News ILVO and VLIZ in one building, with more intense collaboration

A new, even stronger cooperation agreement has been signed by the ILVO Marine and the Flemish Institute for the Sea (VLIZ). The signing was coupled with the provisional delivery of the InnovOcean building, where both institutes will move later this year. The two knowledge institutes intend to intensify their scientific collaboration and will initiate new projects as complementary partners.

In 2017, VLIZ and ILVO committed to intensifying their collaboration via a cooperation agreement. Since then, not only both institutes, but also research topics have undergone an important evolution. For example, VLIZ was given a mandate to detect challenges and opportunities for marine research in Flanders and to strive for implementation of the identified priorities. In terms of research, new needs and opportunities arose, including a focus on themes such as climate mitigation and marine connectivity, and on new data-driven techniques such as modeling, DNA-based monitoring, and artificial intelligence.

So it's time to take a closer look at the collaboration between the two institutes and to coordinate it more closely. Hans Polet, ILVO scientific director: "The research questions we face are becoming increasingly complex. Cooperation and the search for complementarity are therefore becoming increasingly important in order to grasp the complexity." Tina Mertens, VLIZ Deputy Director, also emphasizes the importance of cooperation in an international context: "The importance of the ocean for a sustainable future is high on international agendas. Cooperation between knowledge institutions is of great importance in this respect. By signing this cooperation agreement ILVO and VLIZ reconfirm their increasing cooperation of the past years".

The cooperation agreement was signed on 16 March by ILVO Administrator-General Joris Relaes and VLIZ General Director Jan Mees.

This collaboration will also be given a new boost by the fact that both institutes, plus a number of partners, will soon be moving into the InnovOcean Campus at Jacobsenstraat number 1. ILVO will move into the buildings in the course of the spring. VLIZ and partners will be there from the autumn onwards.

Joris Relaes and Jan Mees are both looking forward to the new opportunities that will arise from moving in together: "Collaboration is one of the basic values of ILVO and VLIZ. What could underline this better than moving together into a beautiful new building for research in Ostend? The cooperation of VLIZ and ILVO will thus become a showpiece of marine research in Flanders."