EMODnet showcases its value for the EU Green Deal at European Maritime Day 2022

On 19-20 May 2022, EMODnet experts from across the network joined hundreds of marine and maritime stakeholders in Ravenna, Italy and online for European Maritime Day 2022 where the EC Blue Economy Report 2022 was also launched by EC services DG MARE and Joint Research Centre (JRC), featuring EMODnet and the European Atlas of the Seas.

Interventions included an opening by EC DG MARE Head of Unit A1 Andreea Strachinescu who underlined the high capability in EU data services to underpin the EU Green deal. The EMODnet Secretariat’s Kate Larkin and EMODnet Chemistry Coordinator Alessandra Giorgetti presented on EMODnet use cases for the EU Green Deal, including the use of EMODnet for marine litter data management at pan-European scale, for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Descriptor 10, also contributing to the Global Partnership on Marine Litter platform. And a Panel Chaired by EMODnet Data Ingestion expert Dick Schaap tackled key questions on the current state-of-the-art in the marine knowledge value chain for the EU Green Deal, with EMODnet Biology’s Coordinator Joana Beja joining panelists from Fisheries and Aquaculture Organisation (FAO), Blue-Cloud project, Fugro, Copernicus Marine Service, EuroSea project.

Earlier in the day, EMODnet also joined a workshop hosted by EC DG MARE on Ocean Observation and the Blue Economy Observatory, which presented the EC Ocean Observation – sharing responsibility initiative, explored synergies with the Blue Economy Observatory and launched the EC Blue Economy Report 2022 with speakers from DG MARE, JRC, ICES and the Blue Accelerator Network AspBan. EMODnet Human Activities moderated a workshop on Aquaculture: economic and environmental sustainability, with speakers from EC DG MARE, the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EUMOFA) and seaweed First.

And to close Day 1 of EMD2022, EMODnet Biology’s Joana Beja spoke at a workshop on ensuring interoperability between Digital Twins of the Ocean, convened by Copernicus Marine Service, VLIZ and Hub Ocean, including other interventions by Copernicus Marine Service/Mercator Ocean International and the European project ILIAD.