On 10-11 March 2025, the newly elected Chairs of CIESM’s six Scientific Committees met for the first time. This key meeting focused on defining the main research priorities that will guide the Commission’s work over the next three years, with direct continuity from the Congress in Palermo. The outcomes will inform both the themes of upcoming CIESM Workshops and improvements to future Congress editions.
The Chairs expressed their will to continue exploring the three key thematic pillars introduced in Palermo:
• Straits – as ecological and geopolitical corridors essential to understanding regional dynamics in water exchange, biodiversity, and circulation.
• Risk perceptions – to better address how scientific knowledge is received, debated, and acted upon in society and policy.
• Open science – to promote shared access, collaboration, and transparency across disciplines and borders.
They also highlighted the importance of:
• Strengthening cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge integration
• Promoting intercalibration efforts to ensure data comparability and scientific reliability
• Establishing a shared scientific vocabulary, to support clarity across disciplines and regions
• Focusing on society-relevant themes that help translate science into action and reach decision-makers
• Ensuring strong involvement of early-career scientists, whose contributions were especially visible during the Congress
This meeting reinforced a shared scientific ambition, as CIESM looks forward to moving ahead on each of these key fronts — all essential to shaping a forward-looking and impactful research agenda.
