Levend Oceaan Overleg (Living Ocean Meeting)

On 23 November 2023, Catherine Blanchard and Alex Oude Elferink participated in the ‘Levend Oceaan Overleg’. The meeting, organized by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (MINIEMW), functioned as a platform for ocean experts in research, policy, NGOs and industry to network and discuss the recent developments on the ocean science-policy interface.

The participants heard presentations and exchanged on a variety of topics such as Dutch ocean research infrastructure at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), the implementation of the Decade of Ocean Science in the Netherlands led by the MINIEMW, the Sustainable Ocean Community of Utrecht University, the Ocean Cleanup, and updates on European collaborations in offshore renewable energy research by the Dutch Marine Energy Center. Catherine Blanchard also took part in a panel discussing how policy, research, and industry work together in deep sea mining.

The Levend Oceaan Overleg is expected to be held twice a year.