Launch event in Bruxelles of EurOCEAN 2014 conference . OGS among the organizer institutions.

At a special launch event in Brussels on Thursday 20 June, attended by representatives of 44 stakeholder organizations EurOCEAN 2014 , a major conference focusing on marine science grand challenges, was presented to Máire Geoghegan‐ Quinn, EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science and Maria da Graça Carvalho, Member of the European Parliament and Rapporteur for the EU Horizon 2020 Programme. The conference will be held in Rome on on 7‐9 October 2014 during the Italian European Presidency . The announcement was made by Dr Enrico Brugnoli, European Marine Board delegate for the CNR on behalf of the three Italian Marine Board member organizations, CNR, CoNISMa (represented by F. Boero) and OGS (represented by A. Crise), co‐organizers of the conference, together with European Marine Board and the European Commission. In looking forward to the EurOCEAN 2014 conference, Máire Geoghegan‐Quinn noted that “ EurOCEAN is considered as a top science conference in Europe which delivers concrete messages to science and policy. These are instrumental in strengthening the knowledge base for Europe and developing common priorities in the area of marine sciences ”.