NEWS

• 05 March 2006
  The E.U.A.C congress 2007 will be hosted by the Aquarium of the Artis Zoo in Amsterdam from October 1st to October 6th. Please find hereafter a temporary and provisory progamme. More detailed information will become available in due time.
  
  

  DATE	TIME	ACTIVITY	NOTE
  Fri 30 Sep	Whole day	Diving	Optional, bus depart from Amsterdam. Own cost
  Sat 1 Oct	Whole day	Arrival
  	Afternoon	Committee meeting
  	Evening	Icebreaker	Hosted by Artis Zoo
  Sun 2 Oct	Morning	FAITAG
  	Afternoon	General Assembly
  	Afternoon	Free	Tour Zoo/Aquarium?
  Mon 3 Oct	Whole day	Lectures
  	Whole day	Exhibition
  Tue 4 Oct	Whole day	Lectures
  	Whole day	Exhibition	Sponsors
  Wed 5 Oct	Whole day	Excursion	Arnhem, Emmen, R’dam, Dolfi., Others?
  Thur 6 Oct	Departure

  
  


• 05 March 2006
  The next E.U.A.C annual conference will be hosted by Océanopolis in Brest (France).
  The conference starts on October 2nd 2006 and ends on October 7th.
  Information is available at the secretariat and registration can be done at the same address.
  
  Draft program :
  
  Monday October 2nd, 2006
  Afternoon : EUAC Executive committee meeting
  Late afternoon : Arrival of participants and registration
  Early evening : Ice-breaker
  
  Tuesday October 3rd to Friday October 6th
  Administrative session + Faitag meeting
  Oral presentations and poster session
  Visit of research, marine biology institutions such as IFREMER, IPEV, IRD.
  
  Saturday October 7th
  Optional tours (you need to register at the beginning of the congress)
  . Brest Harbor (boat excursion).
  . Visit by coach of the Coastal area : Le Conquet, les Abers, North Coast of Britanny.
  . Visit by boat and if weather conditions allow : Iroise Island (Molène & Ouessant).
  . Visit of the marine biological research institutions of Roscoff (also small aquarium), and/or Concarneau.
  . Visit of the St. Mâlo Aquarium, Le Croisic.
  
  
  
• 05 March 2006
  FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
  
  The 7 International Aquarium Congress will be hosted by the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium from 19th to 24th October 2008.
  More details will be posted as soon as available.
  
  
• 27 April 2005
  Dear colleagues,
  
  The dates for our next E.U.A.C congress as well as a preliminary meeting schedule have been fixed. The congress will take place in the Oceanario Lisboa from Tuesday September 27th to Sunday October first. You can find the needed forms for registration, paper proposals, instructions to the authors under the member section. We expect many colleagues to participate !
  
  
• 22 December 2004
  6th IAC meeting Monterey 5 – 10 December 2004
  The 6th IAC meeting was a success and over 600 participants from a great number of countries participated. The document Synthesis and Conclusions of the 6th IAC Summarizes this meeting. "The declaration of the 6th IAC" was endorsed and adopted by consensus.
  
  
• 22 December 2004
  DECLARATION OF THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL AQUARIUM CONGRESS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, USA 12/9/04
  
  
  The 6th IAC declares that public aquariums have a greater role than ever to play in advancing and promoting global conservation of aquatic environments. We must work to effect a significant transformation in human behavior to ensure a sustainable relationship with earth’s natural ecosystems and the survival of our civilization as we know it. Toward this end, public aquariums worldwide should increase their efforts in the following areas:
  
  Focus not only on nature but also on human activities that affect global aquatic ecosystems Inspire, engage and empower our audiences to become better stewards of aquatic environments, with special focus on concrete actions that people can take in their everyday lives Ensure our institutional management practices are sustainable both commercially and environmentally.
  
  To be more effective in achieving these results and to ensure we can create the successful aquarium of the future, we propose a new organization called the International Aquarium Forum, or IAF. Its mission is to actively promote communication among aquarium professionals worldwide for the advancement of conservation of global aquatic environments.
  
  To plan this effort, members of the 6th IAC steering committee have agreed to continue to serve as the International Aquarium Forum founding committee. Paul Van den Sande has agreed to serve as chair of the founding committee and Patrick Garratt has agreed to serve as vice-chair. By the 7th IAC, a new method of selecting this committee will be proposed, circulated and adopted. The E.U.A.C. has agreed to provide staff support and to create and host a new web site during the planning phase for the IAF. During the next several months the current 6th IAC web site (IAC2004.ORG) will continue to serve as a vehicle for information exchange, after which the new web site will be established. A more detailed concept proposal for the IAF will be included in the proceedings of the 6th IAC.
  
  The next congress will be held in four years; however, there is a desire to hold them more frequently. The congress will alternate among three global regions: Australasia, Europe/Africa and the Americas. The next congress will be held in Shanghai in 2008. The steering committee for the 7th IAC will be appointed by the host country, will have representation from the three global regions and will have some overlapping membership with the IAF founding committee.
  
  
• 22 December 2004
  Synthesis and Conclusions of the 6th IAC – Monterey 5 – 10 December 2004 Respectfully Submitted by Dr. Paul Van den Sande Executive Director of the E.U.A.C.
  
  The conference has demonstrated the continued professional commitment of all colleagues and institutions towards sustainable culture of many delicate and challenging animals and plants in order to reduce the potential impact on nature. Presentations have actively contributed towards a better understanding of complex biological mechanisms providing food for discussion and professional advancement. For the first time a collective spirit of co-operation has spawned the publication of some impressive supporting documentation and husbandry manuals.
  
  In previous IAC’s we have heard many technical papers. This time however we have focussed on other operational and management issues in addition to animal husbandry. It is clear that our operational and management practises have to be sustainable both commercially and environmentally. We therefore anticipate that this will become a prerequisite for the aquariums of the third generation.
  
  There has been a significant difference between this, the sixth IAC and previous conferences in that this time the congress has focussed on the big picture and the central theme “making connections, inspiring conservation” was ever present. New co-operative initiatives which were not in evidence in 2000 have resulted in collaborative international and intercontinental movements. These initiatives have focussed on conservation, environmental understanding and better documentation. More than ever before the conference has focussed not only on nature but, in particular on man’s activities and intimate functional relationship with the global aquatic ecosystem.
  
  The combined communication capacity of our institutions to reshape the behaviour of mankind towards a more harmonious relationship with our environment, and in particular with the oceans, has been at the core of our common committment. The underlying theme of the presentations from all quarters have exposed the risks we face, the damage we are currently inflicting on our environment and the urgent need for us to influence a dramatic change in attitude and social behaviour.
  
  We are blessed with the tools, and the combined capability to reach hundreds of millions of receptive visitors. We also have a unique ability to pull on the emotional heartstrings of our visitors to solicit their engagement and total involvement. It is therefore our collective responsibility to use this advantage to best effect to influence a significant transformation in behaviour to ensure a sustainable relationship with the earths’ natural ecosystems and the survival of our civilisation as we know it.
  
  We are at the brink of a new, third generation of aquariums which will have to focus on development of new, more engaging experiences in order to captivate and influence a behavioural change in our visitors. This will require an even greater common committment to professional learning.
  
  I feel that we have reached a significant milestone in our professional and collaborative development and that we must now structure the IAC to meet the needs and challenges that will face us in the coming years. At the Monaco meeting the idea of transforming into a recognised professional organisation was introduced. In fact little progress was made towards this end during the intervening years even though a memorandum of understanding was passed to this effect. The need for professional consensus, a forum for exchange and a common voice can no longer be ignored. It is therefore more urgent than before that we sieze the initiative and the mandate already given to us by you to consolidate our position and to formalise our movement.
  
  With your permission I would therefore like to propose the endorsement of the deliberations of the current IAC steering committee to undertake the creation of our new organisation by transforming itself into a foundation committee with a firm commitment to ensuring a formal framework for better communication and representation.
  
  
• 12 October 2002
  Welcome to the brand new E.U.A.C. website ! This site was rebuilt from scratch and is now being hosted in Belgium. We will continue to list all website updates and changes on this news page you are currently reading. Thanks for visiting and stay tuned ...