As described in the Science Plan of international SOLAS the research needed to address the 3 Foci requires not only an interdisciplinary approach (involving biogeochemistry, physics, mathematical modeling etcÖ) but also involves closely coupled studies requiring marine and atmospheric scientists to work together. All the necessary expertise's exist separately among the Belgian scientific community but needed to be coordinated to specifically address the 3 Foci of International SOLAS. Solas.be brings together Belgian institutes with a wide panel of expertise, from field researchers and experimentalists to modelers at regional to global scales in both coastal seas, ice-covered areas and the global ocean. Solas.be will offer to Belgian scientists a platform for: o Sharing data and model results and expertise, within the cluster but also within the international SOLAS community. This will obviously bring an added value on individual projects providing unique data-sets for joint publication and models run and validation. o Stimulating and editing synthesis reports to be submitted to international SOLAS. o Sharing ideas and concepts for new research initiatives and their implementation. o Creating a dialogue between the SOLAS scientific community and decision and policy makers, the media and the general public in particular with respect to global change and sustainable development issues. o Interaction with other relevant cluster initiatives (in particular the Eutrophication cluster) In addition to the research mission of the cluster, SOLAS BELGIUM will set up new instruments to promote the visibility of Belgian activities linked to international SOLAS issues towards the international scientific community and the various stake holders (public authorities, industry, the media, non-governmental organisations and the general public). These instruments will be supervised and coordinated by the Communication Office and include: o The edition of annual reports posted on the SOLAS Belgium web site and their transfer to the International SOLAS web site; o The edition of an Electronic semestrial Newsletter (SOLAS BELGIUM NEWSLETTER) addressed to the scientific community and the public authorities; o The stimulation of peer-reviewed joint scientific publications with an emphasis on open-access journals (for maximum visibility) for informing the scientific community; o The active participation of Belgian scientists in annual Open Science SOLAS meetings; o The participation in General Public events (e.g. Printemps des Sciences, Ö) ; o The setting up of small Task Force for communication with Media (radio, television, press, Ö);