Researchers

Policy Makers

Students

Metadata Catalogue
of Resources & Services

Access and use the resources and services for biodiversity and ecosystem researchers made available through our catalogues.

VREs
30
Datasets
1891
Services
252
Workflows
39
Training Resources
36
mylifewatch2
My LifeWatch
VREsRisorsa 5
VREs
lifeblock4
LifeBlock
ecoportal
EcoPortal
CommunityRisorsa 7
Community
TrainingRisorsa 8
Training
HelpDesk
HelpDesk

Latest News

SERE 2026: LifeWatch ERIC attends the European Conference on Ecological Restoration
Last week, members of LifeWatch ERIC Jorge Osman and Cristina Huertas-Olivares attended the SERE 2026 Conference, the 15th edition of the European Conference on Ecological Restoration, organised by the University of Brest's Geoarchitecture Laboratory in close collaboration with SER-Europe and the 'REVER' network. The main objective of this event was to share knowledge and strengthen links between stakeholders in ecological restoration, with a focus on ecological, social, and political considerations. The conference tackled all aspects of restoration, across different types of ecosystems and territories, including some usually less well-integrated topics, such as the restoration of ecological networks (particularly dark infrastructure)...
LifeWatch ERIC joins ECSA 61: the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association Conference 2026
From 24 to 27 August 2026, a global, multidisciplinary community of researchers and professionals is gathering in Belgium to discuss the urgent challenges posed by the triple planetary crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – with threats to biodiversity representing a particularly major concern for both the planet health and human societies. This is, in fact, the focus of “ECSA 61: Bridging the gap between science and policy in estuarine and coastal marine biodiversity: the way forward“. Organised by Elsevier and the ECSA Association, the conference features sessions and workshops across four main topics: Physics, Ecology, Biogeochemistry, and...
Tides of Balance: the new documentary by Marine SABRES on the conservation of marine ecosystems
The EU-funded project Marine SABRES is preparing to launch Tides of Balance, a video documentary on the importance of protecting the delicate balance between marine biodiversity and the communities that depend on it. Marine SABRES, acronym for MARINE Systems Approaches for Biodiversity Resilience and Ecosystem Sustainability is dedicated to improving the management of Europe’s oceans and seas. Part of this effort involves bringing scientific research closer to the public, showing what it means to live with the sea, and why healthy marine ecosystems are essential for both nature and society. The documentary is built on the voices and experiences of...
Wetland restoration projects join forces and speak to policy: read the joint White Paper
Collaboration is at the hearth of real impact in research. It is especially encouraging when members of research projects work together, combining their expertise, scientific evidence, and practical knowledge to deliver a shared message with one strong, science-based voice. We are glad to announce the release of a joint, landmark white paper from a group of EU-funded projects on wetlands restoration: RESTORE4Cs, ALFAWetlands, REWET, WET HORIZONS, ForPet, Wetland4Change, and Palus Demos. The paper is called "Prioritising Wetland Conservation and Restoration in Europe | United voices for more policy impact". It collects scientific evidence, policy analysis, and direct experience from research...
15th International Polychaete Conference: the role of RIs in Polychaete Biodiversity Science
From 27 to 31 July 2026, the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum of Frankfurt (Germany) is hosting the 15th International Polychaete Conference (IPC15), bringing together researchers and students working on all aspects of polychaete biology. From systematics and morphology, to ecology, physiology, development and evolution, each day of the conference is centred around a specific aspect of polychaete research, and is introduced by a keynote talk: Thomas Bartolomaeus, from Bonn University in Germany, introduces "Morphology and Physiology"; Joana Zanol, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, introduces "Taxonomy, Systematics and Phylogenomics"; Monika Bright, from Vienna...
Join the public session of the OntoPortal Alliance 5th Workshop, in September 2026
The OntoPortal Alliance is a consortium of research and infrastructure teams dedicated to promoting semantic and ontology services, in science and beyond, based on the open, collaboratively developed OntoPortal open source software (https://ontoportal.org). The teams participating in the Alliance develop and maintain several openly accessible semantic resource repositories. This includes, among others, LifeWatch ERIC's EcoPortal: an online space designed to collect biodiversity and ecosystem semantic resources and provide the necessary services for enabling discovery and interoperability. From 21 to 25 September, members of the Alliance and invited guest will meet for the OntoPortal Workshop 2026 in Paris, France, hosted by...
Project RECUP-DAS members at the University of Huelva for the 3rd Executive Monitoring Committee meeting
On 24 June, the Faculty of Experimental Sciences at the University of Huelva hosted the third Executive Monitoring Committee meeting for the RECUP-DAS project, an initiative co-funded by the European Union through the Andalusia ERDF Programme 2021–2027. The aim of RECUP-DAS is to apply DAS (Dispersed Alkaline Substrate) technology to reduce the presence of metals resulting from acid mine drainage and to develop advanced scientific monitoring and digitalisation capabilities that will enable the assessment and tracking of the environmental recovery of the River Odiel. The meeting was attended by Susana Benavides, Director-General for Water Resources at the Regional Ministry of...
FAIR2Adapt secures EOSC Gravity funding and launches FAIR Solution webinar series
FAIR2Adapt (https://www.lifewatch.eu/fair2adapt) is a multidisciplinary Horizon Europe project coordinated by LifeWatch ERIC, aiming to enable the development of comprehensive, and scientifically-sound climate adaptation strategies and plans, by transforming data into actionable knowledge. The project has recently been selected for funding under the EOSC Gravity Inter Projects Grants call. The funded initiative, ROH-ON (https://eosc.eu/horizon-europe-projects/roh-on), will onboard two core FAIR Digital Object services -ROHub (https://www.rohub.org) and FAIROs (https://ostrails.eu/fairos) - into the EOSC Federation through the EOSC Polish Node (EOSC-PL) over the next six months. Led by Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC) and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), with LifeWatch ERIC contributing...
Highlights from BEeS 2026: Four days of biodiversity science in Plovdiv
From 7 to 10 July, the biodiversity and ecosystem research community gathered in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, for LifeWatch ERIC's Biodiversity and Ecosystem eScience Conference (BEeS 2026), bringing together 216 registrants from 28 countries (and co-located with LifeWatch ERIC's General Assembly). Across four days of scientific exchange, discussions, and hands-on activities, researchers and infrastructure experts explored how digital technologies (including artificial intelligence) have the potential to shape the future of biodiversity and ecosystem research. As LifeWatch ERIC's flagship event, each edition of BEeS is hosted by one of its Distributed Centres, and this year the spotlight was on LifeWatch Bulgaria, with the...
Agroecology Monitoring experts meet in Rome
The European AGROECOLOGY Partnership gathers together the European Commission and 72 partners across member states, associated countries, and third countries, in order to accelerate the transition to agroecology, making farming systems more resilient, productive, and climate/biodiversity-friendly through Living Labs and Research Infrastructures. Currently, the Partnership is developing an innovative monitoring framework that includes indicators, methodologies, and data management tools to track and measure the social, economic, environmental performances and impacts of the agroecology transition in Europe. In the initial stage of this process, three thematic workshops were organised, focusing on agro-environmental, economic, and socio-cultural/governance, to build on expert knowledge generated...
Processing open weather radar data in an operational pipeline
From 24 to 26 June 2026, the University of Amsterdam hosts the 5th International Radar Aeroecology Conference (IRAC 2026: https://hirad.science/irac-2026). This event covers the latest international developments relevant to the use of different types of radars to monitor and understand flying animals, and this year it includes an optional two-day workshop taking place before the conference, on the use of weather radar for applications in aeroecology. On this occasion, researchers from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics presented their latest work: processing weather radar data from across Europe to create vertical profiles, revealing the movements of animals migrating through...
Exploring Ocean Connections Through Interactive Science with “Marine SABRES in Fairs” in Iceland
On 7 June 2026, the "Marine SABRES in Fairs" initiative took part in the Fishermen’s Day celebration (Sjómannadagurinn) in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, contributing to a public outreach event organised by the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute (Hafrannsóknastofnun - Hafró), with the support of LifeWatch ERIC for Marine SABRES activities. The annual celebration, deeply rooted in Iceland’s maritime culture, brought together a broad audience and offered a valuable opportunity to engage the public with marine science. In this context, Marine SABRES and the ICEWATER projects set up an interactive space dedicated to marine ecosystems, fisheries, and the relationship between people and the...
Riding the Wave: Advancing the EU Ocean Pact through Science, Innovation and Cooperation – LifeWatch ERIC joins the discussions in Cyprus
On 11 and 12 May 2026, the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union invited delegations to attend the Conference “Riding the Wave: Advancing the EU Ocean Pact through Science, Innovation and Cooperation”. The event was organised by the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy (DMRID) of the Republic of Cyprus, together with the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI) and ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence. Representatives from EU institutions, Member States, research organisations, industry, and innovation platforms gathered together to explore how ocean science and maritime innovation can more effectively inform European policy, competitiveness, and sustainability....
“Marine SABRES in Fairs” joins Fishermen’s Day in Iceland
The next "Marine SABRES in Fairs" will take part in Fishermen’s Day in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, on June 7, 2026, joining a rich outreach and educational programme hosted and organised by the Marine & Freshwater Research Institute. Fishermen’s Day, celebrated annually on the first Sunday of June, is a long-standing national tradition in Iceland that honours the country’s deep connection to the sea and its fishing heritage. Established in 1938, the celebration has evolved into a nationwide event featuring harbour festivities, cultural activities, and educational initiatives that engage communities of all ages with maritime life and ocean culture. In this context,...
LifeWatch ERIC in Lecce at the launch of the NBFC Biodiversity Gateway Demo Center
On 29 May 2026, the city of Lecce, home to the LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre, launches the new Demo Center of the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) Biodiversity Gateway, Italy’s first national portal fully dedicated to biodiversity and coordinated by the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). The Biodiversity Gateway seeks to build stronger relations between research institutions, local communities, schools, public administrations and businesses, fostering awareness and action around biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability. In this light, the Demo Center will act as a new public space where citizens can connect with scientific research on biodiversity through immersive and...
SERE 2026: LifeWatch ERIC attends the European Conference on Ecological Restoration

SERE 2026: LifeWatch ERIC attends the European Conference on Ecological Restoration

Last week, members of LifeWatch ERIC Jorge Osman and Cristina Huertas-Olivares attended the SERE 2026 Conference, the 15th edition of…
Read More
LifeWatch ERIC joins ECSA 61: the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association Conference 2026

LifeWatch ERIC joins ECSA 61: the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association Conference 2026

From 24 to 27 August 2026, a global, multidisciplinary community of researchers and professionals is gathering in Belgium to discuss…
Read More
Tides of Balance: the new documentary by Marine SABRES on the conservation of marine ecosystems

Tides of Balance: the new documentary by Marine SABRES on the conservation of marine ecosystems

The EU-funded project Marine SABRES is preparing to launch Tides of Balance, a video documentary on the importance of protecting…
Read More
Wetland restoration projects join forces and speak to policy: read the joint White Paper

Wetland restoration projects join forces and speak to policy: read the joint White Paper

Collaboration is at the hearth of real impact in research. It is especially encouraging when members of research projects work…
Read More
15th International Polychaete Conference: the role of RIs in Polychaete Biodiversity Science

15th International Polychaete Conference: the role of RIs in Polychaete Biodiversity Science

From 27 to 31 July 2026, the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum of Frankfurt (Germany) is hosting the…
Read More
Join the public session of the OntoPortal Alliance 5th Workshop, in September 2026

Join the public session of the OntoPortal Alliance 5th Workshop, in September 2026

The OntoPortal Alliance is a consortium of research and infrastructure teams dedicated to promoting semantic and ontology services, in science…
Read More
Project RECUP-DAS members at the University of Huelva for the 3rd Executive Monitoring Committee meeting

Project RECUP-DAS members at the University of Huelva for the 3rd Executive Monitoring Committee meeting

On 24 June, the Faculty of Experimental Sciences at the University of Huelva hosted the third Executive Monitoring Committee meeting…
Read More
FAIR2Adapt secures EOSC Gravity funding and launches FAIR Solution webinar series

FAIR2Adapt secures EOSC Gravity funding and launches FAIR Solution webinar series

FAIR2Adapt (https://www.lifewatch.eu/fair2adapt) is a multidisciplinary Horizon Europe project coordinated by LifeWatch ERIC, aiming to enable the development of comprehensive, and…
Read More
Highlights from BEeS 2026: Four days of biodiversity science in Plovdiv

Highlights from BEeS 2026: Four days of biodiversity science in Plovdiv

From 7 to 10 July, the biodiversity and ecosystem research community gathered in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, for LifeWatch ERIC’s Biodiversity and…
Read More
Agroecology Monitoring experts meet in Rome

Agroecology Monitoring experts meet in Rome

The European AGROECOLOGY Partnership gathers together the European Commission and 72 partners across member states, associated countries, and third countries,…
Read More

Events

21/09/2026
- 25/09/2026
OntoPortal Workshop 2026
21/10/2026
- 23/10/2026
BBCC2026 – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Conference
26/10/2026
- 29/10/2026
MARBEFES Autumn School 2026
04/11/2026
- 05/11/2026
High-throughput biodiversity monitoring workshop by BMD project:
17/11/2026
- 20/11/2026
7th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity
07/04/2027
- 09/04/2027
2027 Ocean Decade Conference
OntoPortal Workshop 2026
Paris, France From 21 to 25 September, members of the OntoPotral Alliance and invited guest will meet for the OntoPortal...
BBCC2026 – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Conference
Naples, Italy The 21st edition of the Annual Conference "BBCC2026 Bioinformatics and Computer Biology" will be held in Naples, Italy,...
MARBEFES Autumn School 2026
Lecce, Italy From October 26 to 29, 2026, the Autumn School "Protecting marine biodiversity with the MARBEFES Toolbox" will be...
High-throughput biodiversity monitoring workshop by BMD project:
Seville, Spain The Biodiversity Meets Data project (BMD), aims to enhance access to high-throughput biodiversity monitoring tools, analyses, and data...
7th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity
Bruges, Belgium The 7th edition of the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Event, will...
2027 Ocean Decade Conference
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The 2027 Ocean Decade Conference, organised in Rio de Janeiro, will welcome the global ocean community...

Identify community needs and promote FAIR data exchange for agroecology

  • End of 2027
    • Identify the demand from researchers and living labs for interoperable indicators, reproducible workflows, and decision-support tools that connect biophysical, ecological and socio-economic dimensions.

Collaborative Research & Case Studies (2025/2026)

  • Conducting pilot projects to test new monitoring methods;
  • Publishing scientific and popular science papers and reports on advancements in biodiversity assessment.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

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.

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.

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-organised with the University of Salento;
  • 30 June – 3 July 2025 – Participation to LifeWatch 2025 BEeS Conference on “Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis”.

Fund raising

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

Meetings, Webinars, International Conferences & Networking (2025/2026)

  • Organising and participating at discussions on emerging technologies in biodiversity monitoring;
  • Organising webinars on machine learning, eDNA analysis, and automated data collection;
  • Fostering collaboration between researchers, technologists, and decision-makers.

Data Standardisation & FAIR Principles Implementation (2025/2026)

  • Developing best practices for data curation and sharing;
  • Ensuring that biodiversity data aligns with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) standards.

Strengthen collaboration and impact

  • Permanent activity

    • Coordinate collaboration among Distributed Centres, Living Labs and research communities to support the development of agroecology services within LifeWatch ERIC;

  • End of 2027

    • Improve comparability of research outputs, accelerate adoption of services, and foster co-created solutions for researchers, farmers, advisors and policy makers.

  • Permanent activity

    • Facilitate joint initiatives, project proposals and knowledge exchange to ensure sustained service development and long-term impact.

Development of VREs for Ecosystem Simulation (2026)

  • Creating virtual models of ecosystems to predict environmental changes;
  • Enhancing conservation strategies through AI-driven simulations.

Mapping Requirements and Gap Analysis

  • End of December 2025 – Catalogue of services already available in LifeWatch ERIC or research lines Ecosystem services mapping.

Methodological Alignment and Innovation

  • End of January 2026 – Online working table on mapping standards, classification systems, and indicators across members;
  • End of January 2026 – Catalogue of advanced techniques (e.g., remote sensing, GIS modelling, and machine learning) for scalable, habitat-based ecosystem service mapping;
  • End December 2026 – Methodological framework to support methodological innovation through joint development and testing of mapping approaches, especially linking ecosystem service supply and demand.

Knowledge Exchange and Capacity Building

  • End of December 2025 – Create a shared repository of guidance documents, tools, templates, and data resources accessible to WG members and broader communities.

Policy Relevance and Uptake

  • End of May 2026 – Policy-brief to demonstrate the application of habitat-based mapping in supporting EU strategies (e.g., Biodiversity Strategy, Nature Restoration Law).

Cross-Disciplinary Lexicon

  • End of April 2026 – Lexicon of standardised terminology
  • End of May 2026 – Publication submitted

Environmental Data Mapping

  • End of May 2026 – Core environmental data mapped as a list
  • End of June 2026 – Cross-comparison with existing LifeWatch catalogue done

Integrated Data-to-Model Workflows

  • End of December 2026 – At least 5 workflows for data-model integration developed and published
  • End of February 2027 – At least 5 workflows for policy-relevant outputs developed and published

Experimental design and extraction protocols

  • March–June 2026​
    • Kick-off meeting;
    • collection of use cases;
    • mapping of existing experimental designs and nucleic acid extraction protocols.
  • July–December 2026
    • Comparative evaluation of sampling strategies and sequencing approaches;
    • assessment of extraction methods across environmental matrices;
    • drafting of best-practice guidelines.
  • January–April 2027
    • Pilot validation, community feedback, and release of Version 1.0 standardised guidelines.

Bioinformatics services and infrastructure

  • March–September 2026​
    • assessment of computational needs;
    • deployment of Virtual Machines and Galaxy Instances;
    • integration of workflows for eDNA, DNA metabarcoding, and shotgun metagenomics.
  • October 2026–June 2027​
    • release and optimization of reproducible workflows;
    • scaling of infrastructure;
    • integration of ML/AI tools for biodiversity analyses.

Community engagement and application integration

  • March–June 2026​
    • stakeholder mapping and engagement strategy;
    • first open webinar.
  • July 2026–December 2027​
    • workshops, training activities, and industry–academia roundtables;
    • co-development of application-oriented pilot studies.
  • 2028​
    • consolidation of collaborations, cross-infrastructure initiatives, and dissemination of impact- oriented outputs.

Advance agroecological research across scales

  • Permanent activity

    • Increase knowledge on ecological processes in agroecosystems, considering both relevant spatial scales and long-term changes.

  • End of 2027

    • Promote the advancement of Landscape Agroecology, exploring new ways of functional integration of different land and livestock uses to increase territorial efficiency and generate landscape mosaics well-endowed with biodiversity and ecosystem services.

  • End of 2027

    • Contribute to the design of agroecological food systems at local and bioregional levels to meet population food demands.

  • End of 2028

    • Research on the contribution of agroecological management to combating climate emergencies, both in terms of mitigation (sequestration) and adaptation to adverse climatic conditions at both farm and landscape level.

Support the development of digital agroecology services

  • June 2026

    • Deployment of EDDAn​ data space for Agrifood sector in Andalusia; Adaptation of TITAN workflow platform and related KHAOS tools to serve as a reproducible, trustworthy analysis layer within EDDAn Data Space;

  • September 2026

    • An AGROSERV TransNationalAccess project is currently underway by LifeWatch ERIC and AnaEE ERIC to develop a VREfA (Virtual Research Environment for Agroecology). The project, led by UPO, will support the biophysical analysis of agroecosystems that are transitioning to agroecological management practices.

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