The AERAP Science Summit

LifeWatch ERIC at AERAP

What a week! LifeWatch ERIC staff members participated in a total of 14 sessions across the Africa-Europe Science and Innovation Summit, hosted virtually by AERAP Science on 14-18 June 2021. 37 hours of presentations and discussions, all focused on improving knowledge transfer on science and innovation between Africa and Europe. This Summit drew on a range of processes, including AGENDA 2063, Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse; the AU Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024 (STISA-2024); and the European Commission Communication Towards a Comprehensive Strategy with Africa which foresees future cooperation built on five partnerships: green transition, digital transformation, growth and jobs, peace and governance and migration and mobility. 

LifeWatch ERIC took part in sessions covering a range of topics, from Blockchain, to agri-food systems, to the Global Biodiversity Framework, featuring participation from CEO Christos Arvanitidis, CTO and ICT-Core Director Juan Miguel González-Aranda, CFO Lucas de Moncuit and Service Centre Director Alberto Basset, along with staff members from the ICT Core and the Service Centre: Elisa Morón-López, Antonio José Sáenz-Albanés, José Manuel Ávila, Javier López-Torres and Cosimo Vallo.

LifeWatch ERIC staff participated in 14 panels overall, alongside esteemed representatives from Europe and Africa, such as Tanya Abrahamse, CEO of GBIF; Intisar Soghayroun, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research of Sudan; Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation in Research & Innovation at the European Comission; Clint García Alimandri of the Junta de Andalucia; Maxwell Otim, Director at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Uganda; and many more. The Summit saw a large amount of support from LifeWatch ERIC, which also convened the discussion “Cooperation on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services” alongside the South African Department of Science and Innovation. LifeWatch ERIC also participated in the last AERAP conference in September 2020.

You can view LifeWatch ERIC’s presentations below:

Elisa Morón-López, Lucas de Moncuit – Overview of European Science Programmes and Policies

Juan Miguel González-Aranda – Opening Plenary

Juan Miguel González-Aranda – Africa-Europe Geoscience Cooperation to Sustain our Planet

José Manuel Ávila – Developing a Skills Agenda that Works for Future Generations in Africa. Download PDF

Antonio José Sáenz-Albanés – Our Digital Future for our Citizens

Juan Miguel González-Aranda – Science Capacity Building in Africa

Christos Arvanitidis, Juan Miguel González-Aranda, Alberto Basset – Cooperation on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services

José Manuel Ávila – Africa-Europe Research Cooperation for the Advancement of Agri-Food Systems. Download PDF

Christos Arvanitidis: Oceans of Cooperation

Antonio José Sáenz-Albanés, Juan Miguel González-Aranda – Building ICT Capacity

Juan Miguel González-Aranda – Science at the United Nations’ 76th  General Assembly, September 2021: How Science Advances the SDGs

Juan Miguel González-Aranda, Antonio José Sáenz-Albanés – Blockchain in Africa

Javier López-Torres, Cosimo Vallo: Youth Challenge: Inspiring the Next Generation with the Schools Satellite Project. Download PDF

Christos Arvanitidis, Juan Miguel González-Aranda, Alberto Basset – Africa-Europe Cooperation on the Global Biodiversity Framework

Christos Arvanitidis, Juan Miguel González-Aranda, José Manuel Ávila (Download PDF) – Africa-Europe Partnering Together for Future Biodiversity Challenges: Consortia Building

Fund raising

  • End of January 2025 – Establishing a WG Committee on scouting project application opportunities and fundraising

Organising WG workshops and conferences

  • End of January 2025 – Setting priority research lines and contributions to the BEeS 2025 LifeWatch Conference for the session on the “Ecological responses to climate change”
  • March/April 2025 (TBD) – Workshop ‘Ecological modelling and eco-informatics to address functional responses of biodiversity and ecosystems to climate change’ co-organized with the University of Salento
  • 30 June – 3 July 2025 – Participation to LifeWatch 2025 BEeS Conference on “Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis”

Implementing services

  • End of January 2025 – Internal distribution of a questionnaire on the most used/relevant model resources in the WG member research activity
  • February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders

Mapping user requirements

  • End of January 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines addressing ecological responses to climate change
  • February 2025 (TBD) – Online working table on setting priorities, timeline and milestones for the mapping service and model requirements by scientists and science stakeholders
Bulgaria

The Bulgarian National Distributed Centre is represented by the  Agricultural University-Plovdiv.

To know more about how Bulgaria contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Bulgaria webpage
Spain

The Spanish National Distributed Centre is supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Regional Government of Andalusia and the Guadalquivir River Basin Authority (Ministry for Ecological Transition-MITECO). Moreover, Spain is the hosting Member State of LifeWatch ERIC, the location of its Statutory Seat & ICT e-Infrastructure Technical Office (LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities). 

To know more about how Spain contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Spain webpage
Slovenia

The Slovenian National Distributed Centre is led by the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). It focuses on the development of technological solutions in the field of biodiversity and socio-ecosystem research.

To know more about how Slovenia contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Slovenia webpage
Portugal

The Portuguese National Distributed Centre is managed by PORBIOTA, the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity. Led by BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO – Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, PORBIOTA connects the principal Portuguese research institutions working in biodiversity.

To know more about how Portugal contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Portugal webpage
Netherlands

The Dutch National Distributed Centre is hosted by the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam. Moreover, The Netherlands hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Virtual Laboratory and Innovation Centre.

To know more about how The Netherlands contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Netherlands webpage
Italy

The Italian National Distributed Centre is led and managed by the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and is coordinated by a Joint Research Unit, currently comprising 35 members. Moreover, Italy hosts one of the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities, the Service Centre.

To know more about how Italy contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Italy webpage
Greece

The Greek National Distributed Centre is funded by the Greek General Secretariat of Research and Technology and is coordinated by the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, in conjunction with 47 associated partner institutions.

To know more about how Greece contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Greece webpage
Belgium

The Belgian National Distributed Centre makes varied and complementary in-kind contributions to LifeWatch ERIC. These are implemented in the form of long-lasting projects by various research centres and universities distributed throughout the country and supported by each respective political authority.

To know more about how Belgium contributes to LifeWatch ERIC, please visit our dedicated webpage.

Visit Belgium webpage