The Decade Collaborative Centre for Coastal Resilience is co-organising a Townhall Meeting at the EGU General Assembly 2026, taking place from 3 to 8 May 2026 in Vienna.
The Townhall, entitled Testing Grounds for Innovation in Ocean Science: The Mediterranean and Black Seas, will be held on 6 May 2026, 19:00–20:00 CEST (Room M1). The session is convened by Marilaure Grégoire, with Emanuela Clementi as co-convener.
The initiative is jointly developed by experts from the University of Bologna, the DCC-CR, the UN Ocean Decade Programme CoastPredict, the University of Liège and the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change. It aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum to examine how scientific knowledge on the Mediterranean and Black Seas has evolved over time, from the early explorations of the 1960s to today’s advanced operational oceanographic services and emerging Digital Twins for coastal resilience.
The discussion will focus on how technological and conceptual developments have shaped the understanding of these semi-enclosed basins, and how historical perspectives can inform future directions in ocean science. By integrating oceanography with broader historical and philosophical reflections, the Townhall will encourage participants to reconsider the foundations of observation, modelling and analytical approaches in these regions.
The session will open with two keynote presentations introducing both the historical evolution and contemporary relevance of research in these basins:
- Emil Stanev: Historical evolution and perspectives of Black Sea research
- Nadia Pinardi: The Mediterranean Sea as a natural laboratory for advancing process understanding and generating knowledge for societal benefit
A moderated interactive discussion will follow, supported by Slido, focusing on future perspectives and key scientific and conceptual challenges.
The Townhall is open to a wide audience, including oceanographers, marine scientists, early-career researchers, as well as historians and philosophers of science, reflecting its interdisciplinary scope. Expected outcomes include strengthening exchanges across disciplines, identifying shared conceptual frameworks, and stimulating new thinking on the epistemological foundations of marine science, with potential implications for future research agendas within the EGU community.
