Helene Hoffmann, scientific researcher on marine topics at Ecologic Institute, presented the concepts of 'Blue Society and Ocean Literacy' at the Open Sea Lab Kick-off event in Brussels on 24 May 2019. The Kick-off marked the official opening of the applications to participate in the Open Sea Lab Hackathon 2019, which is taking place from 4 to 6 September 2019 in Ghent (Belgium).

In her talk on 'Blue Society and Ocean literacy.' Helene Hoffmann explained that creating a more ocean literate 'Blue Society', in which people were educated on the importance of the ocean for human wellbeing and are empowered to have a voice in governance processes, could contribute to a more sustainably used and productive ocean.

Further speakers at the Kick-off event were presenters of the other two challenge areas. 'Environmental Management and Protection' was presented by Helen Lillis, EMODnet Seabed Habitats Coordinator & Marine Mapping Manager at Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), and 'Sustainable Blue Economy' was introduced by Noémie Wouters, CEO at Greenbridge. Iain Shepherd from the European Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) highlighted the importance of marine open data for future EU marine Policy.

The aim of the Open Sea Lab Hackathon is to develop innovative solutions with marine open data. Teams will compete and bring their expertise to develop novel marine and maritime applications using EMODnet, ICES and Copernicus Marine's marine open data and services. The 2019 Hackathon will focus on three challenge areas: 'Blue Society and Ocean Literacy', 'Environmental Management and Protection' and 'Sustainable Blue Economy'.

Questions for 'Blue Society and Ocean literacy' challenge at the Hackathon in September 2019 are:

How can marine open data and services be used to

• Create tools, products or services to better inform citizens about the relationship between our activities and our marine environment?
• Develop new ways to make digital resources, such as those available via the European Atlas of the Seas, more accessible for the broad public using mobile applications?
• Empower citizens with tools to help them become ocean stewards and contribute to better ocean governance?

The event is organised by the European Marine Data Centre EmodNet.