In October 2021, we organized the first conference jointly organised by French network OZCAR, the French research infrastructure on “Observatoires de la Zone Critique” and German network TERENO, “ Terrestrial Environmental Observatories ” in Strasbourg, France. It was the first meeting of this kind in Europe aiming at bringing together scientists active in terrestrial system’s research. This meeting was extremely well received as the place to be where critical zone research in Europe meets.
Following up on this success, it was decided to organize a second international joint meeting in Bonn, the former capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The conference program covered 10 main subject areas – from fundamental questions on exchange processes between soil, vegetation and atmosphere, to the use of data and different approaches to long-term observation, to new measurement methods and modeling approaches. Some 170 researchers from about 20 countries attended the conference in Bonn and roughly, 50 additional participants attended the conference online. More than 80 oral presentations and 70 poster presentations brought participants up to date on the latest developments in Critical Zone research.
A field visit to the TERENO Eifel site (https://deims.org/fd8b85c0-93ef-4a41-8706-3c4be9dec8e5) and the Wüstebach catchment area (https://deims.org/9fe5a5d1-ccc0-41ab-b555-5ca44da24cd8) took place on 25 September. The visit took in several sites: a site where lysimeters from the SoilCan project are being installed, a flux tower measurement site and a river measurement site.
Following the field visit, a special event was planned to present Franco-German scientific cooperation, as well as the programmes supporting mobility and academic exchanges to strengthen this scientific cooperation, under the supervision of Samuel Pujade-Renaud, scientific officer (Research and Innovation Policy, Digital Technologies) at the French Embassy in Germany. Discussions focused in particular on the possibilities for cooperation between the TERENO and OZCAR networks through the establishment of joint funding, joint doctoral programmes or research projects. Here, the role of French and German policy instruments and institutions, as well as those at the European level, in promoting collaboration was also highlighted.
The presentation of French-German scientific and academic cooperation : open
On Wednesday evening, a gala dinner was held on the Rhine in the Moby Dick cruise ship. It was a convivial occasion that gave the opportunity to continue the exchanges between the participants and to encourage networking, particularly for the young scientists.
You will find further information on this conference on the conference website.
The conference website : https://www.tereno-conference2023.de/en
The conference media brochure : open