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The MARINEFF project is now coming to an end. Indeed, the technical and communication activities will end on 31 March 2023.

This is why, on 8 March, the British partners met in Portsmouth for the final event organised by the University of Southampton.

Unfortunately, due to the national strikes, the French partners could not attend but the French partners were able to meet at BUILDERS Ecole d’ingénieurs.

On the agenda:

• • Overview of MARINEFF project and shell concrete formulations
  • Oyster enhancement reefs
  • Breakwater modules
  • Mineralogy of shell concrete in seawater
  • Rockpools 
  • Moorings
  • Workshop and information available on the MARINEFF website

Picture credit: Jessica Bone (BU) et BUILDERS Ecole d’ingénieurs

The MARINEFF project team wishes you all the best for the year 2023.

On October 19th, RGI, WindEurope and Offshore Coalition for Energy and Nature (OCEaN) organised a conference in Brussels entitled “Speeding up Nature Positive Offshore Energy Infrastructure Deployment”.

The aim of this event was to find solutions to accelerate the deployment of offshore energy infrastructure while restoring Europe’s marine ecosystems.

As it fits perfectly into this theme, the MARINEFF project had the opportunity to be presented.

Picture credits: Renewables Grid Initiative

On October 13th, 2022, the penultimate SCM of the MARINEFF project took place in Bournemouth.

As the project ends in March 2023, this was an opportunity to review the final stages of the project.

We have seen great progress and are very proud to see the MARINEFF project achieving its objectives.

The last SCM will take place in Portsmouth on March 9th, 2023.

Since October 4th, 2022, ESITC Caen, lead partner of the MARINEFF project, became BUILDERS School of Civil Engineering.

On October 19th, 2022, the Speeding Up Nature Positive Offshore Energy Infrastructure Deployment conference will be held in Brussels.

The objective of this conference is to discuss the challenges and possible solutions to accelerate the deployment of offshore energy infrastructure while restoring European marine ecosystems.

The added value of the MARINEFF project in this conference is to raise awareness among stakeholders developing offshore wind energy with the issues related to the impact of electrical connections on biodiversity. Presenting MARINEFF will be an opportunity to show that before the deployment of infrastructures, it is possible to better plan the construction phases and limit the impact on the marine environment.

On October 11th-12th, 2022, a workshop on the Ecological Enhancement for Marine infrastructures will take place in Bournemouth (UK). It is organised by the MARINEFF, SARC and 3DPARE projects.

Participation in this event is by invitation only.

This workshop will give the opportunity to exchange on the projects, the main results and the knowledge of each.

At the same time, the next SCM of the MARINEFF project will take place at the partner Bournemouth University.

For further information on the MARINEFF project and upcoming events: http://marineff-project.eu/

A submarine duplex took place on September 16th, 2022 in Saint-Malo, organised by the partner MNHN of Dinard.

The extension of the MARINEFF project was an opportunity to propose a new format for the dissemination of environmental monitoring results.

The press and the partners of the MARINEFF project were invited.

We were on board of a SMPE (Saint-Malo Plongée Emeraude) boat, moored at a MARINEFF mooring on the Bizeux site and two divers were at a depth of 16 metres to show us and comment on the results of the project.

Picture credits: ESITC Caen 

On the occasion of the MARINEFF International Conference held from 3 to 5 May 2022 at ESITC Caen, a call for submission of papers was launched.

Those interested could submit their scientific papers related to the field of green maritime infrastructure, design, construction materials and marine biodiversity.

The MARINEFF project team is pleased to announce the publication of these articles!

They are now available on the editor website. It can be accessed by clicking on this link.

Enjoy your reading!

Latest news!

The new moorings of the Marineff project have been immersed on the BecFer site by the MNHN in Dinard.

Indeed, the extension of the MARINEFF project has not only allowed us to add 14 months of environmental monitoring but also to add two more experimental sites in the bay of Dinard.

These last moorings, like the previous ones, were produced by ESITC Caen last June, and were immersed by MNHN Dinard on 11 July 2022.

Crédits photo : MNHN de Dinard 

ESITC Caen, lead of the European Project MARINEFF, and its partners participated in the Marineff International Conference, being held in Caen (Normandy, France) from 3rd to 5th May 2022.

This conference, as a part of the MARINEFF project, gathered researchers, representatives from industry and other stakeholders to highlight research and case studies about the ecological maritime infrastructures, from construction materials, design to marine biodiversity.

This event allowed all the participants to have a convivial time despite adjournments.

You have all been waiting for it, for months it has been postponed, the international conference MARINEFF will take place from May 3rd to May 5th.

ESITC Caen will welcome you during these 2 days of conferences around the following themes:

1/ Eco-designed maritime infrastructures and nature-based solutions
2/ Impacts of maritime infrastructures on biodiversity and coastal functioning
3/ Interactions between materials and the marine environment and biodiversity
4/ Stakeholder engagement and collaborative approaches respectful of the environment and the coastal economy
5/ Case studies and pilots.

Calls for abstracts and papers are closed but you can of course participate by registering via the following link: https://marineff.sciencesconf.org/

The last day will be dedicated to a visit of a pilot site MARINEFF.

For more information, you can consult the last Bulletin#3 of the conference and contact us at the following address

Aurélie GERAULT : aurelie.gerault@esitc-caen.fr

The MARINEFF project team wishes you a happy new year 2022.

Our friends at Ecostructure will be hosting a webinar on 4 November 2021 on enhancing biodiversity via artificial marine structures.

Find out more here to join the event.

The Marineff project received a top award at the CIRIA Biodiversity Interest Group (BIG) Biodiversity Challenge Awards, an independent industry award recognizing organizations and individuals who champion biodiversity in the building industry.

For more information: link

Thanks to Interreg VA France (Channel) England and all the project partners: VINCI Construction Maritime et Fluvial, TPC – VINCI Construction France, Bournemouth University, University of Exeter, University of Southampton, Université de Caen Normandie, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle of Dinard, Ports de Normandie.

On September 13, the COPIL 7 of the MARINEFF project was held.

The partners of the University of Caen and ESITC Caen met in the morning to visit the developments on the rockpools site. These biomimetic pools, attached to the Ouistreham seawall (Paul-Emile Victor pier), are intended to improve the biodiversity of coastal waters. They are now colonized by grey shrimps, various species of crabs and green and brown algae!

In the afternoon, the whole consortium met by videoconference and in person in Luc-sur-Mer. We were able to exchange on the various progresses of the environmental monitoring on the dike modules, moorings, specific habitats for oysters and rockpools. Also, new dates have been set for the international conference MARINEFF !

We will keep you informed as soon as possible.

During the last dives of the University of Caen, an exceptional event was observed: the nesting of a Crenilabra Melops. This local fish built its nest based on algae in the interstices of the dike modules. In the middle of the gap there is also a metal loop, originally mounted to facilitate the maneuverability of the block, which provides an excellent anchor point for the Crenilabra to nest. The females come to deposit the eggs in the nest once they are satisfied with its quality.

We are lucky to have a video of this event, available right here.

The environmental monitoring phase of all the modules is ongoing!

For the Bernières-sur-Mer modules, environmental monitoring campaigns were carried out on June 7, 9 and 14.

On the program: microphytobenthos scrapings, primary production measurement!

As part of the monitoring of environmental indicators on the biomimetic mooring modules of the MARINEFF project, our partner the National Museum of Natural History (MNNH) has created 2 participatory science protocols for recreational divers.

The first, the SENTINELLES protocol, offers to take underwater photos of the species present on the reefs, in order to carry out a biological watch on these biomimetic mooring modules, to identify local biodiversity and raise awareness among a greater number of actors.

The second, the AMBASSADOR protocol, aims to bring together volunteer divers to carry out a quasi-scientific follow-up of the colonization of the modules, with the setting up of a preliminary training organized by the marine station of Dinard. More robust data will be collected and will make it possible to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the contributions of biomimetic moorings as a support for local biodiversity in the long term.

Nearly 50 divers have already registered for the Ambassador protocol!

You can find the flyer and the poster realized by Valentin DANET here: FLYER and SUPPORT

The facebook page of the “Observatoire participatif de plongée” : https://www.facebook.com/Observatoire.Participatif.en.plongee

Some photos of the first dives on biomimetic moorings:

“Eco-engineering on the Channel coast – MARINEFF project” is the name of the webinaire organized on December 2 for the MARINEFF project.

In total, 9 partners presented aspects of the project to more than 60 participants!

The present partners were :

• Mohamed Boutouil, Matthieu Dufeu, Amel Bourguiba and Nassim Sebaibi from ESITC Caen
• Ken Collins from the University of Southampton
• Jessica Bones from the University of Bournemouth
• Pascal Claquin from the University of Caen
• Charles Willemy from TPC – Vinci Construction
• Valentin Danet from the National Museum of National History

After a rich introduction, the design of the materials use for the modules and the different modules were presented. Then, the research aspect on oysters was developed before ending on the various infrastructures created for the MARINEFF project.

This webinaire ended with a rich moment of exchanges between the partners and the very involved audience.

Very positive review for this webinaire! An other webinaire will take place this year !

You can follow us on our social media to stay tuned on the MARINEFF project : Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Last step concerning the immersions for the MARINEFF project!

After being loaded onto the ship in the Ouistreham lock, the dike modules (between 3.3 and 3.9T) were submerged on March 9 at Bernières-sur-Mer.

Thanks to our partners VCMF for the launching and TPC – Vinci Construction France for the production of the modules.

It is the University of Caen Normandie’s turn to carry out environmental monitoring: Indicators have been specifically developed for ecological monitoring.

Passion, innovation and sharing are the ingredients for a year 2021 placed under excellence.

The whole team thanks you for your confidence.

24 rockpools were installed this week on the Ouistreham site. This site is complementary to 3 other sites in England, so environmental monitoring began in the summer of 2020.

This site, made available by the Ports of Normandy, allows us to introduce the French to a system widely used in England for restoring biodiversity on vertical structures, which are not very conducive to marine colonisation. These structures, located in tidal balancing zones, make it possible, at low tide, to conserve an entire ecosystem in and around the basin. In addition to improving biodiversity, the rockpools are a tool for raising awareness among walkers of the importance of conserving the ecosystem and marine biodiversity and an educational tool for the youngest.

These unique works of art, hand-made by English artists (Artecology), are optimised for the MARINEFF project and their colonisation will be monitored for 2 years by biologists from the University of Caen Normandy.

Within the framework of the MARINEFF project, the M2C laboratory of the University of Caen Normandy is recruiting a post-doctoral student for 12 months from February 1st, 2020.

For more information, see the job offer

The first anchorage was immersed on Friday, October 30, 2020 in the Bay of Dinard.

The next anchorages will be immersed in the coming days, depending on tidal coefficients and weather conditions.

These biomimetic marine infrastructures will be monitored by the MNHN of Dinard for almost 2 years to study their colonization and by ESITC Caen to monitor the durability of the material in the marine environment.

In addition, the MNHN of Dinard has developed a participatory science protocol that will allow beginners or more experienced divers to carry out their own monitoring of biocolonization on these anchorages, even beyond the MARINEFF project.

“Eco-engineering on the Channel coast – MARINEFF project” it’s on December 02, 2020 at 1PM.

RDV on CIRIA’s website to register and virtually attend this 1h training session : https://www.ciria.org/MARINEFF_event

In the meantime, do not hesitate to visit the MARINEFF page on Chttps://www.ciria.org/MARINEFF_eventIRIA: www.ciria.org/marineff and our social networks Facebook, LinkedIn et Twitter.

/!\ Presentations and questions will be in English only.

While their production by ESITC Caen was completed at the end of September, the time has come to think about their immersion.

Today 14.10.20, a short visit by the partner MNHN in Caen to set the targets for the environmental monitoring protocol for marine biomimetic infrastructures.

Next step: delivery to Dinard and immersion scheduled for the last week of October.

While the fixing of the rockpools in France (Ouistreham) should take place in the next few weeks, in England they have been fixed since the summer at Poole Harbour and Sandbanks.

It is now necessary to carry out the quarterly monitoring of these structures until the end of the Marineff project.

The walks along the quays are likely to satisfy the curiosity of more than one child! 🙂

The time has come to submerge the dyke modules in the Cherbourg harbour, and the press was invited and honored to be present.

A press conference was held in the boat Adèle (company Hagueàpart – Cherbourg-en-Cotentin), chartered for the occasion.

In the coming days, modules will be placed along the Cherbourg dike and then in Bernières-sur-mer.

They will be monitored over almost 2 years in terms of biocolonization and sustainability of the material in the marine environment.

As a bonus while waiting for the France 3 reports, a small video !

Another video done by France Bleu