The main events for INORE each year are the annual symposia. The first symposia of this year kicked off in May on the Campania Hills of Vico Equense, Italy. Hotel Soggiorno Salesiano hosted approximately 70 INOREans and keynote speakers over six days. While the key focus of the 10th European Symposium was marine energy in Southern Europe, as always the symposium was an international affair. The internationality of the symposia is something that INORE helps to ensure by awarding travel grants to a lucky few coming from further afield. This year the grants helped enable participants from Argentina to attend the symposium, for one INOREan making it his first ever time flying!
When we weren’t enjoying the perfect view from the hotel terrace over the Bay of Naples and the awesome Mount Vesuvius, we packed a busy schedule. All INOREans had an opportunity to present their research in a series of poster sessions and a number of them had the chance to tell us more about their work during the INOREan talks. Collaborative tasks set by various organisations got everyone working and thinking together to address key problems, present ideas or propose solutions to design challenges. Special aspects of the symposium included various keynote talks, the DTOcean Workshop, a panel discussion on marine energy in the Mediterranean Sea and a screening of the short film ‘Green Generation’. Both the SUN University and Frederico II University in Naples kindly hosted us for a number of talks and activities. After each of these technical visits, we squeezed in some time exploring the region. We were treated to guided tours of Pozzuoli and the Bay of Naples, an afternoon in the gorgeous Vico Equense and of course, some authentic Napolitan pizza. The symposium was a great success, with credit to its organisers, Michele Martini and Marinella Passarella.