CMEMS coastal monitoring

How can the Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS) better support coastal monitoring in the Netherlands and Belgium and what do practitioners, researchers and data providers actually need to make that happen?

On Thursday 2 July 2026 a joint national meeting on the Copernicus Marine Service will take place with a special focus on coastal monitoring.

This is the first time the Netherlands and Belgium are co-organising an event of this kind, bringing together knowledge institutes, market parties and end users around a shared agenda. The day is designed around meeting and dialogue: not a one-way programme, but a space to exchange, explore and connect.

The meeting will focus on what CMEMS currently offers for coastal monitoring, how digital twin developments such as EDITO are shaping the future of marine data services, and what national and international developments are relevant for practitioners in both countries. We will also look ahead: what data, tools and services will be needed in the coming years, and how can the right parties find each other to make that happen?

CMEMS is relevant for a broad range of users from water and coastal managers to port authorities, nature managers, safety services and policymakers.

The programme will reflect that diversity, with room for matchmaking between knowledge holders, data providers and end users, including in the context of upcoming calls. The day will also include an exploration of a potential marine working group under GEO Netherlands.

Detailed Programme:

09:30 – 10:00 | Registration & coffee

10:00 – 10:25 | Welcome and setting the scene

• Opening of the event & practical arrangements
• Belspo | Aim of the day
• Nick Boxem (Ministry of Infrastructurer and Water Management) | “Why Coastal Monitoring is More Important Than Ever”
• Sebastien Legrand (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) | “50 years of Belgian Marine Forecasting”

10:25 – 11:25 | Copernicus Marine Service: Present and Future

• Tina Silovic (Mercator Ocean International) | “Overview of Copernicus Marine Service for Coastal and Marine Applications”
• Lorinc Meszaros (Deltares) | “Digital Twins for the North Sea and Coastal Zone”
• Lotta Beyaard | “Coastal extension of Copernicus Marine Service to better serve coastal users and Member States”
• Dimitry van der Zande (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) | “On the Belgian Earth Observation Data Space and Aquatic EO data service for North Sea users”

11:25 – 11:45 | Short break

11:45 – 12:00 | Beatrice Barresi (ESA) | Example of solutions on coastal monitoring supported by BASS

12:00 – 12:25 | End User Session

• Introduction to the session.
• End user pitches from a.o. Nick van Boxem (Ministry of I&W), Liesbeth Keukelaere (VITO) and Marco de Bruijn (RWS ZD)
• Round-table discussion.            

12:25 – 12:30 | Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Thesis Lab

12:30 – 14:00 | Lunch & Demonstration and Poster Visits

• 13:00 – 14:00 | LDE-thesis challenge end event

14:00 – 15:00 | Plenary Pitches: Research & Market

• Pitches from Etienne Kras (Deltares) on satellite derived bathymetry and coastal erosion, Dimitry van der Zande (RBINS) on coastal zone water quality, Pooja Mahapatra (FUGRO/EOMAP) on coastal vegetation, and Alizée Roobaert (VLIZ) on coastal carbon monitoring.
• Round table discussion.

15:15– 15:30 | Break – move to break-out locations

15:30– 16:15 | Break-out session

Break-out tables:

User Needs, Adoption & Operations
How do end users need to work with coastal data and services, and what do they need for actual uptake?

Innovation & Integration
How can we combine AI, data fusion, citizen science, in-situ data, drones and other Copernicus services?

Governance & Cross-Border Collaboration
How do we organize cooperation, roles and responsibilities across borders and policy frameworks?

Coastal monitoring in a Caribbean Context
What does coastal monitoring need to look like for the BES islands and other Dutch Caribbean islands?

16:15 – 16:30 | Closing session

• Harm van de Wetering, Director Netherlands Space Agency

16:30 – 18:00 | Drinks

We look forward to welcoming you for a day of exchange, inspiration and new connections.