23/06/2026
ECOMARIS, a territorial cooperation project led by the ECOAQUA University Institute of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) and carried out with the support of the INTERREG MAC 2021–2027 Programme, in line with its Priority Axis 1. MAC Inteligente will hold its 2nd In-Person Meeting in Puerto del Rosario, the capital of Fuerteventura, from Tuesday 23 June to Friday 26 June. The event will be hosted by the Fuerteventura Island Council, through the Biosphere Reserve.
The meeting will be attended by the project partners, with representatives from organisations in the Canary Islands, Madeira, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Azores. Over the course of the four-day event, internal coordination activities within the consortium will be combined with training sessions through three workshops aimed at professionals and organisations involved in the observation, management and conservation of the coastal and marine environment.
The meeting will begin on Tuesday 23 June with an official opening ceremony, which will take place between 10.15 and 11.00 am at the Palacio de Formación y Congresos de Fuerteventura (Fuerteventura Training and Conference Centre).
The event will be attended by Marlene Figueroa Martín, Third Vice-President and Regional Minister for Tourism, Economic Development, Ecological Transition, Environmental Sustainability and Security; Yaiza Fernández-Palacios Vallejo, researcher at the ECOAQUA Institute of the ULPGC and coordinator of the ECOMARIS project; João Gama Monteiro, associate researcher at the Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Madeira and a full member of MARE-Madeira and ARDITI; and Antonio Gallardo Campos, director of the Fuerteventura Biosphere Reserve.
Next will be the three workshops which, as part of Activity 3.1 of the project entitled ‘Training and capacity building for the observation, management and conservation of the coastal and marine environment’, will take place exclusively in person on 23 and 26 June. The programmes for these workshops can be viewed via the following link on the ECOMARIS website: https://www.ecomaris.eu/es/blog/ecomaris_talleres_fuerteventura_junio_2026-a5737.html.
These events are aimed at public authorities, technical and scientific staff, organisations involved in coastal and marine management, technology and environmental consultancy firms, marine conservation organisations, and partners of the ECOMARIS project.
Participation in the workshops requires prior registration via the following link.
Workshops:
-WORKSHOP 1: ‘Underwater noise, passive acoustic monitoring and applications for marine management’.
-WORKSHOP 2: ‘Preparation of geographic data and metadata for integration into the Spatial Information Infrastructure (SII) and to support decision-making’
-WORKSHOP 3: ‘Drones, on-board sensors and geospatial data for the observation of coastal and marine environments’
Meanwhile, 24 and 25 June will be devoted to the annual meeting to coordinate and review the project’s activities, which is reserved for consortium partners.
Throughout the event, the project exhibition will be open to visitors at the Fuerteventura Training and Conference Centre between 10.00 and 12.00 and between 17.00 and 18.30. Here, visitors will find several information panels explaining the objectives of ECOMARIS, as well as various models depicting marine life. For guided tours of this exhibition, advance booking is required by calling 676978871. Visitors will also be able to enjoy a marine experience using virtual reality headsets.
Project participants:
Canary Islands:
-University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, through ECOAQUA.
-Fuerteventura Island Council, through the Biosphere Reserve.
-elittoral Estudios de ingeniería costera y oceanográfica SLNE.
- Tecnofly Canarias, S.L.
Azores, Portugal:
- Regional Secretariat for the Sea and Fisheries: Regional Directorate for Fisheries.
- Regional Directorate for Maritime Policies.
Madeira, Portugal:
-Regional Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment.
-ARDITI – Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation.
-University of Madeira.
Cape Verde:
-BIOSFERA 1 – Association for the Defence of the Environment.
São Tomé and Príncipe:
-Association of Friends of the Príncipe Island Biosphere Reserve (AARBIP).
Date: 23–26 June 2026.
Venue: Palacio de Formación y Congresos de Fuerteventura. Plaza del Centenario del Cabildo de Fuerteventura, No. 1, 35600, Calle Eliseo Gómez Ordoñez, 5, 35600 Puerto del Rosario, Las Palmas
Organisers: Fuerteventura Biosphere Reserve (Cabildo Insular de Fuerteventura), ECOAQUA and ECOMARIS partners.
Participating research group: BIOCON.
Title of the event: 2nd ECOMARIS International Meeting.
Participating researchers: Ricardo Haroun Tabraue, principal investigator at ECOMARIS and director of ECOAQUA, Yaiza Fernández-Palacios Vallejo, researcher with the BIOCON group at ECOAQUA and ECOMARIS coordinator; Candy Cecilia Ruano, member of the BIOCON group at ECOAQUA and of ECOMARIS; as well as researchers associated with the ECOMARIS project through its partners.