Programme

Preliminary Programme

Tuesday, 24 November 2026

09:00 – 10:00 Registration and conference materials collection
10:00 – 10:45 Opening Ceremony
Opening Ceremony and Institutional Addresses. Participation expected from representatives of:
  • Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)
  • Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities
  • Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
  • Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC)
10:45 – 11:15 Keynote Lecture I
Good Environmental Status of Posidonia oceanica (Habitat 1120) in Italy under the MSFD (2008/56/CE): condition assessment and high-resolution mapping as a framework for meadow extent evaluation.
Invited Speaker: Marina Penna, Tiziano Bacci & Alice Rottini (Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, ISPRA)
11:15 – 11:40 Coffee break
11:40 – 12:10 Official Presentation
Official presentation of the Second Edition of the Atlas of Spanish Seagrass Meadows.
Speaker: Juan M. Ruiz (Murcia Oceanographic Centre, IEO-CSIC)

Session I. Seagrass Atlas of Spain: Atlantic and Macaronesian Regions

Invited presentations by the lead authors of each regional Atlas chapter.
12:10 – 12:30 Canary Islands. Speaker: Fernando Tuya (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ULPGC)
12:30 – 12:50 Galicia. Speaker (provisional): Marta Román (University of Vigo, UVigo)
12:50 – 13:10 Asturias. Speaker: Álvaro Bueno (Botanical consultant)
13:10 – 13:30 Cantabria. Speaker: Bárbara Ondiviela (Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of the Universidad de Cantabria, IHCantabria)
13:30 – 13:50 Basque Country. Speaker: Joxe Mikel Garmendia (Marine and Food Research Center, AZTI)
14:00 – 16:00 Lunch

Technical Session I. Current State of Marine Mapping Methodologies

These presentations will provide the technical background for the methodological discussions and final round tables.
16:00 – 16:20 Mapping intertidal seagrass using drone and satellite remote sensing: recent achievements and next challenges.
Speaker: Pierre Gernez (Nantes University)
16:20 – 16:40 Integrating remote sensing into large-scale subtidal seagrass monitoring.
Speaker: Laura Zoffoli & Marcel König, Italian National Research Council (CNR).
16:40 – 17:00 Marine Geophysical Acoustic Tools for Seagrass Mapping: Side-Scan Sonar and Multibeam Systems.
Speaker: Vicente Tasso, Eurofins Oceansnell.
17:00 – 17:20 Mapping and Monitoring the Deep Limit of Seagrass Meadows Using Georeferenced Underwater Video and Autonomous Vehicles.
Speaker: José Martínez Garrido, Oceanographic Centre of Murcia (IEO, CSIC).
17:20 – 17:40 Three decades of change in Cantabrian Zostera noltii meadows: lessons from the past and future challenges.
Speaker: Cristina Galván (Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de la Universidad de Cantabria, IHCantabria)
17:40 – 18:00 Positional and Thematic Quality in Cartographic Validation.
Speaker: Elia Quirós & María Eugenia Polo, University of Extremadura (UEx).

Wednesday, 25 November 2026

09:00 – 09:30 Keynote Lecture II
Title to be confirmed.
Invited speaker: Ana Sousa (University of Aveiro, Portugal)

Session II. Seagrass Atlas of Spain: Mediterranean and Trans-Alboran Regions

Invited presentations by the lead authors of each regional Atlas chapter.
09:30 – 09:50 Trans-Alboran Coast. Speaker: Jaime Bernardeau Esteller (Murcia Oceanographic Centre, IEO-CSIC)
09:50 – 10:10 Andalusia. Speaker: Diego Moreno Lampreave & Soledad Vivas Navarro (Environmental and Water Agency of Andalusia, Regional Government of Andalusia)
10:10 – 10:30 Region of Murcia. Speaker: Lázaro Marín Guirao (Murcia Oceanographic Centre, IEO-CSIC)
10:30 – 10:50 Valencian Community. Speaker: Juan Guillen (Institute of Coastal Ecology, IEL)
10:50 – 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 11:35 Balearic Islands. Speaker: Elvira Álvarez Pérez (Balearic Islands Oceanographic Centre, IEO-CSIC)
11:35 – 11:55 Catalonia. Speaker: Jordi Pagès (Blanes Centre for Advanced Studies, CEAB-CSIC)
12:00 – 13:45 Poster Session
Open poster session featuring scientific and technical contributions on seagrass mapping and monitoring, as well as methodologies, emerging technologies and applications for the study, conservation and management of marine ecosystems.
14:00 – 16:00 Lunch

Technical Session II. Innovation and Future Perspectives
16:00 – 16:20 Artificial intelligence applied to seagrass mapping and monitoring.
Speaker: Pablo González, Artificial Intelligence Center of the University of Oviedo (AIC).
16:20 – 16:40 Cartographic validation criteria and methods applied to seagrass meadows.
Speaker: Fernando García González, Oceanographic Center of Murcia (IEO, CSIC).
16:40 – 17:00 A Tool for Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Multiple Pressures on Seagrass Meadows.
Speaker: Maria Dolores Belando Torrentes, Oceanographic Center of Murcia (IEO, CSIC).
17:00 – 17:20 Seagrass Monitoring: Indicators and Methodologies Towards Common Assessment Standards.
Speaker: Jaime Bernardeau-Esteller, Oceanographic Center of Murcia (IEO, CSIC).
17:20 – 17:40 Mapping, monitoring and Pressure-State Models in Circalittoral Habitats: Lessons Learned from other Marine Ecosystems.
Speaker: José Manuel González-Irusta, Oceanographic Center of Santander (IEO, CSIC).
17:40 – 18:00 From Conservation Status to Natural Capital: Challenges and Opportunities for Monitoring Seagrass Ecosystem Services.
Speaker: Inés Mazarrasa, Instituto de Hidráulica Ambiental de la Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria).
18:15 – 21:00 Guided Tour
Guided Tour of the ARQUA National Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Cartagena, Spain
21:00 Conference Dinner

Thursday, 26 November 2026

CARTOGRASS Round Tables

Towards an Iberian Standard for Seagrass Mapping and Monitoring
09:30 – 11:00 Round Table Session I
Seagrass Mapping: Towards a Common Standard
Chair and rapporteur: Fernando García González, Oceanographic Center of Murcia (IEO, CSIC).
Participants: Vicente Tasso, Laura Zoffoli, Marcial Bardolet and Agustín Barrajón
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 13:00 Round Table Session II
Seagrass Monitoring: Indicators, Protocols and Comparability
Chair and rapporteur: Jaime Bernardeau-Esteller, Oceanographic Center of Murcia (IEO, CSIC).
Participants: Diego Moreno, Eva Marsinyach and Francisco Sobrado
13:00 – 13:30 Working Groups
Proposal for the establishment of permanent working groups on:
  1. Mapping and data acquisition
  2. Validation and quality control
  3. Monitoring and indicators
  4. Data management and Atlas updating
13:30 – 13:45 Closing Ceremony