log Dickies Icon Logo - special offer By www.kunstform.org Published On :: 2022-05-22 10:22:33 We still have a solid stock of the popular Dickies Icon Logo collection, so we can now offer these to you at a super special price. So grab it while stocks last. Full Article
log New Zealand PM apologises to 200,000 vulnerable survivors of state abuse By www.geo.tv Published On :: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 05:32:31 +0500 New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon arrives at the National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, September 4, 2024. — ReutersNew Zealand's prime minister on Tuesday delivered a historic apology to victims abused in state care, acknowledging the "unimaginable pain" suffered... Full Article
log Vatican, Microsoft create AI-generated St. Peter's Basilica to allow virtual visits, log damage By www.washingtontimes.com Published On :: Mon, 11 Nov 2024 08:50:25 -0500 The Vatican and Microsoft on Monday unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world's most important monument's while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems. Full Article
log Puigdemont, presidente Catalogna: faremo rispettare l'esito del referendum sull'indipendenza By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Thu, 10 Aug 2017 12:00:00 +0200 La Catalogna marcia verso il referendum del 1 ottobre per l'indipendenza dalla Spagna. I gruppi separatisti hanno consegnato al Parlamento regionale la legge per la convocazione del voto, che Madrid definisce illegale e promette di fermare a tutti i costi. "Piuttosto che rinunciare al referendum mi faccio arrestare", risponde il presidente catalano Carles Puigdemont. Mario Magarò lo ha intervistato a Barcellona – VIDEO: See more at: http://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/media/Son-magaro-barcellona-020817-171-0752614e-56b1-4312-9f2a-d84557ecbc57.html RAI News Mario Magaró 02-08-2017.- Full Article
log Indipendenza, la Catalogna allo scontro finale con Madrid By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Sat, 09 Sep 2017 18:15:00 +0200 IL SOLE 24 ORE di Luca Veronese 06-09-2017.- Con un atto finale di sfida, la Catalogna sta per approvare la legge sul referendum per l’indipendenza che si terrà il primo di ottobre. A meno di un mese dalla data fissata per la consultazione popolare, il voto del Parlamento catalano porta così lo scontro con lo Stato spagnolo oltre il punto di non ritorno. Il provvedimento sul referendum che dovrebbe essere approvato a maggioranza dai partiti separatisti entro oggi, di fatto segna già una secessione tra la Catalogna e le leggi dello Stato spagnolo: la nuova legge si pone infatti, in caso di conflitto, sopra ogni altra normativa, regionale e statale. Immediata la reazione del premier nazionale, Mariano Rajoy che mantenendo la linea dura - «Il referendum non si farà!» - ha chiesto alla Corte Costituzionale di bloccare la legge e ha chiamato in causa la magistratura perché verifichi le responsabilità penali della presidente del Parlamento Catalano, Carme Forcadell, che ha autorizzato la presentazione e la discussione in assemblea. Il presidente della Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, assieme agli alleati separatisti catalani, sta mantenendo le promesse fatte al momento della sua elezione, nel gennaio del 2016, guardando al percorso verso l’autonomia della regione più ricca del Paese: «Non ci sono alternative per l’indipendenza: referendum, o referendum!», disse, passando sopra ogni possibilità di mediazione con il governo nazionale di Mariano Rajoy. L’ostruzionismo dell’opposizione in Parlamento - formata dai Popolari e dai rappresentanti di Ciudadanos - sta rallentando l’approvazione della legge ma già questa sera stessa, per anticipare la stroncatura della Corte Costituzionale, Puigdemont dovrebbe riuscire a firmare il decreto di convocazione, che dovrebbe essere controfirmato da tutti i ministri del governo catalano, per diluire le responsabilità di fronte a possibili processi. Non ci sono dubbi sulla successiva e immediata sentenza della Corte Costituzionale spagnola che si esprimerà contro la legge come già accaduto negli scorsi anni per tutti i tentativi della Catalogna di arrivare alla consultazione per vie legalmente riconosciute, dalla Spagna e dalla comunità internazionale. Il premier Rajoy ha già ordinato all’Avvocatura dello Stato di «interporre un incidente di esecuzione di sentenza» davanti alla Corte Costituzionale per tentare di impedire che il Parlamento catalano discuta e adotti la legge di convocazione del referendum. Rajoy ha anche chiesto alla Consulta di determinare la responsabilità penale della presidente del Parlament, Carme Forcadell, che ha autorizzato l’esame della legge. La procura spagnola ha annunciato che denuncerà la stessa Forcadell per «disobbedienza» all’Alta Corte di Madrid che ha vietato ogni iniziativa verso l’indipendenza. Puigdemont, assieme ai suoi alleati, a partire dalla Sinistra Repubblicana di Oriol Junqueras, da domani dovrà scegliere se obbedire alla legge spagnola, e fermare la macchina del referendum: ma sembra improbabile, giunti a questo punto, che gli indipendentisti si tirino indietro. Oppure se diventare «fuori legge», almeno per la Spagna, seguendo la nuova «legalità catalana» «Si è già a un punto di non ritorno», avverte l’analista Inaki Gabilondo. La frattura tra Barcellona e Madrid è già profondissima. Di fronte alla determinazione catalana, a Rajoy potrebbe non restare altra scelta che l’articolo 155 della Costituzione, che consente al governo nazionale di sospendere e destituire Puigdemont e l’autonomia catalana. Ma davvero la Spagna può arrivare a recintare i seggi, sequestrare le urne o azzerare con la forza le istituzioni catalane? Non si rischierebbe di tornare indietro di mezzo secolo rievocando i fantasmi del franchismo? Rajoy, alla guida di un governo di minoranza a Madrid, non ha probabilmente nemmeno la forza politica per farlo. Con i Socialisti e Podemos che hanno più volte chiesto di aprire un tavolo per un negoziato sull’autonomia della regione. La Diada, la festa nazionale della Comunità autonoma catalana, che ogni 11 settembre porta nelle strade della regione milioni di cittadini, si è già trasformata in una nuova prova di forza di Barcellona contro la Spagna. Full Article
log Catalogna, Rajoy ha preferito la guerra sporca al dialogo politico By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Thu, 05 Oct 2017 10:00:00 +0200 Il premier spagnolo è chiamato a risolvere una crisi che ha creato. E che il suo partito ha gestito con mezzi non sempre convenzionali: dal dossieraggio a una polizia parallela dentro al ministero dell'Interno. LETTERA43 02-10-2017 GIOVANNA FAGGIONATO Mariano Rajoy non mollerà nemmeno questa volta. A meno che non lo costringano a farlo i partiti di opposizione, questo testardo galiziano di provincia, alla guida del Partido Popular da 17 anni, al governo di Madrid da sette, tenterà ancora una volta di presentarsi come il bastione della nazione spagnola. Poco importa che il referendum del primo ottobre abbia mostrato il suo fallimento politico a livello internazionale con la stampa a testimoniare le violenze della Guardia Civil – «tristi, ma proporzionate» le ha definite, «siamo un esempio per il mondo» - su cittadini desiderosi solo di votare. Poco importa che la sua politica abbia creato indipendentisti dove non ce n’erano e abbia semplicemente impedito di capire cosa vogliono realmente i cittadini catalani: una mossa controproducente per tutti coloro che desiderano la Spagna unita. IMPERMEABILE AGLI SCANDALI. Dopo aver guidato il Paese attraverso la crisi, da leader di un partito al centro della maggiore inchiesta di corruzione della storia nazionale e dopo aver accettato di governare di nuovo senza una maggioranza politica, si farà scivolare addosso anche la pessima gestione dell’autoproclamato referendum catalano, quello che, come ha spiegato alle 20 del primo ottobre, «non è mai esistito». Impermeabile a ogni scandalo, a ogni questione di opportunità, proverà, dopo essere sopravvissuto a incidenti stradali e aerei - il primo gli lasciò cicatrici sul volto, nel secondo si ruppe un dito -, a superare anche la crisi catalana. Una crisi che in questi anni però non ha fatto che alimentare con metodi legali e non, in una guerra sporca che è la cosa più lontana dal dialogo politico invocato in questi giorni. Le tensioni odierne, ormai è noto, sono figlie in prima battuta del ricorso alla Corte costituzionale presentato del Partido popular contro il nuovo Statuto negoziato dal governo di Barcellona con l'esecutivo Zapatero, ratificato da un voto parlamentare e approvato attraverso un referendum della popolazione della Catalogna, seppure ancora una volta con un'affluenza minore della metà degli aventi diritto. Da lì in poi la questione catalana si è avvitata su se stessa in un crescendo di radicalizzazione. Ma intanto Rajoy è arrivato al governo e, mentre i giovani spagnoli passavano giorni e notti a Puerta del Sol a protestare contro una classe politica corrotta e contro un'austerity che colpiva gli ultimi, il Partido popular proseguiva la sua guerra con altri mezzi. MEZZI NON CONVENZIONALI. Jorge Fernández Díaz, fedelissimo di Rajoy, cattolico numerario dell'Opus Dei ma anche catalano tendenzialmente moderato, da ministro degli Interni a partire dal 2012 e almeno fino al 2017 ha messo in piedi una sorta di di polizia parallela formata da alcuni ufficiali di polizia anche giudiziaria. Il gruppo ha condotto indagini per anni al di fuori dei meccanismi dello stato di diritto, coinvolgendo anche personale di agenzie investigative private. L'obiettivo era ottenere informazioni in merito alle indagini sul caso Gurtel: l'inchiesta che ha portato a scoprire i fondi neri del Partido popular coinvolgendone le prime file, Rajoy compreso, e da cui Calle Genova è riuscita ad uscire più o meno in piedi perchè il computer dove avrebbero dovuto esserci le prove dei finanziamenti rivelati dall'ex tesoriere Luis Barcenas era stato formattato. Ma, e forse è anche più grave, la polizia politica di Diaz si occupava soprattutto del dossieraggio dei nemici del centrodestra di governo e in particolare degli indipendentisti. «NIXON S'È DIMESSO PER MOLTO MENO». «Per qualcosa di molto inferiore», ha scritto El Diario, «Nixon si è dimesso». La vicenda è stata prima raccontata sulla stampa e pochissimo al di fuori dei confini nazionali. Poi è diventata un documentario per mano di due giornalisti di Mediapro, la casa editrice del quotidiano online progressista Publico. Ma nel chiuso circuito mediatico spagnolo solo l'emittente catalana e quella basca hanno deciso di trasmetterlo. Ed è facile capirne il motivo. Tra i politici finiti nel mirino della polizia di Diaz figurano il leader di Podemos Pablo Iglesias, Jordi Pujol, presidente del governo di Catalogna dal 1980 al 2003, e anche l'attuale vicepresidente della Generalitat, Oriol Junqueras, leader della formazione della sinistra indipendentista Esquerra Repubblicana: l'uomo che con l'ex presidente Artus Mas ha progettato il referendum del primo ottobre. Per trovare gli scheletri nascosti dei suoi nemici, il ministro degli Interni si appoggiava al capo dell'ufficio antifrode catalano, Daniel de Alfonso. Ma, secondo alcune conversazioni registrate tra i due, Diaz teneva informato anche Rajoy. LA FABBRICAZIONE DI FALSI DOCUMENTI. Come succede spesso in questi casi, i dossier mescolavano verità - peraltro facili visto che la classe dirigente catalana è stata coinvolta in numerosi casi di corruzione - e bugie. In mancanza di documenti che provassero la corruzione degli oppositori, infatti, i poliziotti agli ordini del capo dell'Interno si sono spinti anche a fabbricarne di falsi. Da qui vengono le fatture fasulle venezuelane che per un po' hanno inquinato il dibattito sul leader di Podemos. E un altro falso documento è stato utilizzato contro l'ex leader catalano Pujol. L'uomo che ha guidato la regione per 30 anni, peraltro invocandone sempre l'autonomia, è tuttavia finito al centro di un'inchiesta per evasione fiscale e ha confessato di avere all'estero, nel principato di Andorra, milioni di euro sconosciuti al Fisco iberico. I bocconi avvelenati o semplicemente a orologeria sono stati preparati soprattutto in vista della consultazione catalana del 2014. FONDI PUBBLICI PER INDAGINI FRAUDOLENTE. La presenza della polizia parallela è emersa solo nel 2016 e appena il 21 settembre 2017 la commissione di inchiesta parlamentare che se ne è occupata ha approvato con 172 voti a favore - quelli dei socialisti, di Podemos e degli indipendentisti - la sua relazione finale. Come riporta Publico, i deputati hanno certificato che il ministro degli Interni ha utilizzato fondi pubblici e funzionari statali per indagini fraudolente contro gli oppositori politici. Anche i membri di Ciudadanos, che pure si sono astenuti, ne hanno riconosciuto l'esistenza. Ben inteso, questo non toglie niente all'egoismo fiscale, all'integralismo e alla assenza di razionalità delle rivendicazioni indipendentiste. Ma spiega in parte come siamo arrivati fino a qui, e perché è difficile che Rajoy ne tiri la Spagna fuori. E non è una buona notizia. Full Article
log Catalogna: l’insostenibile follia dello status quo By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Sun, 12 Nov 2017 17:15:00 +0100 affaritaliani.it 08-11-2017.- Alessandro Sahebi Cinismo e pugno di ferro. La ricetta di Mariano Rajoy per la Catalogna sembrerebbe, agli occhi di un osservatore esterno, avere avuto i suoi effetti: l'incarcerazione di sette ministri e la ritirata strategica di Carles Puigdemont in Belgio appaiono infatti ai più come il tramonto di una vicenda che per qualche giorno ha tenuto con il fiato sospeso l'intera Europa e i suoi assetti. Ciò nonostante la strategia del governo centrale spagnolo tutto può rivelarsi fuorché il frutto di un abile ingegno diplomatico e quella che sul campo di battaglia sembrerebbe poter essere letta come una travolgente vittoria potrebbe trasformarsi, in poco meno di due mesi, in un temibile autogol. Da una parte ci siamo noi, che osserviamo. Ridiamo, confezioniamo meme e ci godiamo i quotidiani sviluppi di una storia che sembra essere stata scritta sul copione di una tragi- commedia politica di serie B. Dall'altra, tuttavia, c'è un popolo. Un popolo che l'1 ottobre ha visto la ragion di Stato trasformarsi in abuso (come ammesso dallo stesso governo spagnolo), un popolo che vede i suoi rappresentanti incarcerati ed esiliati, ricordati come i numerosi eroi politici catalani di epoca franchista. C'è un popolo che ha vissuto sulla propria pelle la pressoché totale ottusità di Madrid e dei suoi rappresentanti, il furto della propria autonomia. Le aziende non fuggono dalla Catalogna, lo sanno bene i catalani. Scappano le sedi centrali ma qualsiasi buon economista sa che il capitalismo globalizzato, oggi, non ha confini se si tratta di profitti. E lo sa bene l'Europa, silenziosamente imbarazzata i primi giorni delle violenze a Barcellona, ben più decisa nelle settimane successive. Una presa di posizione fedele alla Spagna che a Bruxelles sanno bene di non poter tenere ciecamente se dalle urne, il 21 dicembre, i movimenti indipendentisti avranno la meglio. Mitizzazione del leader politico Puigdemont, assenza di ascolto e pugno di ferro in cabina elettorale potrebbero essere dei veri e propri boomerang per Mariano Rajoy e potrebbero riconfermare, nonostante tutto, le istanze indipendentiste dei catalani. A quel punto il nostro cinismo, la nostra ironia e il nostro pragmatismo non potranno fare altro che i conti con la loro volontà. La follia dello status quo sta nell’ignorare totalmente il cambiamento. Lo Stato è un concetto pre-democratico messo in discussione dalle spinte locali da una parte, dall’europeismo dall’altra. Ripensare gli assetti non è una pazzia, la pazzia è pensare che non siano soggetti al corso della storia. In questa ottica essere in grado di assorbire gli shock senza chiudersi in una cieca visione ancorata al passato è una sfida che, soprattutto in quest'epoca di sconvolgimenti politici e sociali, l'Europa deve affrontare con coraggio e con la consapevolezza che nel corso della sua storia, lunga o corta che sia, ne incontrerà con certezza in continuazione. La risposta, darwiniana se volete, è sapersi evolvere. Se non teniamo aperta la porta del cambiamento ci chiudiamo nello stagno delle nostre sicurezze. A quel punto i casi sono due: o la porta chiusa verrà sfondata, travolgendoci, o diventeremo stagno. E nello stagno tutto muore. Full Article
log La Catalogna protesta nel cuore dell’Europa, che soffre delle sue stesse malattie By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Sun, 31 Dec 2017 12:00:00 +0100 IL FATTO QUOTIDIANO 11-12-2017 FABIO MARCELLI Giurista intennazionale La questione catalana presenta un forte interesse scientifico dal punto di vista del diritto internazionale, innescandosi nel solco formato da recenti manifestazioni di prassi internazionale, quali quelle per l’indipendenza del Quebec o del Kosovo. Preciso che non sono un sostenitore dell’indipendenza catalana a ogni costo e che ciò non avrebbe comunque molto senso, dato che non sono né cittadino spagnolo né tantomeno catalano. Sono però cittadino europeo, oltre che italiano, e in quanto tale interessato al rispetto della democrazia e dei diritti politici su tutto il nostro continente e oltre. Per tale motivo sono rimasto negativamente impressionato dalla selvaggia repressione scatenata dal governo Rajoy contro milioni di cittadini spagnoli e catalani che stavano semplicemente esercitando in modo pacifico un proprio elementare diritto democratico e cioè dichiarare o meno la loro preferenza per l’instaurazione di una Repubblica catalana indipendente. Si può in altri termini discettare riguardo alle conseguenze giuridiche di tali atti, che taluni ritengono di nessun rilievo da tale punto di vista. Non si può invece negarne il valore politico né si può accettare la repressione avvenuta quel giorno né la conseguente criminalizzazione del movimento indipendentista, culminata con il mandato d’arresto internazionale, successivamente ritirato, dell’ex presidente catalano con i suoi quattro ministri. Mandando contro una buona parte del popolo catalano che voleva solo votare democraticamente truppe armate di manganelli e pallottole di gomma, il governo spagnolo ha senza dubbio violato la Convenzione europea dei diritti umani, dando un ulteriore pessimo segnale in un’Europa nella quale si moltiplicano inquietanti fenomeni di esaltazione del passato fascista che si sperava e pensava superato per sempre. Un passato fascista che in Spagna ha un solo nome: franchismo. Tali fenomeni inquietanti hanno peraltro la loro radice nella crescente disaffezione della gente nei confronti della politica e della sua ispirazione generalmente antipopolare in Europa. Peraltro, la stessa consultazione referendaria del primo ottobre ha evidenziato l’esistenza di un malcontento estremamente diffuso, in Catalogna ma probabilmente anche altrove, che parte da un inevitabile giudizio negativo sul governo spagnolo per la corruzione in cui sta affogando e le sue spietate politiche neoliberali, ma esprime anche insoddisfazione e disagio a fronte di un quadro costituzionale che si è rivelato del tutto asfittico e inadeguato. Situazione di grave inadeguatezza, ulteriormente aggravata e evidenziata dall’improvvida decisione della Corte costituzionale sullo statuto catalano, decisione fortemente voluta e ispirata da quello stesso Rajoy. Significativa appare del resto la circostanza che le organizzazioni colpite dalla repressione abbiano deciso di portare la propria protesta proprio a Bruxelles e cioè nel cuore dell’Europa. Se è vero che proprio l’Europa soffre le stesse malattie dello Stato spagnolo e di altri stati, quali soggezione alle politiche neoliberali e alle lobby che le predicano, corruzione, insufficiente funzionamento dei meccanismi democratici che provoca disaffezione crescente dalla politica e anche rigurgiti di fascismo e di razzismo, è pure vero che essa dovrebbe giocare un ruolo di mediazione politica in situazioni come quella catalana impedendo lo slittamento verso conflitti sempre più aspri e incontenibili. Occorre quindi auspicare che le istituzioni europee, dando senso alla loro stessa esistenza, vogliano accettare un ruolo di promozione del necessario dialogo politico tra il popolo catalano e il governo spagnolo, nel nome dei principi democratici iscritti nei propri trattati istitutivi oltre che, beninteso, del buon senso più elementare. Full Article
log Catalogna, la cura Rajoy minaccia di uccidere il malato By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Sat, 13 Jan 2018 16:45:00 +0100 IL FATTO QUOTIDIANO 10-01-2018.- FABIO MARCELLI (Giurista internazionale) Il primo ministro spagnolo Rajoy ha inventato un nuovo sistema per ottenere la maggioranza in assemblee rappresentative che si mostrino troppo refrattarie ad accettare il verbo governativo. E’ un metodo semplice ed efficace e consiste nell’arrestare o mandare in esilio un numero di deputati della parte avversa sufficiente a farla scendere al di sotto del cinquanta per cento. Il geniale politico in questione sta applicando il metodo in Catalogna, dove il fronte indipendentista, formato da Junts per Catalunya, Esquerra Republicana e CUP ha ottenuto 70 deputati su 135 alle recenti elezioni regionali, ma per effetto della repressione in atto deve al momento rinunciare a otto seggi dato che tre deputati si trovano in galera e cinque all’estero in esilio. Risultato, un abbassamento del numero dei deputati indipendentisti da 70 a 62, al di sotto della maggioranza richiesta di 68 su 135. La democrazia rappresentativa, autentico feticcio del mondo occidentale in questa fase storica, si trova quindi fortemente falsata e impossibilitata a funzionare e c’è il rischio che, grazie all’iperattivismo di una magistratura che sente ancora il richiamo del franchismo, il governo della Catalogna vada a finire in mano alla leader della formazione destroide neoliberista ed autoritaria Ciudadanos, che esprime la volontà di una netta minoranza della società catalana. Eppure nessuno dice niente. L’Unione europea, nonostante la massiccia manifestazione svoltasi a Bruxelles il 7 dicembre, la più grande mai tenutasi in Belgio, cui ho avuto l’onore di partecipare e di prendere la parola, continua nel suo atteggiamento omertoso. I governi degli Stati che ne fanno parte, pronti a ululare come lupi ogni volta che sotto altri cieli vengono adottate misure secondo loro liberticide, pure. Un autentico capolavoro di ipocrisia è costituito, tanto per fare un esempio, dalla dichiarazione adottata da Alfano due giorni dopo il referendum dell’8 ottobre, che si conclude riaffermando un’aprioristica quanto ingiustificata fiducia nei confronti del governo spagnolo. Vero è infatti che quest’ultimo si è reso colpevole di gravi violazioni di fondamentali norme europee, a partire da quelle contenute nella Convenzione europea dei diritti umani e delle libertà fondamentali del 1950, perseguendo con il manganello e con la galera un movimento di massa, ben radicato all’interno della società catalana, che voleva esprimere pacificamente il proprio sacrosanto diritto all’autodeterminazione. Il comportamento tenuto dalla polizia spagnola e dai giudici che si sono prestati ad assecondare il disegno neofranchista di Rajoy ha infatti violato vari diritti fondamentali tra i quali quelli alla libertà di espressione del pensiero e di riunione e alla stessa integrità fisica (almeno ottocento feriti) delle persone aggredite come documentato in una denuncia internazionale firmata da oltre cinquecento giuristi. La magistratura continua a prestarsi al disegno repressivo negando da ultimo la libertà provvisoria al deputato Oriol Junqueras che potrebbe candidarsi a presidente della Catalogna. La realtà è sotto gli occhi di tutti. I partiti indipendentisti chiedono al governo spagnolo un dialogo che quest’ultimo rifiuta. Eppure il quadro costituzionale uscito dagli Accordi della Moncada del 1978 si rivela ogni giorno più ammuffito e inadeguato. Se si vuole salvaguardare l’unità nazionale della Spagna l’unica strada è quella di un autentico processo costituente che vada della ridefinizione in modo adeguato delle garanzie necessarie alla convivenza. Altrimenti non ci sarà alternativa alla secessione della Catalogna e di altre regioni, a cominciare dai Paesi Baschi. Il gioco d’azzardo cui si sta dedicando Rajoy per salvaguardare le proprie poltrone e allontanare l’attenzione dalle accuse di corruzione e dai manifesti fallimenti delle sue politiche di stampo neoliberista produrrà con ogni probabilità un tale esito, non senza rischi gravissimi per la pace e la democrazia in un Paese vitale per l’Europa. Con ogni evidenza, quindi, la cura Rajoy minaccia di uccidere il malato. E la malattia potrebbe estendersi dalla Catalogna e dalla Spagna all’insieme dell’Europa. Tutti motivi per chiedere con forza la liberazione immediata dei prigionieri politici catalani per permettere un funzionamento adeguato delle istituzioni democratiche sotto attacco. Full Article
log Catalogna. Gli indipendentisti ancora in carcere. La Spagna torna al Franchismo? By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Fri, 16 Mar 2018 20:30:00 +0100 FARO DI ROMA 10-03-2018 Mario Castellano Le ultime notizie dalla Catalogna riferiscono che neanche la sessione del Parlamento della Generalità programmata per lunedì prossimo eleggerà il nuovo Presidente, destinato a succedere a Puigdemont. E’ tuttavia importante considerare la candidatura avanzata dalla maggioranza indipendentista: si tratta di Jordi Sanchez, capo di uno dei due movimenti sorti nella società civile che, affiancando i Partiti favorevoli all’autodeterminazione, sono stati protagonisti della mobilitazione popolare culminata nel referendum dello scorso 1 dicembre. Sanchez si trova in prigione a Madrid, privato della libertà e per giunta deportato in uno Stato straniero che occupa ed opprime il suo Paese. La sua posizione dal punto di vista penale è inoltre diversa da quella del Presidente Puigdemont, e dei suoi Ministri, sia in esilio, sia incarcerati in Spagna. Mentre infatti questi ultimi, dal punto di vista delle Autorità di Madrid, avrebbero attentato alla integrità territoriale dello Stato, Sanchez è responsabile soltanto di un delitto di opinione, consistente nell’aver sostenuto il diritto dei Catalani all’autodeterminazione. Permane dunque, ed anzi si aggrava, la situazione aberrante determinata dall’emissione dei mandati di cattura contro i dirigenti indipendentisti: per la prima volta dopo la Seconda Guerra Mondiale – e per quanto riguarda i Paesi Iberici dopo la fine delle dittature franchista e salazarista tra il 1974 ed il 1975 – in Europa Occidentale vengono private della libertà alcuni cittadini che non hanno commesso nessuna azione violenta, limitandosi a svolgere una attività politica considerata altrove perfettamente legale. Anche ammesso che l’indizione del referendum, l’accoglimento dei suoi risultati e la proclamazione dell’Indipendenza risultassero degli atti legislativi ed amministrativi illegittimi, ciò non determina di per sé – in un uno Stato di Diritto – alcuna responsabilità penale a carico delle persone fisiche incorporate negli organi di un Ente Pubblico che li hanno adottati. Per giunta, le Autorità di Madrid ritengono che tali atti non siano annullabili, bensì nulli, in quanto esorbitano – secondo la loro opinione – dall’insieme delle competenze dei soggetti di Diritto Pubblico. Qui si rivela una contraddizione manifesta nella posizione degli organi dello Stato spagnolo: mentre un atto illegittimo produce i propri effetti fino a quando viene deciso il suo annullamento, un atto nullo non produce – per definizione – nessun effetto giuridico. E’ naturalmente possibile che l’emanazione di un atto amministrativo determini la consumazione di un reato, ma la violazione della legge penale in tanto sussiste in quanto precisamente la situazione giuridica è stata modificata, il che però non avviene nel caso di un atto nullo. In conclusione, dunque, delle due l’una: se l’atto emanato dagli organi della Generalità è nullo, non si può configurare nessun reato; se invece sussiste una responsabilità penale, ciò significa che l’atto ha prodotto degli effetti giuridici. In tal caso, però, l’indipendenza della Catalogna verrebbe paradossalmente riconosciuta dagli organi giurisdizionali dello Stato spagnolo. Gli indipendentisti di Barcellona sono comunque impegnati con Madrid – come abbiamo già scritto – in un braccio di ferro che durerà molto a lungo, dando luogo ad un contenzioso giuridico che coinvolge altri Stati. Abbiamo già scritto che la Catalogna ha vinto un’importante battaglia giudiziaria, ingaggiata nel Belgio, dove Puigdemont è riparato con una parte dei suoi Ministri dopo essere stato colpito da un mandato di cattura internazionale emesso dall’Autorità Giudiziaria spagnola. L’esecuzione di tale atto da parte di uno Stato straniero di tale deve essere decisa dalla sua Autorità Giudiziaria, che deve semplicemente valutare se il reato imputato alla persona colpita dal mandato di cattura è considerato tale anche in base alle proprie norme. E’ chiaro che a questo punto Puigdemont rischiava di essere estradato, non potendo in alcun caso i Giudici belgi valutare nel merito la sua asserita responsabilità penale. Gli Avvocati fiamminghi del Presidente della Generalità, i quali non avevano nella vicenda giudiziaria soltanto un interesse professionale, ma erano anche intenzionati ad asserire la piena legalità e la piena legittimità di una eventuale dichiarazione di indipendenza delle Fiandre, hanno compiuto a questo punto una mossa vincente, consistente nel presentare domanda di asilo politico al Belgio. L’esame di questa istanza non spetta all’Autorità Giudiziaria, bensì agli organi del Potere Esecutivo, benché l’interessato possa impugnare il suo rigetto davanti alla Giurisdizione Amministrativa. L’asilo politico, in base alle Convenzioni Internazionali sottoscritte dal Belgio, viene concesso anche alle persone ricercate dalla Giustizia del Paese di origine se la loro condanna in sede penale, ovvero il provvedimento restrittivo della libertà personale, risultano determinati anche parzialmente da motivazioni politiche. Per evitare che le Autorità di Bruxelles accertassero la sussistenza di tale tale situazione, la Spagna ha ritirato il mandato di cattura internazionale, non solo subendo una umiliazione in Europa, ma anche riconoscendo implicitamente che Puigdemont era un perseguitato politico. Questo riporta il Paese iberico alla condizione in cui si trovava al tempo di Franco, quando era tenuto fuori dalla porta dell’Europa. Il cammino iniziato con la morte del “Caudillo” subisce dunque una regressione preoccupante. Ora, con la prospettata elezione di Sanchez alla Presidenza della Generalità, i Catalani hanno intrapreso una nuova battaglia giuridica. Se l’esponente della società civile viene scarcerato, la Spagna ammette implicitamente che egli è un Capo di Stato: ciò non significa di per sé riconoscere l’Indipendenza della Catalogna quale soggetto di Diritto Internazionale, ma si ammette che la Generalità è un soggetto membro di una Confederazione, vale a dire uno Stato. Ammettendo il principio per cui la Spagna è una Confederazione, affermato dal Re Juan Carlos in moltissimi discorsi ufficiali, si riconosce implicitamente il diritto della Generalità di sciogliere i suoi vincoli con Madrid. Qualora invece Sanchez fosse trattenuto in prigione, verrebbe impedita la normale attività di un soggetto di Diritto Pubblico, e in tal caso, la Spagna non potrebbe più essere considerata uno Stato di Diritto. Dal punto di vista politico, si deve riconoscere che i Catalani stanno giocando molto bene la loro partita: in primo luogo, la dichiarazione di sovranità adottata a suo tempo dal Parlamento di Barcellona non è mai stata ritrattata, ed inoltre la Generalità tratta alla pari con la Spagna in qualità di Stato indipendente. Che cosa succederebbe se il Presidente della Repubblica Italiana fosse trattenuto in prigione a Parigi dalle Autorità francesi? Come minimo, si aprirebbe un contenzioso internazionale. Si potrà obiettare che l’Italia è uno Stato indipendente, mentre la Catalogna non lo è ancora, ma è proprio questa la ragione per cui Barcellona sta deliberatamente aggravando il proprio conflitto con Madrid, sapendo che le decisioni assunte dal Belgio hanno già modificato un rapporto di forze destinato comunque ad evolvere ulteriormente. Nel frattempo, la Generalità continua ad esercitare le competenze legislative ed amministrative che comunque la Spagna le riconosce, affermando però che la dichiarazione di Indipendenza è tuttora pienamente vigente. Può Madrid impedire questo esercizio della sovranità? Naturalmente non può farlo, salvo negare la vigenza della propria stessa Costituzione e dello Statuto della Generalità. Il braccio di ferro è destinato a continuare, e noi continueremo a commentarne i vari episodi dal punto di vista giuridico. Resta fermo comunque che la Liguria – come ha affermato solennemente con voto unanime il Consiglio Comunale di Genova – sostiene il diritto dei fratelli catalani ad esercitare l’autodeterminazione. Full Article
log Catalogna, niente estradizione per Puigdemont: il giudice ritira il mandato di cattura internazionale By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Thu, 26 Jul 2018 11:00:00 +0200 L'ex presidente avrà libertà di movimento in tutto il mondo, ma non potrà rientrare a Barcellona: in polemica con la magistratura tedesca, che aveva respinto l'accusa di ribellione, il Tribunale supremo spagnolo rinuncia a farsi consegnare il leader indipendentista per non doverlo giudicare solo per il reato di malversazione REPUBBLICA 19-07-2018 di ALESSANDRO OPPES Estradizione? No, grazie. Pur di non dover sottostare al diktat della giustizia tedesca - che nei giorni scorsi aveva ritenuto legittima solo l’accusa di malversazione respingendo quella, ben più grave, di ribellione (reato punibile in Spagna con 30 anni di carcere) – il giudice del Tribunale Supremo di Madrid, Pablo Llarena, ha deciso di ritirare il mandato di cattura internazionale nei confronti dell’ex presidente catalano Carles Puigdemont e di altri cinque dirigenti separatisti riparati all’estero. Resta in vigore, invece, l’ordine di detenzione all’interno del territorio spagnolo. Questo significa che Puigdemont, attualmente in libertà in Germania, avrà d’ora in poi completa libertà di movimento in tutto il mondo ma non potrà rientrare a Barcellona. E come lui gli ex assessori Toni Comín, Meritxell Serret, Lluis Puig e Clara Ponsatí e l’ex segretaria generale di Esquerra Republicana, Marta Rovira. Il giudice Llarena sceglie dunque l’unica soluzione che, al momento, gli consente di non dover rimettere in discussione tutto l’impianto accusatorio formulato in questi mesi (a partire dall’ottobre scorso, quando il Parlament de Catalunya approvò la dichiarazione d’indipendenza) contro tutto lo stato maggiore del movimento secessionista. Se Puigdemont fosse stato consegnato a Madrid dalle autorità tedesche, la magistratura spagnola avrebbe potuto prendere in considerazione solo l’ipotesi accusatoria riconosciuta come ammissibile dal tribunale dello Schleswig-Holstein, cioè quella di malversazione di fondi pubblici (l’eventualità che l’ex presidente abbia utilizzato denaro delle casse della Generalitat, l’amministrazione regionale, per organizzare il referendum secessionista dello scorso 1 ottobre, dichiarato illegale dal Tribunale costituzionale spagnolo). In questo caso, trattandosi di un reato minore, non solo sarebbe stato improponibile ipotizzare una carcerazione preventiva per Puigdemont. Ma con ogni probabilità Llarena avrebbe dovuto rimettere in libertà anche tutti gli altri dirigenti indipendentisti che sono in cella (prima nella regione madrilena, ora trasferiti da poco in carceri catalane) arrestati tra l’ottobre e il gennaio scorsi. Dall’ex vice-presidente Oriol Junqueras ai due “Jordis” (gli ex presidenti dei movimenti della società civile catalana Anc e Omnium Cultural, Jordi Sànchez e Jordi Cuixart), agli ex responsabili degli Esteri e degli Interni del Govern, Raül Romeva e Joaquim Forn, oltre al candidato alla presidenza della regione Jordi Turull, arrestato 24 ore dopo aver perso il voto di investitura parlamentare. Niente libertà, invece, per tutti loro: proprio oggi la procura ha respinto l’ipotesi di scarcerazione, mantenendo lo stesso criterio seguito ai tempi del governo conservatore di Mariano Rajoy, nonostante l’arrivo in queste settimane di una nuova procuratrice generale dello Stato, Maria José Segarra, nominata su proposta dell’esecutivo socialista di Pedro Sánchez. Full Article
log New "LinkOut" tool by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) providing easy link to PubMed and GenBank data By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:48:00 +0200 A new "LinkOut" feature introduced by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) NCBI’s allows the easy linking to content on PubMed and GenBank. Dryad has already introduced the feature benefitting from easy and fast linking of associated content to the two resources. PubMed and GenBank, from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), are hugely popular resources for searching and retrieving article abstracts and nucleotide sequence data, respectively. PubMed indexes the vast majority of the biomedical literature, and deposition of nucleotide sequences in GenBank or one of the other INSDC databases is a near universal requirement for publication in a scientific journal. LinkOut allows the data from an article to be distributed among repositories without compromising its discoverability. Dryad, intends to expand on this feature in a couple of ways. First, it is planned to make Dryad content searchable via the PubMed and GenBank identifiers, which because of their wide use will provide a convenient gateway for other biomedical databases to link out to Dryad. Second, open web standards will be used to expose relationships between content in Dryad and other repositories, not just NCBI. Original source: Dryad news and views Full Article News
log Job alert: Quantitative Ecologist (Postdoc) (m/f) code digit 37/2013 By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:11:00 +0300 The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ is now offering a position for Quantitative Ecologist (Postdoc) in their Department of Conservation Biology. The position is open to both male and female applicants and it runs for 42 months, starting latest on 01.08.2013 in Leipzig, Germany. Salary will be according to the appropriate civil service level TVÖD, salary group 13. The successful candidate will be focusing on optimizing monitoring designs at different scales under field constraints and assessinguncertainty in biodiversity trend analyses. He/She will have a PhD in an ecological discipline relevant for the research topic (e.g. population biology), excellent statistical and computing skills, a distinguished publication record, experience in international cooperation and strong interest both in theoretical and applied biodiversity conservation. Fluency in English in speech and writing is essential, some knowledge of German is of advantage. The position will be part of the large-integrating EU-project EU BON "Building the European BiodiversityObservation Network". The overall goal of the project is to integrate and harmonize European data relevant for biodiversity monitoring and to develop prototypes for biodiversity monitoring for the global GEO BON initiative. 30 partner organisations form the EU BON consortium. Within this consortium the applicant will have the following responsibilities: • on improving current approaches to monitoring species both from a theoretical and a practical perspective, with a focus on population processes • link trend data to environmental drivers at different scales • quantify uncertainty across all steps from data collection to interpretation of analysed data • Contribute to the management of the workpackage "Link environment to biodiversity: Analyses of patterns, processes and trends" • Contribute to the compilation of information on existing monitoring programs • Feed results into a science-policy dialogue • Disseminate results for scientists and applied users Further Information: Prof. Dr. Klaus Henle, Tel. ++49-(0)341-235 1270, e-mail: klaus.henle@ufz.de Please send your application until 19.05.2013 under Code Digit 37/2013 to the Human Resource department of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, PO Box 500136, 04301 Leipzig, Germany, or by e-mail to application@ufz.de. For further information please see the attached pdf file below. Full Article News
log EUBrazilOpenBio announces 2 new training tools covering Ecological Niche Modeling and Cross-mapping By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:48:00 +0300 The EUBrazilOpenBio project announces two new training tools as a part of its e-training Programme aiming at educating and enabling current and potential users of EUBrazilOpenBio to unlock new knowledge and shape effective policy on biodiversity challenges. The new tools cover the following use cases: Ecological Niche Modeling and Cross-mapping. The EUBrazilOpenBio anytime, anywhere eTraining tools are designed for researchers in the spheres of Biodiversity, Life science, Climate Change, application Developers as well as regulatory authorities and policy decision-makers. EUBrazilOpenBio is focused on tackling the complexity of biodiversity science such as the diversity of multidisciplinary datasets spanning from climatology to earth sciences by integrating advanced computing resources with data sources across Europe and Brazil. For more informationand to try out the new tools click here. Full Article News
log The BioFresh Blog - Perspective: Martin Sharman on ethics and the ecosystem services paradigm By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 11:18:00 +0300 In this guest post Martin Sharman opens up a rich area of debate by arguing that as a policy concept, ecosystem services puts human wants first and foremost and undermines moral-aesthetic value arguments for conservation that are widely held in society. Martin was the policy offer responsible for biodiversity and ecosystems in the European Commission’s DG Research & Innovation up until his retirement last November. During his career he made an enormous contribution to biodiversity research and policy, including the initiation of the BioFresh project. The opinions expressed in this post are, of course, his own and are not intended to represent a position of either the Commission or BioFresh. A "resource" is something that is useful to someone. A "natural resource" is something in the natural environment that a human can use to satisfy want or increase wellbeing. To adopt this vocabulary is to adopt a forthright utilitarian view of the natural environment, and implicitly to accept that human benefit is the only good. Not only is human benefit the only good, but it is quantifiable – for if not, then we can never agree on what constitutes a resource, or who has the greater right to it. Thus someone who speaks of natural resources accepts, again implicitly, that happiness and wellbeing can be quantified. The vocabulary also requires that this quantified human benefit remains, if not constant, then comparable over cultures and generations. More than this: the wellbeing of the "resource" is insignificant. It is only by setting concern for the wellbeing of the resource to zero that one can regard it as merely something to satisfy human want. Human benefit is the only good. This is the First Commandment; in the limpid words of the King James version of the bible, thou shalt have no other gods before me. In this observation lies much of the moral argument against the concept of ecosystem services: just as oranges are not the only fruit, so humans are not the only species. The concept of ecosystem services is one thing; the premise of its proponents is another. It is, in short, that conservation based on intrinsic value of biodiversity has failed to stop the loss of species, ecosystems, and the complex web of interactions between them. Since an ethical argument has failed, then we should try self-interest. By demonstrating that human wellbeing is increased by the services rendered by ecosystems, we can motivate people to protect the source of the service – biodiversity. We know that conservation is not working because we continue to lose biodiversity. Oh yeah? This is the equivalent of me deciding that my accelerator is not working because my car is losing speed. Why is such a daft non-sequitur accepted by otherwise intelligent people? You immediately thought of many reasons my car might be losing speed – I have the brakes on, I’m going up a hill, I’ve run out of fuel, I’ve run into sand, I’ve hit an oncoming truck. The obvious reason that we are losing biodiversity is the memento mori that stares at us from our looking glass – biodiversity loss is the inevitable result of our debt-based economic system and our swelling population’s unsustainable demands on nature. We all know that. Why do we mutely accept the dangerously diversionary nonsense that "biodiversity is being lost because conservation is not working"? Ecosystem services takes the utilitarian logic of natural resources one important step further. A "service" by definition benefits humans. If we are to protect services only if they benefit humans, then what happens to the useless ecosystems? Are they simply to be cemented over? I recently heard a discussion in which one person said "most people are useless", meaning that they are surplus to requirement. The outrage that this provoked was spearheaded by someone saying that you can never prove that anyone is useless, because you can never know enough about their contribution to their social fabric. So does this mean that you can never show that an ecosystem is useless? If so that leaves the ecosystem services argument saying that because some ecosystems benefit humans, we have to protect every ecosystem. Which may be the right answer, but why reach it by such objectionable means? For those of us with a reverence of nature, the ecosystem services rhetoric and mindset are abhorrent, being fundamentally immoral and unethical. They take the most ecologically damaging invasive species in the history of life, and place it above all other species on Earth. They cast all other – voiceless – species in the role of consumables. This mindset might have worked for Homo habilis. It will not work for Homo sapiens. Martin Sharman for the BioFresh Blog: http://biofreshblog.com/2013/07/03/perspective-martin-sharman-on-ethics-and-the-ecosystem-services-paradigm/ Full Article News
log Postdoctoral position on species and population dynamics at Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), Spain By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 11:39:00 +0300 Funded by the "Severo Ochoa" Excellence Program awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Doñana Biological Station (www.ebd.csic.es) seeks a Postdoctoral fellow for two-years with a potential extension of one year with the aim of analyzing temporal trends of species distribution and abundance in the Doñana natural area (SW Spain), and their relation with environmental pressures such as climate change, land-use change, and water quality. Period for application: From 5th July to 5th August, 2013. For more information please see the pdf file below. Full Article News
log Biology must develop its own big-data systems By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 16:54:00 +0300 Too many data-management projects fail because they ignore the changing nature of life-sciences data, argues John Boyle. From: Nature/Column: World View The last week of April was designated Big Data Week. But in modern biology, every week is big-data week: life-sciences research now routinely churns out more information than scientists can analyse without help. That help increasingly comes in the form of expensive data-management systems, but these are hard to design and most are even harder to use. As a result, a long line of data-management projects in the life sciences — many of which I have been involved with — have failed. The size, complexity and heterogeneity of the data generated in labs across the world can only increase, and the introduction of cloud computing will encourage the same mistakes. Just a stone's throw from where I work, at least three computer companies are already touting cloud-based data-management systems for the life sciences. We need to find ways to manage and integrate data to make discoveries in fields such as genomics, and we need to do this quickly. At their most basic, data-management systems allow people to organize and share information. In the case of small amounts of uniform data from a single experiment, this can be done with a spreadsheet. But with multiple experiments that produce diverse data — on gene expression, metabolites and protein abundance, for example — we need something more sophisticated. An ideal data-management system would store data, provide common and secure access methods, and allow for linking, annotation and a way to query and retrieve information. It would be able to cope with data in different locations — on remote servers, on desktops, in a database or spread across different machines — and formats, including spreadsheets, badly named files, blogs or even scanned-in notebooks. Read the full article here. Origial Source: Nature 499, 7 (04 July 2013) doi:10.1038/499007a Full Article News
log 43rd Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 17:09:00 +0300 In 2013, the University of Potsdam will host the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The meeting (www.gfoe-2013.de) will take place from September 9 to 13, 2013 in Potsdam, Germany. The guiding theme of the 43rd Annual Meeting is "Building bridges in ecology - linking systems, scales and disciplines".Along the lines of this guiding theme, we will stimulate scientific discussions about all aspects in basic and applied ecological research contributing to better connect. Full Article News
log EU BON at the 2013 International Conference on Open Data in Biodiversity and Ecological Research, Taiwan By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 13:31:00 +0200 The 2013 International Conference on Open Data in Biodiversity and Ecological Research took place between 20 - 22 Nov 2013, hosted by Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. With the aim to promote open data in science twelve foreign speakers introduced relevant projects and initiatives in the sphere of biodiversity informatics: AP-BON, DataONE, Ecological Research, EU-BON, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Japan Biodiversity Information Facility (JBIF), linked open data, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Pensoft, and Thomson Reuters. Dirk Schmeller (UFZ) and Lyubomir Penev (Pensoft), who presented EU BON at the conference, share their experience in a recent interview: Lyubomir Penev (Pensoft) What are the aims and main outcomes from this meeting? LP: Taiwan has an impressive national policy with regard to data management in biodiversity sciences. The meeting summarised years of effort of Taiwanese scientists and especially of Academia Sinica to integrate data and make them publicly available. It is sufficient to mention that Taiwan has established four national nodes of the largest international biodiversity platforms, that is TaiBIF (of GBIF), TaiCOL (of Catalogue of Lige), TaiEOL (of EOL) and TaiBOL (of Barcode of Life). Were there any biodiversity data integration models presented at the meeting that can be adopted and implemented in EUBON? LP: Perhaps not directly, however the impressive amount and quality of work and the accumulated experience of the Taiwanese and Japanese colleagues would certainly be of value for EU BON. In addition, there are well established contacts already between the FP7 project SCALES and the National University of Taiwan which could serve as a stepping stone as well, because two of the SCALES partners participate in EU BON and at the meeting (UFZ and Pensoft). The interest to the EU BON presentation by Dirk was great. An indicator for that was that more than 120 EU BON leaflets have been picked up by the participants from the information desk. Did you discuss any opportunities for partnership with organizations and initiatives from Asia and America, which deal with biodiversity data integration and accessibility? LP: Yes, there were a lot of discussions how to mobilize and publish biodiversity data and most probably several data publishing projects will appear as a result of the discussions. These pilots could be used for the EU BON goals. Dirk Schmeller (UFZ) US National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) has activities similar to those planned by WP4 Link environment to biodiversity: analyses of patterns, processes and trends. Is there something that EU BON can learn from the experience of its American colleagues? DS: It is important to keep a close link with Brian Wee and NEON, as they have a head start in comparison to EU BON. I am sure that a collaboration would benefit EU BON to work efficiently. What is your prognosis for the successful establishment of the data publishing model in scholarly literature, and more specifically in spheres such as Ecology, Genetics, Physiology and Paleontology? DS: Most research is financed by taxpayer money and should become publicly available once the analyses a researchers has intended are completed. I see a huge potential to publish this data in scholarly literature. I, however, see also quite some difficulties to recombine relevant datasets across different sources for further going analyses. I also see difficulties in the willingness of researchers to share data, as in many cases they see these as their own. Linked Open Data (LOD) is a new and prominent technology to publish and share data on the web. Could you please explain what exactly hides behind this concept, and how could EU BON benefit from it? LP: The meeting in Taiwan was impressive also in the wide representation of the Resource Description Framework (RDF) technologies in integration of biodiversity data, especially from a group from the National Museum of Japan and the University of Tokyo. RDF and the OWL Web Ontology Language are definitely the way to go if we want to make diverse data sets interoperable; the implementation of RDF in a pilot phase would be of primary importance for the success of EU BON. Full Article News
log A new generation database to help ecological research on marine organisms By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 18:55:00 +0200 Ecosystem functioning, or the role which organisms play in an ecosystem, is becoming increasingly important in marine ecological and conservation. To facilitate such studies an international team of scientists lead by S. Faulwetter from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HMRC) present the Polytraitsdatabase that aims to provide re-usable, and accessible data on marine bristle worms. The paper describing the new database was published in the innovative Biodiversity Data Journal, a pioneer in the publication of integrated biological data. Benthic organisms participate in a number of biological processes in world water basins. Their functional diversity is an important community property demonstrating the role organisms have in the ecosystem and helping to understand how the community reacts to environmental changes. Polychaetes, or bristle worms, are marine worms famous for their peculiar shapes and often vivid coloration. More than 10,000 species are described in the class worldwide, most of which living in the shelf zone of the seas and oceans, burrowing in the sediment or swimming among the plankton. At present, the Polytraits database contains almost 20,000 records on morphological, behavioural and reproductive characteristics of more than 1,000 species, all referenced by literature sources. All data on these engaging organisms can be freely accessed through the project website in different ways and formats, both human-readable and machine-readable. The new database presents a rich and easy to use collection, which cover morphological, reproductive and behavioural characteristics of polychaetes, as well as information on environmental preferences in an attempt to facilitate ecological research and conservation studies. The researchers also provide a leading-edge approach to accessing, integrating and re-using the data. Through programming interfaces, the life-cycle information is automatically integrated into the Polychaetes Scratchpads, together with other data on polychaetes. Scratchpads are easy to use, adaptable, and provide powerful tools for managing biodiversity data. This taxon-centric virtual research environment allows browsing the taxonomic classification and retrieving various kinds of relevant information for each taxon, among which are also the collected biological traits. Furthermore, the data are also accessible through Encyclopedia of Life's TraitBank which currently features over 3 million records related to more than 250 attributes for 272,720 taxa, including the Polytraits data. TraitBank serves as a provider for aggregated species trait data. All data uploaded there are archived and integrated with trait information from other sources to address issues of standardization of scientific data. This is the first complex database for marine organisms to be published in such an innovative way and demonstrates yet another example of collaboration between the data publisher Pensoft and Encyclopedia of Life. Full Article News
log UN's message on the International day for biological diversity By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 22 May 2014 15:24:00 +0300 This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity falls in the International Year of Small Island Developing States and is being observed under the theme of "Island Diversity". For some 600 million island-dwellers -- nearly one-tenth of the world’s population and representing one in three United Nations Member States -- biodiversity is integral to their subsistence, income, well-being and cultural identity. Half the world’s marine resources lie in island waters. Biodiversity-based industries such as tourism and fisheries account for more than half the gross domestic product of small island developing states. Coral reefs alone provide an estimated $375 billion annual return in goods and services. Many island species on land and sea are found nowhere else on Earth. Legacies of a unique evolutionary heritage, they hold the promise of future discoveries -- from medicines and foods to biofuels. Yet, reflecting a global pattern, island biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate in the face of growing risks. Rising sea levels caused by climate change, ocean acidification, invasive alien species, overfishing, pollution and ill-considered development are taking a heavy toll. Many species face the prospect of extinction. People’s livelihoods and national economies are suffering. The process to define a post-2015 development agenda and the Third Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa in September of this year both offer opportunities to attend to the unique needs of small island developing states and reverse the global decline in biodiversity. Because of their vulnerability, small island developing states are demonstrating a growing understanding of the links between healthy ecosystems and human well-being. Many have made local, national and regional commitments to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity, including through ratifying important instruments such as the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. I call on all countries around the world to follow suit and ratify the Protocol without delay. Around the world, many innovative partnerships are being forged to preserve marine and coastal resources, enhance resilience to climate change and develop sustainable tourism, fisheries and other industries. On this International Day, let us commit to adopting, adapting and scaling up best practices so we can protect fragile ecosystems for the benefit of all the islanders -- and indeed people everywhere -- who depend on them. Full Article News
log Postdoctoral position on Biological Invasions at Doñana Biological Station (Spain) By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 09:41:00 +0300 Funded by the "Severo Ochoa" Excellence Program awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Doñana Biological Station (www.ebd.csic.es) seeks a Postdoctoral fellow for two-years with the aim to conduct research in the field of Biological Invasions. EBD-CSIC is interested to examine the multifaceted causes and consequences of biological invasions, a key component of global change. The ultimate goal is to improve our knowledge of the factors that influence the success and impacts of invasions by plants and vertebrates. For this purpose, we investigate species traits conferring invasive potential, the vulnerability of ecosystems to be invaded, and the sensitivity of native biodiversity to invasions under different environmental conditions and scenarios of global change. Deadline for interested applicants: 17th June-17th July, 2014 Please see attached file for more details (download, pdf) Full Article News
log Scaling in ecology and biodiversity conservation explained in a book and an online tool By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 18:01:00 +0300 The 5-year EU project Securing the Conservation of biodiversity across Administrative Levels and spatial, temporal, and Ecological Scales (SCALES) has come to an end in July 2014 resulting in a first of its kind description of challenges that arise in protecting biodiversity across different scales. A wide range of practical methods and recommendations to improve conservation at regional, national and supranational scales are included in a book published as a synthesis of project outcomes. The book "Scaling in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation" was published in advanced open access via Pensoft Publisher's Advanced Books platform. This innovative format aimed at accelerating data publishing, mining, sharing and reuse, offers a range of semantic enhancements to book contents, including external sources. Results are also presented in an easy to use interactive SCALETOOL, specifically developed for the needs of policy and decision-makers. The tool also provides access to a range of biodiversity data and driver maps compiled or created in the project. Human actions, motivated by social and economic driving forces, generate various pressures on biodiversity, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change, land use related disturbance patterns, or species invasions that have an impact on biodiversity. Each of these factors acts at characteristic scales, and the scales of social and economic demands, of environmental pressures, of biodiversity impacts, of scientific analysis, and of governmental responses do not necessarily match. However, management of the living world will be effective only if we understand how problems and solutions change with scale. 'The book and the tool are the first of their kind and would be of great help to everyone concerned with the conservation of biodiversity. They provide ideas of how to handle complex issues of scaling in applied and theoretical environmental studies' says the chief editor Prof. Klaus Henle. The book aims to bundle the main results of SCALES in a comprehensive manner and present it in a way that is usable not only for scientists but also for people making decisions in administration, management, policy or even business and NGOs; to people who are more interested in the "practical" side of this issue. Guidelines, practical solutions and special tools are also presented as a special web based portal, SCALETOOL, which puts together scientific outcomes widely spread over the scientific literature. ### Original Source: Henle K, Potts S, Kunin W, Matsinos Y, Simila J, Pantis J, Grobelnik V, Penev L, Settele J (Eds) (2014) Scaling in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation. Advanced Books: e1169. doi: 10.3897/ab.e1169 Full Article News
log EU BON acknowledged paper is classified as the fourth hottest article in Ecological Informatics By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 11:24:00 +0200 A recent paper by Duccio Rocchini et al. (2015) has been classified as the fourth hottest article in Ecological Informatics. The paper is part of the EU BON project, and discusses from a conceptual point of view, the potential of remote sensing in estimating biodiversity using various diversity indices, including alpha- and beta-diversity measurements. Abstract: Many geospatial tools have been advocated in spatial ecology to estimate biodiversity and its changes over space and time. Such information is essential in designing effective strategies for biodiversity conservation and management. Remote sensing is one of the most powerful approaches to identify biodiversity hotspots and predict changes in species composition in reduced time and costs. This is because, with respect to field-based methods, it allows to derive complete spatial coverages of the Earth surface under study in a short period of time. Furthermore, remote sensing provides repeated coverages of field sites, thus making studies of temporal changes in biodiversity possible. In this paper we discuss, from a conceptual point of view, the potential of remote sensing in estimating biodiversity using various diversity indices, including alpha- and beta-diversity measurements. Original source: Rocchini D, Hernández Stefanoni JL, He, KS (2015) Advancing species diversity estimate by remotely sensed proxies: a conceptual review. Ecological Informatics, 25: 22-28. doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.10.006 Full Article News
log Job Alert: Postdoctoral researcher in ecology at SLU By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 11 May 2015 10:56:00 +0300 The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences offers a new position for Postdoctoral researcher in ecology: Spatial population dynamics at a species’ northern range margin at the Department of Ecology.The department conducts empirical and theoretical research for sustainable forest and agricultural production and efficient biological conservation. Research on populations, communities, and ecosystems forms the foundation for studying the influence of land use and climate on animals, plants, soils nutrient status, and greenhouse gas balances. Solutions are sought that will mitigate climate change, preserve threatened species, benefit biological diversity and ecosystem services, and control pests in forest and agricultural landscapes as well as in urban areas.Duties: The postdoc researcher will study spatial population dynamics in an insect at the northern margin of its global distribution, by taking advantage of a data from a long-term study of the butterfly Pyrgus armoricanus. The main purpose of the project is to understand how climate, habitat fragmentation and habitat quality influence the regional distribution and population dynamics of this butterfly, and to use this knowledge to predict population persistence and distribution in an altered climate and after changed land use. The successful candidate wull also analyze time-series data on population dynamics in relation to weather and habitat quality. There will also be opportunities to model future regional distribution or population persistence under scenarios of future land use and climate change.Place of work: UppsalaForm of employment: Temporary employment, 1 year.Deadlines: June 1, 2015For more information on requirements and how to apply, lease visit the official job offer page: http://www.slu.se/sv/om-slu/fristaende-sidor/aktuellt/lediga-tjanster/las-mer/?eng=1&Pid=1875 Full Article News
log New associated partner: GFBio - German Federation for Biological Data By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 15 May 2015 10:38:00 +0300 EU BON is happy to announce a new addition to our growing family of associated partners. In April 2015, the project has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the German Federation for Biological Data (GFBio). GFBio is a project that brings together national key players providing environmentally related biological data and services to develop the ‘German Federation for Biological Data' . The overall goal is to provide a sustainable, service oriented, national data infrastructure facilitating data sharing and stimulating data intensive science in the fields of biological and environmental research. The federation will build on proven data archiving infrastructures and workflows such as those of PANGAEA for environmental data and the resources of Germany's major natural history collection data repositories. The new infrastructure will improve and integrate these existing components within a common technological and organizational framework. Full Article News
log Conservation Biology Special Section: "Conservation in Europe as a model for emerging conservation issues globally By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 01 Jun 2015 15:06:00 +0300 A Special Section: "Conservation in Europe as a model for emerging conservation issues globally" is featured in the Early View module of Conservation Biology online. The section includes: Mapping opportunities and challenges for rewilding in Europe Silvia Ceaușu, Max Hofmann, Laetitia M. Navarro, Steve Carver, Peter H. Verburg and Henrique M. Pereira DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12533 Conservation in Europe as a model for emerging conservation issues globally Luigi Boitani and William J. Sutherland DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12530 The alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies in the European Union Ian Hodge, Jennifer Hauck and Aletta Bonn DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12531 Scenarios of large mammal loss in Europe for the 21st century Carlo Rondinini and Piero Visconti DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12532 On how much biodiversity is covered in Europe by national protected areas and by the Natura 2000 network: insights from terrestrial vertebrates L. Maiorano, G. Amori, A. Montemaggiori, C. Rondinini, L. Santini, S. Saura and L. Boitani DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12535 The role of agri-environment schemes in conservation and environmental management Péter Batáry, Lynn V. Dicks, David Kleijn and William J. Sutherland DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12536 Framing the relationship between people and nature in the context of European conservation John D. C. Linnell, Petra Kaczensky, Ulrich Wotschikowsky, Nicolas Lescureux and Luigi Boitani DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12534 Full Article News
log Job offer: Population Biologist / Conservation Biologist (Postdoc) (m/f) By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 17 Jul 2015 11:18:00 +0300 The Department of Conservation Biology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) is offering a full-time position for a Population Biologist / Conservation Biologist (Postdoc) focussing on assessing past and future trends in species under land use and climate change and improving the design of monitoring schemes. The position will be part of EU BON. The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) with its 1,100 employees has gained an excellent reputation as an international competence centre for environmental sciences. We are part of the largest scientific organisation in Germany, the Helmholtz association. Our mission: Our research seeks to find a balance between social development and the long-term protection of our natural resources.More information on the oficial job offer page: http://bit.ly/1MexC6Q Full Article News
log EU 2010 biodiversity baseline — adapted to the MAES typology (2015) By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 28 Jul 2015 10:26:00 +0300 The report ‘EU 2010 biodiversity baseline - adapted to the MAES typology (2015)’ presents a revised overview of the EEA's EU 2010 biodiversity baseline report. The revision is necessary because the typology of ecosystems used in the 2010 report has since been altered by a working group of biodiversity experts. The revised report provides recalculated information on the state and trends of the different biodiversity and ecosystem components, based on the new typology of ecosystems. Find the report here. Full Article News
log Interview: Dr. Mark Frenzel on LTER-Europe, ecological research and co-working with EU BON By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 01 Feb 2016 11:28:00 +0200 EU BON has signed memoranda of understanding with almost thirty institutions and projects from across Europe and outside to state its desire for collaboration and exchange of expertise. Among the early partners in this list is the LTER-Europe group, focussed on the integration of scientific research and ecosystem research approaches, including the human dimension. Dr. Mark Frenzel who took part in the EU BON Third Stakeholder roundtable in December 2015, gives an overview of his impressions from the meeting as well as his ideas on the co-work between LTER-Europe and EU BON. Credit: Florian Wetzel Q: The LTER-Europe network looks at conceptualizing Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) as an essential component of world-wide efforts to better understand ecosystems. How is the network planning to achieve this? A: This is / will be achieved mainly by funded project work. Actually the H2020 eLTER project is the most important backbone, an ESFRI eLTER initiative is running too. In terms of content there are several challenges which need to be addressed: (1) Harmonisation in terms of what and how is being measured at LTER sites, (2) collection and representation of metadata about sites, actors and data sets within the web tool DEIMS, (3) open access of data and DOI registration of data sets, (4) considering the human component as a major driver for changes in ecosystems by including socio-economy and socio-ecology in the LTER approach. Q: How would EU BON and its planned European biodiversity portal be beneficial to LTER-Europe and its aims in the next years? A: Biodiversity is not the only, but an important focus within LTER. It depends on the services and benefits connected with this portal and its long-term perspective. The most important added value I would see in an elaborated framework-based agreement on the set of "essential biodiversity variables" which will be a compromise between importance and feasibility. This selection process should be well tuned with the relevant players in this field. Q: The LTER-Europe network includes several hundreds of sites that are collecting large amounts of data – how can this data be used for improving our knowledge of biodiversity, particularly for policy-relevant questions? A: The big advantage (and potential) of LTER-Europe sites is the coverage in terms of geography and bioms, the general shortcoming is in the heterogeneous reasons why these sites have been set up (e.g. for monitoring air pollution) and that there is no targeted funding (in terms of a specific research question) for all sites. Not all sites are dealing with biodiversity data. First, suitable sites need to be selected according to metadata in DEIMS (https://data.lter-europe.net/deims/). Second, data sets according to fitting topics have to be compiled (perhaps no easy task, as datasets up to now are not exhaustively documented). Site managers of representative sites (depending on the question to be addressed) could be motivated to create a common standardised data sets (needs external funding depending on the resources necessary for the task or at least a very attractive research question) responding to e.g. policy needs. Moreover, the long-term knowledge of site coordinators about the development and the important drivers of change at their sites (e.g. by assessing ecosystem services) comprises valuable meta information about the context of data sets. Data obtained from the sites could potentially help with policy-relevant questions like status of endangered species or status of ecosystem service relevant system parameters which could be extracted from LTER sites. Q: According to you what are the next three most urgent step in order to achieve better understanding of ecosystem services and their benefits for policy, economics and society? A: (1) reliable data and suitable scale of data, (2) understanding the effect of scale on ecosystem services, (3) make use of large networks to approach this issue, bring the results down to a scale understandable for the layman. About LTER-Europe: Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) is an essential component of world-wide efforts to better understand ecosystems. LTER contributes to the knowledge base informing policy and to the development of management options in response to the Grand Challenges under Global Change. From the beginning (around 2003) the design of LTER-Europe has focussed on the integration of natural sciences and ecosystem research approaches, including the human dimension. LTER-Europe was heavily involved in conceptualizing socio-ecological research (LTSER). As well as LTER Sites, LTER-Europe features LTSER Platforms, acting as test infrastructures for a new generation of ecosystem research across European environmental and socio-economic gradients. Full Article News
log Making the most out of biological observations data: first of a series of EU BON publications in RIO By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 22 Mar 2016 16:29:00 +0200 Creating and maintaining a biodiversity data collection has been a much-needed worldwide exercise for years, yet there is no single standard on how to do this. This has led to a myriad of datasets often incompatible with each other. To make the most out of biodiversity data and to ensure that its use for environmental monitoring and conservation is both easy and legal, EU BON published recommendations that provide consistent Europe-wide Data Publishing Guidelines and Recommendations in the EU BON Biodiversity Portal. The report "Data Policy Recommendations for Biodiversity Data. EU BON Project Report" featured in the Research Ideas & Outcomes (RIO) journal, is the first contribution in a pioneering comprehensive project outputs compilation taking advantage of RIO's unique option to publish collections of project results. Lyubomir Penev presenting the EU BON collection in RIO at the project's biodiversity data sharing and data publishing workshop in Sofia; Credit: Pensoft Biodiversity data and information provide important knowledge for many biological, geological, and environmental research disciplines. Additionally, they are crucial for the development of strong environmental policies and the management of natural resources. Information management systems can bring together a wealth of information and a legacy of over 260 years of biological observations which are now dispersed in a myriad of different documents, institutions, and locations. EU BON aims to build a comprehensive "European Biodiversity Portal" that will incorporate currently scattered Europe-wide biodiversity data, while at the same time helping to realize a substantial part of the worldwide Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON). To achieve this ambitious plan, EU BON identifies the strong need for a coherent and consistent data policy in Europe to increase interoperability of data and make its re-use both easy and legal. "Biodiversity data and information should not be treated as commercial goods, but as a common resource for the whole human society. The EU BON data sharing agreement is an important step in this direction," comments the lead author of the report Dr. Willi Egloff from Plazi, Switzerland. In its report, the EU BON project analysis available single recommendations and guidelines on different topics. On this basis, the report provides structured guidelines for legislators, researchers, data aggregators, funding agencies and publishers to be taken into consideration towards providing standardized, easy-to-find, re-shareable and re-usable biodiversity data. "We are extremely happy that EU BON is among the first to take advantage of our project outputs collections option in RIO. The first report they are publishing with us deals with issues of opening up data, and digitizing and collecting scientific knowledge, all close to RIO's mission to open up the research process and promote open science," says Prof. Lyubomir Penev, Founder and Publisher of RIO. Original Source: Egloff W, Agosti D, Patterson D, Hoffmann A, Mietchen D, Kishor P, Penev L (2016) Data Policy Recommendations for Biodiversity Data. EU BON Project Report. Research Ideas and Outcomes2: e8458. doi: 10.3897/rio.2.e8458 Full Article News
log Annual Conference of the Society for Tropical Ecology By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:22:00 +0200 In 2013, the University of Vienna will host the Annual Conference of the Society for Tropical Ecology (Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie, gtö), focusing on Tropical Ecology in a Changing World. The conference will run from April 02 to 05, 2013 in Vienna, Austria. The conference aims at maximizing interactions among scientists of all disciplines and backgrounds who are interested in tropical ecology and biodiversity.Ongoing global change processes along the inter-twined dimensions of climate and land-use pose tremendous challenges for maintaining ecosystem functions. Traditionally, ecological research on climate change had its focus on high altitude and latitude biomes that severely and rapidly suffer from warming. Yet, effects of climate change on tropical ecosystems and organisms can be equally strong. In addition, changes in land-use exert ever increasing pressures especially on tropical biota. Understanding these processes is crucial to allow for predicting and mitigating adverse effects of forthcoming changes on tropical biodiversity and its role in ecosystem functioning. The annual conference of the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) will provide an interdisciplinary platform for discussion, particularly on the following topics:- Climate change effects on tropical biota- Influence of land-use changes on tropical biota- Tropical biodiversity and ecosystem functioning under Global Change Further Information: http://www.gtoe-conference.de/ Full Article Events
log This year’s Trondheim Conference: Ecology and Economy for a Sustainable Society By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:56:00 +0200 Ecology and Economy for a Sustainable SocietyThis year’s Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity has been organized to be held from May 27 until May 31, 2013 in Trondheim, Norway. The conference will go under the "Ecology and Economy for a Sustainable Society" slogan and will be aimed at exploring how to cut development pathways towards a sustainable society by aligning policy, business, economy and ecology across borders, scales and systems.Since the first Trondheim Conference held in 1993, the world population has grown by 25 %, the total GDP by 75 % and world trade has tripled. Despite positive achievements, loss of biodiversity along with global warming is undermining human wellbeing, especially that of the poor and vulnerable. Those issues and finding suitable solution will be on the main agenda of the 2013 Trondheim Conference. Participation and registrationParticipation in the conference is by invitation only. Each country has been invited to send two experts, one from each field of biodiversity and economy/planning. Invitees may register for the conference on the Participation and registration page. Full Article Events
log The iEvoBio Meeting: intersection of biology, software, and mathematics By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:27:49 +0200 The iEvoBio Meeting, 2013, will take place in Snowbird, Utah between June 25-26, in conjunction with Evolution 2013. It aims to bring together biologists working in evolution, systematics and biodiversity, with software developers, and mathematicians.The keynote speakers for iEvoBio 2013 will be Dr. Heather Piwowar and Dr. Holly Bik.Submissions for participation in the conference are now open. There are three ways to participate:- Lightning Talk: present for 5 min on a method, idea, or software product about bioinformatics.- Software Bazaar: Demo your open-source software product.- Birds of a Feather: Suggest or participate in an informal group of folks with a common interest. Suggestions will be considered both before and during the meeting. Find out the whole Program here.More details about registration can be found here. Full Article Events
log International Congress for Conservation Biology 2013 By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:28:00 +0200 The biennial International Congress for Conservation Biology is recognized as the most important global meeting for conservation professionals and students. The congress features a dynamic scientific program with more than 100 cutting edge symposia, workshops, posters, and focus groups; countless networking opportunities, fantastic field trips, and world-renowned speakers.The 26th ICCB takes place in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Chesapeake Bay is the world's most productive estuary and the region is rich in cultural and historical heritage and conservation challenges and success stories.Event web page: ICCB 2013 Full Article Events
log IALE 2013 European Congress - Changing European Landscapes: Landscape ecology, local to global By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 21 May 2013 11:20:00 +0300 The IALE 2013 European Congress "Changing European Landscapes: Landscape ecology, local to global" will take place on 9-12 September 2013, in Manchester, UK. This major international event, organised by IALE UK and IALE Europe, will examine how and why European landscapes are changing and how landscape ecology can help us to plan for the future at local to global scales. It will consider local projects alongside international programmes and provide many opportunities for researchers, policy makers and practitioners to interact. The congress will have a European focus but we look forward to welcoming participants from around the world. More information and how to register find here. Full Article Events
log 43rd Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 15 May 2013 17:47:00 +0300 In 2013, the University of Potsdam will host the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The meeting (www.gfoe-2013.de) will take place from September 9 to 13, 2013 in Potsdam, Germany. The guiding theme of the 43rd Annual Meeting is "Building bridges in ecology - linking systems, scales and disciplines".Along the lines of this guiding theme, we will stimulate scientific discussions about all aspects in basic and applied ecological research contributing to better connect. Full Article Events
log 8th Annual Meeting of the Specialist Group for Macroecology By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 11:20:00 +0200 Integrating mechanisms into macroecology 8th Annual Meeting of the Specialist Group for Macroecology of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (GfÖ) Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Biology, Department Geobotany & Botanical Garden, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108 Halle (Saale), Germany Linking processes and mechanistic approaches (e.g., from physiology, experimental ecology, demography, and evolution) with macroecological approaches, scales, and methods has long been discussed among macroecologists. Still, only few steps toward implementing such links have been taken, yet. With the 8th Annual Meeting of the Specialist Group for Macroecology of the GfÖ, we want to offer a forum for presenting and discussing both tested approaches and new ideas to make these links. Additionally, in order to move beyond discussion, we invite all participants to join the conference workshop on the 2nd day. Here, we plan to intensively discuss gaps in existing approaches and possible ways for bridging these gaps in several discussion groups and to take first steps towards publishing the summarized workshop results. http://www.macroecology.org/ Full Article Events
log Satellite navigation - Workshop: EGNSS research and technology development By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 15:45:00 +0300 Place: Brussels (Belgium) The workshop on European Global Satellite System (GNSS) Research and Technology Development (RTD) will be organised by the European Commission in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA). This event is being held to consult stakeholders of the European GNSS community on RTD areas of potential interest to be funded under Horizon 2020 in the period 2015-2020. The scope includes Galileo/ EGNOS infrastructure, mission and services R&D, GNSS signals, and basic GNSS RTD. Please note that receiver and applications R&D will not be covered in this workshop The workshop will consist of six topical sessions, during which stakeholders from industry, SMEs, academia, and technology institutes are solicited to discuss and define important lines of GNSS research. Full Article Events
log Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST) Course: Philosophy of Biological Systematics By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 13:52:00 +0300 Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST) is organizing a course in Philosophy of Biological Systematics targeted at MSc students, PhD students, early career researchers, professional systematists/taxonomists and anyone who is interested in the philosophy of Biological Systematics. The course has a duration of one week and will take place between 8-12 September 2014. Deadline for registration: 16 June 2014, extended until Friday 20 June 2014. To register and to learn more about the course visit the official webpage: http://www.taxonomytraining.eu/content/philosophy-biological-systematics Approaching the subject from the perspective of the philosophical foundations of scientific inquiry, this course offers critical examinations of the principles required to judge the scientific merits of systematic/taxonomic procedures by way of the following topics: • The goal of science• The goal of biological systematics• Causal relationships in systematics• The nature of why-questions• Three forms of reasoning: deduction, induction, abduction• The uses of deduction, induction, and abduction in science• Evidence and reasoning• Fact, theory & hypothesis• Theory & hypothesis testing• Systematics involves abductive reasoning• Inferences of systematics hypotheses, i.e. taxa• Implications for ‘phylogenetic’ methods• Causal explanations, not ‘trees’ or cladograms• Parsimony, likelihood, Bayesianism: are they relevant to abductive reasoning, thus phylogenetic inference?• The requirement of total evidence• The errors of cladogram comparisons & character mapping• Homology, homogeny & homoplasy• Character coding• Mechanics of hypothesis testing: implications for cladograms• Character data cannot test phylogenetic hypotheses• The nature evidential support• The proper testing of phylogenetic hypotheses• The myths of bootstrap, jack-knife & Bremer ‘support’• Implications for nomenclature• Defining biodiversity and conservation Participants will be provided reprints covering the topics in the course, as well as a PDF file with all course slides (>800) and associated notes. Full Article Events
log Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST): Zoological Nomenclature training course By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 14:00:00 +0300 Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST) is organizing a Zoological Nomenclature training course targeted at MSc students, PhD students, early career researchers, professional systematists/taxonomists and anyone who is interested in the philosophy of Biological Systematics. The course has a duration of one 5 days and will take place between 22-26 September 2014 at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France. Deadline for registration: 16 June 2014, extended until Friday 20 June 2014. To register and to learn more about the course visit the official webpage: http://www.taxonomytraining.eu/content/zoological-nomenclature-3 Course description: Taxonomists need a common language worldwide. This is provided by the international codes of nomenclature. Although several codes exist, according to the organisms at stake, they all follow a similar mode of allocation of names to taxa (through "types") and of establishment of the valid name for a taxon (priority, first-reviser, usage). As biological nomenclature is rarely taught in academic formations, many taxonomists have difficulties mastering it. This training will provide an overview of the history and epistemology of biological nomenclature, and a discussion of the relationships between phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature. The zoological code will be presented in detail, the other codes (including the botanical one) more briefly. The recent problems and projects of nomenclature, including alternative systems, will be discussed. Lecture topics: • What is taxonomy? What is nomenclature? Name, taxon, nomenclatural rank, taxonomic category. Species and supraspecific taxa. The relationships between phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature• History and epistemology of the international codes of nomenclature• The international code of zoological nomenclature• The other international codes (plants and fungi, bacteria, viruses, cultivated plants)• The alternative nomenclatural systems Seminar topics: • Nomenclature of higher taxa in zoology• The Phylocode and other phylogenetic nomenclatural systems• Zoobank and electronic publications Practical experiences will include: exercises in zoological nomenclature and transforming phylogenetic data into a taxonomy and a nomenclature. Full Article Events
log Twelfth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 12) By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 17:11:00 +0300 The Twelfth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 12) will take place from 6 to 17 October 2014 in the Alpensia Convention Center, Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, Republic of Korea. The theme of the conference will be "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development":- To raise international awareness about the essential role of biodiversity and its contribution to sustainable development.- To put strong emphasis on biodiversity at the discussions of Post-2015 Development Agenda and setting of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Mor einformation is available on the conference website: http://www.cbdcop12.kr/eng/sub/conference/conference01_2.php Full Article Events
log British Ecological Society and French Ecological Society (BEsFE) joint 2014 annual meeting 9 – 12 December, France By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 16:49:00 +0200 The British Ecological Society and the French Ecology Society are pleased to invite you to Lille for a joint conference which will bring together for the first time ecologists of our two countries. The aim of the conference will promote exchanges and debates on major advances in scientific ecology, and strengthen cooperation between the French and British researchers of tomorrow. The meeting will be held on 9 – 12 December at the Grand Palais, Lille, France. The British Ecological Society and French Ecological Society invite proposals for symposia sessions at their 2014 Annual Meeting. Symposia sessions at the Annual Meeting highlight some of the most important and timely science in ecology. They provide the overarching structure and scientific focal point to the meeting. The topics provide a showcase and forum for the discussion of key ecological questions, vision for the future and encourage integration among disciplines. As ever, timely and well organised submissions from across the breadth of ecology are welcome; however, building on the bi-national meeting and the introduction of the EU Horizon 2020 programme of research funding, we particularly encourage submissions that highlight international and EU focused topics: • Agro-ecology and the CAP• Biodiversity and ecosystem services• Evolutionary ecology and disease• Marine ecology and the EU Marine Directive • Freshwater ecology and the EU Water Directive• Horizon 2020 Tackling Societal Challenges: http://bit.ly/193Fbo3 The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2014. The three full days of science can accommodate 18 half day symposia sessions. Symposia proposals should include one keynote speaker allocated a 30 minute presentation and then five invited speakers, each allocated 15 minute slots. Time devoted to synthesis and discussion is possible, but at the discretion of the organisers. In exceptional circumstances, we will consider a full day session. Proposers are responsible for the speakers submitting their abstracts and registrations on time. - See more at: http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/current_future_meetings/2014-annual-meeting/ Full Article Events
log ICCB : 27th International Congress for Conservation Biology 4th European Congress for Conservation Biology By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 09:42:00 +0300 The ICCB : 27th International Congress for Conservation Biology 4th European Congress for Conservation Biology will take place from 2 to 6 August, 2015 in Montpellier - France. SCB’s International and European Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB & ECCB) are the most important international meeting for conservation professionals and students. They are a forum for addressing conservation challenges and for presenting new research and developments in conservation science and practice. Most importantly, ICCBs and ECCBs connect our global community of conservation professionals and are the major networking outlet for anyone interested in conservation. The meeting theme is 'Mission biodiversity: choosing new paths for conservation', and as such we intend that ICCB-ECCB 2015 is a transdisciplinary meeting and delegates attend from a range of professions and sectors. Conservation biology has always had socioeconomic relevance but it is clear that biologists need to undertake interdisciplinary collaborations from the first inception of projects, through to implementation and dissemination of outputs. The programme will emphasise science-policy and science-society dialogues using interactive sessions and symposia. GEO BON plans a 3-hour symposium "Essential Biodiversity Variables for conservation needs" at the ICCB-ECCB conference in Montpellier. This symposium will be about EBV developments, EBV's for CBD and national needs and EBV dataflows. Contact Person: Jörg Freyhof (Executive Director of GEO BON; joerg.freyhof@idiv.de The call for Symposia, Thematic Poster Exhibitions, Workshops, Round Table Discussions and Training Course Proposals is now open! The deadline is 31st October 2014 and notification of the results will be given prior to December 1st 2014. For more information, please visit the event's dedicated website at: http://www.iccb-eccb2015.org/frontpage Full Article Events
log Ecology at the interface: 13th European Ecological Federation (EEF) & 25th Italian Society of Ecology’s (S.It.E.) joint conference By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 15 Jun 2015 15:03:00 +0300 The 13th European Ecological Federation (EEF) and 25th Italian Society of Ecology’s (S.It.E.) joint conference will take place in Rome from 21st - 25th September 2015. "Ecology at the Interface" focuses on interactions at all biological levels, from membrane exchanges to food web dynamics, in addition to physical ecotones, from deep sediment-bottom water to land-atmosphere, and disciplinary ecotones linking ecology to sociology, economics, law, technology and other fields of knowledge concerning daily human life. For 5 full days the conference expects about 1500 participants from all over Europe, proposing a rich programme articulated in a number of plenary and contributed sessions, symposia, workshops andround tables. Deadlines for symposia and workshop proposals and abstract submission are available here and the first circular here. The proposed venue is the Congress Centre of Rome - EUR. You can download the full brochure here. For more information visit the official conference website. Full Article Events
log SBSTTA 19 - Nineteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 30 Jun 2015 16:42:00 +0300 SBSTTA 19 - Nineteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice will take place from 2 to 5 November 2015 in Montreal, Canada. Article 25 of the Convention on Biological Diversity establishes an open-ended intergovernmental scientific advisory body known as the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) to provide the Conference of the Parties (COP) and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies, with timely advice relating to the implementation of the Convention. As a subsidiary body of the COP, SBSTTA is to report regularly to the COP on all aspects of its work. SBSTTA has met 18 times to date and produced a total of 193 recommendations to the Conference of the Parties, some of which have been endorsed in full by the latter. Such endorsement makes these recommendations de facto decisions of the Conference of the Parties. Parts of other recommendations have also been endorsed, and many others have been taken up in modified form. For more information on SBSTTA past and future meetings, please visit the dedicated webpage. Full Article Events
log IUBS 2015 Frontiers in Unified Biology By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 12 Oct 2015 14:58:00 +0300 The 32rd International Union of Biological Sciences General Assembly and Conference will take place from 14 to16 December 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Symposia: Biological Consequences of Global Change: current challenges Building an Informatics Agenda that will deliver a Unified Biology Integrated Biology Education for Future Earth Integrative Climate Change Biology - Biodiversity, functional traits, and lessons from the past BioNomenclature: Making nomenclatural codes, concepts and tools fit for modern research Biology and the Societal Interfaces From Urban Biology to sustainable BiodiverCities More information available on teh official conference website. Full Article Events
log 33rd (International Society of Limnology) SIL conference: Science for sustainable freshwater use By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 25 Jan 2016 17:48:00 +0200 The 33rd (International Society of Limnology) SIL conference "Science for sustainable freshwater use" will be held from 31 July until 5 August 2016 in torino, Italy. Our planet is under pressure due to increased demand for freshwater. The availability and suitability of water resources are threatened by human influences, directly, through globally unbalancing the slow and fast water cycles and impairing water quality, and indirectly through the adverse effects of climate change. Many freshwater ecosystems are deteriorating in quantity and quality. As a result, an increasing number of people are chronically short of water. In this context, limnology must represent the answer to the planetary water crisis as we need more science and more scientists to urgently face a sustainable and effective freshwater recovery. This need can be satisfied only improving our knowledge in Limnological Sciences and the people awareness of what science can do for a more sustainable use of freshwater ecosystems. More information available here: http://www.sil2016.it/ Full Article Events
log EcoSummit 2016 Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:43:00 +0200 The 5th International EcoSummit Congress, EcoSummit 2016 - Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change, will take place at The Corum Convention Centre, Montpellier from 29 August – 1 September 2016. This conference series was founded in 1996 in Copenhagen, as a forum to meet the demands of scientists working in several new ecological disciplines, and who required a better understanding of the concepts and methods for a holistic use of ecology in environmental management. Since 1996, EcoSummit has been taken around the world (Canada and China), with EcoSummit 2012 hosting 1600 participants from 75 countries in Columbus, Ohio, USA. EcoSummit 2016 will centre on the ecology of terrestrial ecosystems and all habitats that are integrated within those ecosystems, including river networks, wetlands and coastlines. More information: http://www.ecosummit2016.org/ Full Article Events
log 2016 XXV International Congress of Entomology (ICE) By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 28 Jun 2016 18:41:00 +0300 ESA is honored to host ICE 2016, the XXV International Congress of Entomology, under the theme Entomology without Borders. The event is expected to bring together the largest delegation of scientists and experts in the history of the discipline, who will meet between 25-30 Sep 2016, in exciting, easily-accessible, and affordable Orlando, Florida, USA. Make important connections with entomologists and scientists from around the world. Present to this global audience and compete in global competitions. Participate in forums and discussions covering every aspect of the discipline. Build global networks and collaborative research with others in your field of interest. Showcase your products and services to an important global audience. The Congress will allow scientists and students to interact with the world’s leading experts in many specialties to exchange ideas and build on their research. Symposia will highlight the most recent advances in a wide diversity of entomological subjects around the global theme. Full Article Events
