The All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance at the 8th Atlantic Stakeholder Platform Conference
The 8th Atlantic Stakeholder Platform Conference (ASPC 2021) has been held in Dublin, Ireland, and online, on the 21ST of October 2021, one year after the launch of the Atlantic Action Plan 2.0 – A New Approach to the Atlantic Maritime Strategy.
The research activities implemented as part of the Galway and Belém Statements and the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance are mentioned under the Action Plan 2.0 as crucial activities for giving to the Plan an international dimension, and for supporting its implementation by developing innovative solutions and by improving understanding of the changing Atlantic Ocean and its effects on coastal communities.
The All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance has been well represented at ASPC 2021 by the organisation of the workshop “All-Atlantic Joint Pilot Actions – six concrete ambitious and long-term collaborative actions to strengthen research & cooperation in the Atlantic” and by the participation of the All-Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassadors (AAOYA) in a session fully dedicated to their programme.
The Alliance, its ambitions, its crucial role in fostering research and innovation and the important role of the H2020 Funded projects under its scope have been highlighted also by keynote speakers at the event such as the Portuguese Minister of the Sea Ricardo Serrão Santos, Sigi Gruber, Active Senior Adviser, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission, and Szilvia Németh, Deputy Head of Unit, Healthy Ocean and Seas, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission.
“The All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance serves as a model of how our joint work can contribute to delivering important transitions that the All-Atlantic community needs”
Szilvia Németh, Deputy Head of Unit, Healthy Ocean and Seas, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission
The AAOYA session, moderated by Sigi Gruber, highlighted the ambition of the speakers as Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassadors, the benefits to be part of such an empowering programme, and their role in the implementation of the Atlantic Action. The full session can be watched here.
The “All-Atlantic Joint Pilot Actions – six concrete ambitious and long-term collaborative actions to strengthen research & cooperation in the Atlantic” workshop aimed at showcasing the All-Atlantic Joint Pilot Actions as a real example of concrete international collaboration among the Atlantic countries, giving an overview of the current gaps the Actions are aiming to fulfil, presenting lessons learnt and best practises to strengthen international cooperation and calling stakeholders to join the joint activities. Two AAOYAs were invited to take part in the panel discussion sharing their thoughts on the biggest barriers and new ideas for the young professional community to engage in international cooperation and networks, based on the values that they can offer to it.
The crucial role of data interoperability to share the existing understanding of Atlantic Ocean’s issues, and to achieve better collaboration and engagement of research and industry in the blue economy sectors have been highlighted as one of the main key messages of the workshop in the closing session of the conference, together with the fundamental need of respecting social and cultural diversity and identity of all the stakeholders in cooperation.
The “All-Atlantic Joint Pilot Actions – six concrete ambitious and long-term collaborative actions to strengthen research & cooperation in the Atlantic” workshop has been hosted by AANChOR CSA communication and dissemination leader Margherita Zorgno, EurOcean, supported by the CSA coordination Sofia Cordeiro, FCT, and by the kind participation of Francisco Campuzano from +ATLANTIC Colab as moderator of the panel session and by all JPAs leaders (Werner Ekau, ZMT, David Bassett, EATIP, Fabiano Thompson, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Olga Sato, Institute of the University of São Paulo, Ronaldo Christofoletti, Federal University of São Paulo, José Luiz Moutinho, AIR Centre,) and two All-Atlantic Youth Ambassadors, Fiona-Elaine Strasser, IMBRSea, and Othman Cherkaoui Dekkaki, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco.
The recordings of the ASPC 2021 main event and speakers’ presentations are up on the event platform.
