International conference on Marine Protected Areas in Marine Spatial Planning
Start: Thursday 10th July 2025
Explore the latest updates and scientific advances in marine biodiversity conservation at the MPA in MSP Conference. The conference will cover topics such as MPA planning, climate change effects on marine biodiversity, blue carbon science, and spatial planning benefits. Immediately before the conference we are hosting the 58th European Marine Biology Symposium. Enjoy a three-day event in Bodø with a full, engaging agenda that includes expert speakers, networking time, and field trips to Saltstraumen MPA and other spectacular sub-Arctic environments.
Iliad will be represented by Bente Lilja Bye from BLB, who will be presenting Digital twins of the ocean - tools for holistic marine spatial planning on July 10th at 16:00 CEST.
Digital twins of the ocean - tools for holistic marine spatial planning
By creating virtual, data-rich representations of marine ecosystems, digital twins of the ocean can support decision-making processes that are vital for achieving the European Green Deal’s goals of sustainable resource use, biodiversity preservation, and climate resilience. Moreover, digital twins of the ocean enable holistic views of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) not only by modeling the open ocean but also by incorporating critical data and merging ecological, socio-economic, and management data from MPAs. Looking at MPAs through multidisciplinary lenses such as digital twins represents an unprecedented effective tool to make decisions weighing various interests such as nature reserves, aquaculture, fisheries and biodiversity. In this presentation the Iliad digital twins of the ocean approach and implementation of thematic and local twins will be explained. Examples of digital twins applied to marine environments and their capacity to serve as holistic tools in marine spatial planning across regions in Europe, Africa and Middle-East will be given.
Authors:
Bente Lilja Bye, BLB
Arne Jørgen Berre, SINTEF Digital
Dhia Guezguez, SPA/RAC
Charalambos Ipektsidis, Netcompany
Georgios Sylaios, Democritus University of Thrace
Iliad will also be presenting two posters, Supporting multidisciplinary marine spatial planning through effective data management, standards, and best practices.