In this instalment of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance interview campaign, we hear about the significance of knowledge sharing across generations. If you want to discover the various Atlantic programs bringing this idea to life keep reading and follow the next interviews!
The future of the Atlantic Ocean science is being shaped not only by innovation, but by the conversations and collaborations happening between generations. The growing intergenerational activities of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA), reveal how powerful learning becomes when new perspectives, experiences and generations collaborate.
At the heart of this effort is the Blue Intergenerational Programme, launched at the 2025 All-Atlantic Forum in Brussels, and guided by EU senior advisor Sigi Gruber. “There are many opportunities for ECOPs (Early Career Ocean Professionals), but most of the time, we don’t know they exist.” Sigi explains. “This programme connects the dots, bringing these opportunities under a single umbrella.”
During the last two forum editions (2024 Ottawa and 2025 Brussels) the intergenerational dialogue brought together people from different generations in different capacities (ECOPs, ECOP mentors and coaches) to sit in one table, coming together to share ideas, brainstorm solutions related to the All-Atlantic Declaration priorities and learn from each other.
The importance of shared experience resonates strongly with ECOP mentor Nikia Gooding and ECOP Ianna Luna Duval. For them, the intergenerational dialogue sessions are transformative: “without this interconnection of perspectives, we cannot close gaps or move properly into the future”, Ianna explains. ECOP mentor Katelene Delgado, from Cape Verde, sees the programme as a space where people from different backgrounds come together with shared questions and a shared purpose. “We all have a role to play”, she says, and this sentiment echoes across the Atlantic.
In Brazil, Janice Trotte-Duhá, Director of Infrastructure and Operations at the National Institute of Oceanographic Research (INPO), in Brazil, views the All-Atlantic community as “a group of champions, people passionate about the ocean and committed to humankind”. She sees the Alliance as an embodiment of a “borderless ocean”, an idea strengthened through initiatives like the All-Atlantic Summer School, a hands-on training programme in numerical modelling for coastal resilience. This year, the training brought together 15 ECOPs from 12 countries. “Everyone came with different challenges,” Janice says, “and they were all able to take what they learned back home to support their communities”.
Like Sigi, Janice emphasises how intergenerational dialogue reshapes careers: “[Through intergenerational dialogue,] we learn to be respectful, to be kind to ourselves, to take time to learn new things and to never give up!”. She left the Forum with a message for all ECOPs: to keep learning, to use all available tools, and to cultivate good judgement in an era of limitless information.
For Professor Luis Pinheiro of the University of Aveiro, and Portugal’s representative to the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the power of intergenerational exchange is equally clear. He leads the At-Sea Network, launched in 2022 and including 27 countries. The network creates opportunities for ECOPs, especially those from developing countries, to receive financial support and join scientific cruises. Luis speaks with conviction: “Hands-on training changes lives. Years ago, young voices were not heard,” he says, “and today, the intergenerational programme is changing that. Their perspectives give us hope.”
Kogie Govender presents the All-Atlantic Blue School Network, an initiative bringing ocean literacy to local communities, initiative which also received seed money from the Alliance. Today, more than 15 countries participate, each adapting the programme to local languages and priorities making this an adaptive curriculum brought to both coastal and in-land communities to increase ocean literacy.
Across all these stories, one theme remains constant: capacity building is not just training, it is connection. It is the exchange of ideas, the passing of knowledge from one generation to another, and the recognition that everyone – regardless of age, background, or geography – has something valuable to contribute.
The work is not easy, the challenges are many, and the journey requires persistence. But as our interviewees remind us, there is a whole Atlantic community supporting those who take their first steps into ocean science. Never give up. Stay curious. Keep learning and keep teaching. Together, we can shape the ocean we want and need.
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