Conference taking place in Brussels on 25-26 November 2025 (save-the-date).
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