Map of the Week – European Maritime Day 2023 & EU4Ocean
This week, business professionals, governments, public institutions, NGOs and academia from across Europe met in Brest (France) for the European Maritime Day (EMD) conference. EMD is an annual event during which Europe’s maritime community meet to network, discuss and outline joint action on maritime affairs and the sustainable blue economy. Around 1,200 people took part in the event and participated in plenary sessions, workshops, pitch sessions and the exhibition. The European Atlas of the Seas was there. On 23 May, several side events were proposed to participants. This included a visit of OCEANOLAB , a new space at the Océanopolis Ocean Discovery Park in Brest to share science "in the making" by moving the scientific laboratory closer to the public and opening it up to the public. Participants learned about an interesting experiment to study the impacts of global warming and plastic pollution of the ocean on oysters directly from a scientist working on the experiment. All visitors at Océanopolis can directly ask questions to the scientists involved in this research as part of this exciting science outreach initiative. On 24-25 May, three high-level sessions, 24 workshops and 13 pitch sessions were organised! The workshop dedicated to Ocean Literacy brought together researchers, educators and young people to discuss and mainstream the role of Ocean Literacy in linking marine research to education and careers. Many Ocean Literacy activities took place at the EU4Ocean Coalition’ booth in the exhibition, including demonstrations of the EU4Ocean map in the European Atlas of the Seas – the Map of the Week - and an Atlas quiz, presentation of the Erasmus Maris project on microplastics, the recording of a ‘Meet a Blue expert’ session with the BlueGeneration project, a theatre play on the super-power of water and much more!
The EU4Ocean Coalition brings together organisations, individuals, young people and schools from all over Europe who work on Ocean Literacy. It is composed of three communities: the Platform for organisations (e.g., research institutes, non-governmental organisations, associations, companies), projects, networks, clusters and individuals engaged in Ocean Literacy initiatives, the Youth4Ocean Forum for young people between 16 and 30 and the Network of European Blue Schools. It has seen great growth since its launch in 2020. The EU4Ocean Platform now gathers more than 145 members, the Youth4Ocean Forum brings together 315 members and the Network of European Blue Schools comprises 230 schools. Explore the Map of the Week to see who they are and what they do! Many wonderful Ocean Literacy projects are being developed throughout Europe. Seven projects received special recognition at the MakeEUBlue awards ceremony during the closing session of European Maritime Day.
Overall, an amazing three days to learn about the ocean! Wish to know what the next steps are and how you can join the EU4Ocean Coalition?
- Learn more about the objectives and activities of the EU4Ocean Platform, the Youth4Ocean Forum and the Network of European Blue Schools on the dedicated websites and find out how you can join the EU4Ocean communities. The communities are constantly evolving and growing. Join them and be part of the next update of the map! You have joined the EU4Ocean Platform recently and you cannot find yourself in the map? You are already planned in the upcoming update!
- Learn more about the Challenge of the Year. Every year, the EU4Ocean coalition proposes its Challenge of the year to steer collective action within the Coalition, attract new members to the Coalition and enhance the Coalition’s overall visibility. The topic for this year is ‘Strengthening skills in Ocean Literacy’. Applications have to be submitted by 14 July 2023!
The data in this map are provided by the EU4Ocean Platform, the Youth4Ocean Forum and the Network of European Blue Schools.