EOOS event at the European Parliament

The need for an end-to-end integrated and sustained European Ocean Observing System (EOOS) has been expressed by the oceanographic and scientific community during the development of the Integrated Maritime Policy in 2007. In 2008, EuroGOOS and European Marine Board released a joint vision document (pdf) to outline the concept of this framework. Since then, EOOS has featured in a number of scientific and science-policy documents. An overview of those developments is available here. In 2016, after a successful brainstorming workshop, EuroGOOS and European Marine Board convened an expert panel acting as EOOS Steering Group. The Steering Group will develop a draft roadmap for the EOOS implementation and launch it for a wide stakeholder consultation. On 8 September 2016, the EOOS progress and the draft roadmap will be presented at a dedicated event at the European Parliament hosted by MEP Ricardo Serrão Santos. EOOS is seen as a light and flexible coordinating framework to help manage and improve the existing observing effort, making it more efficient and effective at different geographical scales, and for different end-users. Specifically, EOOS will: • Align and integrate existing initiatives to ensure efficiency and value for money and to eliminate duplication of effort; • Identify gaps in our observing capacity and foster initiatives to fill those gaps; • Promote standardization of the end-to-end system from observation collection to data management and products; • Drive capacity building and provide leadership for ocean observation; • Promote the ocean observing services for multiple sectors including research, policy, management and industry; and • Promote a common European voice and integration at the international level. EOOS will bring a real added value to existing observing efforts, empowering those who are working to advance ocean observing in Europe, catalyzing new initiatives in a strategic way, targeting identified gaps and speaking with a wide range of stakeholders.