Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean Health and Coastal Resilience
Bologna (IT), 11 July 2024 – The high-level conference, jointly organized by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research and the European Commission in the frame of the G7 Science and Technology 2024, hosted in the spaces of Technopole of Bologna, focused on the “Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean Health and Coastal Resilience”. The conference showcased the progress made in monitoring, restoring and regenerating the ocean, seas and coastal areas, transitioning from research and innovation to local deployment, also through the development of the Digital Twin of the Ocean. The event highlighted the international efforts, measures and innovative solutions aimed at regenerating marine biodiversity and ecosystems, enhancing climate mitigation and adaptation at the climate-ocean nexus, and increasing the resilience of coastal communities to severe weather events, such as storms and hurricanes, along with ice-melting and sea level rise.
The event featured strategic mobilization initiatives involving G7 countries, with particular focus on the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’, the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP), the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance, and the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA). It also linked to international organizations and R&I initiatives, such as the Union for the Mediterranean and UN Decade of Ocean Sciences.
This high-level G7 conference aimed to present to the G7 Science and Technology delegations conveyed in Bologna, as well as Ministerial delegations from Mediterranean countries, the major outcomes of these initiatives and R&I portfolios that provide solutions and measures for the restoration of seas and ocean, along with the protection of coastal communities. Specifically, the event addressed three relevant fields of action in the G7 Science and Technology track: i) R&I initiatives to promote the restoration and regeneration of marine ecosystems and their biodiversity; ii) Digital Twins and emerging technologies for advanced ocean ecosystem monitoring and assessment; iii) cooperation with low- and middle- income Countries, especially Africa. The event involved stakeholders from the Mediterranean basin, international and sea basin intergovernmental organizations as well as representatives from regions, cities, ports, islands, shipping, industries, academia, education, NGOs, citizens and youth.
The conference was a great opportunity to confirm the commitment of the European Commission in leading the protection of Ocean and Waters, through the Mission Ocean programme and other initiatives. This commitment was echoed by the numerous policy makers form G7 countries and beyond, towards a worldwide strategy to tackle Ocean related challenges, including the official endorsement of the Mission Ocean Charter by the Italian ministers Anna Maria Bernini (University and Research) and Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Environment and Energy Security).
In the context of the conference, during the session “EU leading actions on the restoration, reduction of pollution, monitoring and resilience of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean”, BlueMissionMed project manager Fedra Francocci presented the project’s main achievements in supporting the Mission Ocean and Waters objectives by connecting and supporting the Mediterranean stakeholders from research, industry, policy and civil society. The session involved also AA-AGORA – Atlantic and Arctic Innovation action, Mercator Ocean – The EU Digital Twin of the Ocean and the Emilia Romagna region (IT).
More info about the conference and the agenda are available here.
