After more than two years, it's time to celebrate the activities of the EU4Ocean Coalition's members!

Save the date for the EU4Ocean Summit which will be 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: join the hybrid Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit at EMD 2022 conference
• 21 May: take part in the Ocean Literacy Festival, which will be part of the Ravenna SeaSide event (21-22 May)

Register now to participate physically or remotely to the Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit

On 19 May 2022, you are 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 will be organised by the coalition’s members.

On 20 May 2022, during the European Maritime Day, the hybrid Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit will showcase and award 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 are coming together to celebrate their efforts and commitment to the ocean and invite others to join them in their work to enhance ocean literacy throughout Europe. The detailed programme of the Ocean Literacy EU4Ocean Summit can be found here.

After the opening session, members of the three EU4Ocean communities will come together to discuss what has been achieved so far. The successive Sessions 1 and Sessions 2, and the respective panel discussions will focus on three topics: Climate & Ocean, Healthy and Clean Ocean, and Food from the Ocean. Session 3 will provide 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 will conclude with the "EU4OCEAN in action!" – Award ceremony, which will celebrate this milestone and the many contributions of its growing communities to Let’s make Europe Blue! The call for submission of initiatives is open until 15 April 2022!

In the afternoon, you will have 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" will consist of a round table discussion with representative from EC DG MARE, the EU4Ocean Coordinator, and the EU4Ocean coalition’s communities. The group will provide a forward-looking focus for enhancing ocean literacy in sea basins, internationally, across the three topics, and discuss the next steps for the EU4Ocean Coalition.

The Summit, supported by the UNESCO as one of the Ocean Decade Actions, will also kick off a new series of initiatives, such as the new EU4Ocean Mentoring Programme.

On 21 May 2022, we invite you to join the activities organised by the EU4Ocean Coalition members for the Ocean Literacy Festival! The Festival will connect ocean literacy actors from Europe, and showcase the wide diversity of ocean literacy initiatives already in place. It will feature on-site events (in Ravenna, Italy) as well as hybrid events organised in different locations across Europe and the various sea-basins (which will then be broadcast online).

Activities can be submitted via this form until 1 May 2022. (or until 15 April 2022 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