Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit 2022 in Ravenna
After more than two years, it was time to celebrate the activities of the EU4Ocean Coalition‘s members! The EU4Ocean Summit which was hosted by the European Maritime Day 2022 in Ravenna, Italy and the Ocean Literacy Festival:
- 19 May: visit the EU4Ocean Coalition booth and networking space at EMD 2022 conference
- 20 May: hybrid Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit at EMD 2022 conference
- 21 May: the Ocean Literacy Festival which was part of the Ravenna SeaSide event (21-22 May)
On 19 May, you were welcome to join us at the EU4Ocean booth and exhibition space at EMD 2022 conference venue, Pala de Andre in Ravenna, where many interactive activities were organised by the coalition’s members.
On 20 May 2022, during the European Maritime Day, the hybrid Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit showcased and awarded the most successful initiatives, collaborations and actions of the EU4Ocean Platform, the Youth4Ocean Forum and the Network of European Blue Schools. Organisations, individuals, young people, schools and teachers were coming together to celebrate their efforts and commitment to the ocean and invited others to join them in their work to enhance ocean literacy throughout Europe.
After the Opening session, members of the three EU4Ocean communities came together to discuss what was achieved so far.
The successive Sessions 1 and Sessions 2, and the respective panel discussions focused on three topics: Climate & Ocean, Healthy and Clean Ocean, and Food from the Ocean.
Session 3 provided a forward-looking focus on the benefits of Ocean Literacy for society and opportunities for future developments and set the frame for the afternoon parallel workshops.
The morning concluded with the “EU4OCEAN in action!” - Award ceremony, which celebrated this milestone and the many contributions of its growing communities to Let’s make Europe Blue!
In the afternoon, you had the opportunity to choose between a series of thematic workshops:
- The cities we need for the ocean we want
- Youth and Capacity building for Ocean Literacy - Connecting generations through storytelling
- Citizens Empowerment through Ocean knowledge co-production
- From individual to collective action: the role for sea basin initiatives to strengthen Ocean Literacy in Europe
The Closing Session “Sailing forward” consisted of a round table discussion with representative from EC DG MARE, the EU4Ocean Coordinator, and the EU4Ocean coalition’s communities. The group provided a forward-looking focus for enhancing ocean literacy in sea basins, internationally, across the three topics, and discussed the next steps for the EU4Ocean Coalition.
The Summit, supported by the UNESCO as one of the Ocean Decade Actions, also kicked off a new series of initiatives, such as the new EU4Ocean Mentoring Programme.
On 21 May, you were invited to join the activities organised by the EU4Ocean Coalition members for the Ocean Literacy Festival! The Festival connected ocean literacy actors from Europe, and showcased the wide diversity of ocean literacy initiatives already in place. It featured on-site events (in Ravenna, Italy) as well as hybrid events organised in different locations across Europe and the various sea-basins. Activities could be submitted via this form until May 1st. (or until April 15th for activities in Ravenna).
A general overview and detailed information on the EU4Ocean plenary sessions and workshops taking place at the EU4Ocean Summit is available in the EMD Programme. Follow us on #EU4Ocean to keep up to date with the latest news!
