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Corallo Stakeholder event july 2023 with  Professor Alan Deidun

Ocean Literacy digital tools highlighted during CORRALO’s stakeholder event

Sources: Diving info MaltaInterreg Italia-Malta

On 20 July 2023, the National Hub Malta attended a stakeholder event hosted by the Corallo project in Zurrieq, Malta.

CORALLO supports the dissemination and use of the natural heritage through a diverse range of edutainment tools and non-intrusive infrastructure interventions within Natura 2000 (N2K) sites.

Through the project, state-of-the-art educational services and facilities are developed in each of the target sites, including extensive use of virtual and extended reality as well as documentaries and short video clips. In addition, the iconic species and habitats encountered at each of N2K’s target sites will be exhibited in different centers identified for intervention, thus capitalizing on the unique strengths and resources held by each site.

The CORALLO project also provides mobile awareness tools, i.e. scientific campaigns for citizens, a boat of project information, smartphone apps and games and online tools, which will allow to reach a wide range of end users.

Initiatives developed
During the event, project coordinator, Prof. Alan Deidun from the University of Malta, provided an overview of the initiatives developed to present the Natura 2000 marine sites to the general public, including people who are unable to go underwater themselves.

  • 60 degree video footage of the underwater environment for use in conjunction with VR headsets
  • 3D models of Filfla, St. Paul’s Islands and Qawra Point
  • 3D models of various marine species
  • 3d Stand-up digital banner showing marine species
  • Production of Educational TV spots that were found to be very effective with the older generations that were aired on the national broadcaster in prime time
  • Events at various locations and presence at public events
  • Interactive totem at Ghar Dalam
  • A publication titled: “Correct enjoyment (and awareness raising) of Natura 2000 locations”
  • Information boards at various Natura 2000 sites
  • Upgrades at the Dwejra Interpretation Centre
  • Corallo Mobile App (still in development but to be launched soon)

Main conclusions:

  1. Visuals motivate people. However, through feedback gained from the public, via citizen engagement and awareness events held under the auspices of this project, it has been noted that taking a more positive approach, such as showing people the beauty of the marine environment, may be more effective at engaging citizens than exposing them to negative images. Because of social media, people are becoming desensitized to negative images.
  2. It has also been noted that there is limited awareness of the environmental impact by users on Natura 2000 sites, yet there are several opportunities for educational and responsible enjoyment initiatives. Furthermore, it is observed that the use of social media for citizen engagement is crucial, yet considerable resources in time and money need to be mobilized in order to be able to maintain the momentum.
  3. Long-term citizen-science campaigns may play a dual role of awareness-raising as well as long-term data collection shared by the public via the app, that would of marine developments. It may also serve as a means for the general public to influence policy-making.

During his presentation Professor Deidun also highlighted Corallo’s presence at the WestMED Stakeholder Conference 2023, with an exhibition and presentation.

Main next steps foreseen

  1. Different actors, both scientific and non-scientific, need to work together to create an educational plan, potentially focusing on the education of children, as it has been noted that the general public is willing to engage.
  2. Look into the potential of ‘getting the sea where the sea doesn’t exist’ such as to hospitals, care homes and prison, through the use of interactive digital tools.

For more information visit visit the Corollo website
Read their booklet with information on the project and the sites

Corollo Project is part-financed through the EU Interreg Italia-Malta Programme

Corallo robot at Lets dive in stakeholder event July 2023

 

Bay of Cala Spinosa Sardinia

WestMED Success Story: EMFAF Flagship Projects Accelerating Tourism Sustainability

The popularity of the Mediterranean sea and its coastal regions amongst tourists remains at an all time high. After a temporary covid dip, the latest figures show that numbers of tourists have already reached pre-pandemic levels and are further on the rise.

Traditional model no longer viable

Traditional ‘sun, sea and sand’ tourism has resulted in improved livelihoods for many local communities, averaging 11.5% of total employment in Mediterranean countries. It is therefore, one of the leading sectors of the economy in the region.

At the same time, it also puts tremendous pressure on the environment. Mass tourism is one of the main causes of increased pollution and a driver for uncontrolled building along the coastlines. This, coupled to a growing demand for water, food and energy and the structurally rising temperatures (sea and land), severely impacts the region’s resources, and is therefore not viable in the long run.

Additionally, these same pressures lower the attractiveness of tourist destinations in the Mediterranean.

Sustainable blue economy at the heart

The European Commission is actively addressing many of these issues to safeguard the connection between economic welfare and the environment with the ‘Sustainable blue economy’ concept.

This has been an ongoing process since 2013 – as part of the Commission’s targeted approach for several European Sea basins with dedicated blue strategies for the Atlantic (Atlantic Action Plan), the Black Sea (Common Maritime Agenda) and the Western Mediterranean (WestMED Initiative).

Flagship projects lead the way

In 2021 the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) decided to fund so-called flagship projects (pilot strategic initiatives) for each of the sea basin strategies with 5.5 million euro to accelerate achievement of their respective goals.

For the Western Mediterranean the main objective of this EMFAF flagship funding  was to ‘strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of the coastal and maritime tourism sector, as part of a smart and resilient blue economy – one of the key goals of the WestMED Initiative.  This, by preserving the marine and coastal environment as well as marine cultural heritage, and contributing to the attractiveness of coastal areas by means of ecotourism, digitalisation and mobilising private-public investments.’

Eco-tourism, cross-border cooperation and multiplying results

Given the fact that tourism plays such a significant role in the Western Mediterranean as one of the key contributors to both the upside gains as well as the downside risks of the blue economy, three projects that function as a catalyst for change, were selected for co-financing.

All three are focused on enhancing eco-tourism in the region, cross-border cooperation (including non-EU WestMED countries as partners such as Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania) and actively sharing knowledge amongst stakeholders from both the northern and southern shore, to multiply results.

These projects are also examples of the rapid development and transformation of the tourism industry to a more modern sector by adopting digital platforms, digital marketing and information technologies such as the internet of things, augmented reality and virtual reality.

The three  Flagship projects:

ECO-CRUISING FU_TOUR

This project boosts new managerial, blue, green and digital skills to pave the way for an eco-friendly, zero-impact cruising sector.

The project designs innovative, sustainable and smart theme-based cruising packages targeting Millennials and Gen Z, aimed at minimising the impact of large groups of visitors.

The project also develops and delivers a specialised capacity building programme, enabling cross-border cooperation, exchange of good practices and unlocking new business opportunities around the eco-cruise sector.

The target group consists of small and medium sized companies in the West Mediterranean area, as well public and private stakeholders in charge of the promotion of EU and West European coastal and maritime destinations.

According to project coordinator Marika Mazzi Boém from X23, the company leading the project, the timing after Covid is critical for the cruise industry to reinvent itself:

“Rather than focusing on strategies to grow tourism, what we need now is to implement actions for containing mass tourism in favour of sustainability. So innovation is key at different levels: in technology, to increase environmentally friendly practises and reduce carbon footprint; in the travel experience, as personalization is a must; and in business modeling, to bring tangible economic and social benefits to local communities”.

More info about ECO-CRUISING FU_TOUR
Budget Overall: €990 222

EU Contribution: €792 178

 

Partners/ Countries Coordinator: X23 The Innovation Bakery (Italy)

Italian Tourist Board-ENIT (Italy)

Celestyal Ship Management (Greece)

Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (Cyprus)

Green evolution (Greece)

Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Tunisia-CCIT (Tunisia)

Leancubator (Algeria)

Tanger City port management Company – SGPTV (Morocco)

ASCAME (Spain)

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Duration 1 September 2022- 31 December 2024

EU WeMED_NaTOUR

This project supports local tourism SMEs and involves them in the creation and delivery of eco-tourism packages targeting the growing school-trip tourism market.

It will do so, by creating immersive ‘learning by visiting’ school trips for the ‘new generations’: primary and secondary school students in three age ranges; 6-10 years, 11-13 years, and 14-16.

Schooltrip tourism is beneficial as it not only helps to reduce seasonal peaks but also diversifies the market, increasing awareness of the value and vulnerability of Western Mediterranean marine ecosystems, coastal destinations and culture.

Claudia Iglesias, Project Design and Policy Specialist from X23 is clear on the benefits of this approach:

“Benefits will go two ways: children will have the opportunity to learn, by visiting beautiful landscapes and to contribute preserving the fragile and unique ecosystems; and local tourism SMEs will be actively involved at destination, crucial players to the new value chain that we want to create”.

 

More info about EU WeMed_NaTOUR
Budget Overall: €995 270

EU contribution: €796 683

Partners/ Countries Coordinator: X23 The Innovation Bakery (Italy)

Turismo de Portugal (Portugal)

Travel without plastic (Spain)

Office National de Tourisme – ONTM (Mauritania)

International Social Tourism Organisation – ISTO (Belgium)

Italian National Tourism Board-ENIT (Italy)

Balearic Marine Cluster (Spain)

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Duration 1 July 2022 – 31 October 2024

REBOOT MED

REBOOT MED (Recovering, Experiencing and Boosting eco-tourism in the WestMed area) is a project that encourages public-private partnership, co-defining Blue Economy Action Plans for the Recovery of the tourism sector, and to incubate, accelerate and test eco/blue economy tourism products and packages in Mauritania, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain, Italy and France.

This is done by engaging local multi-stakeholder clusters that have been created in 6 WestMed countries and 10 pilot areas as well as accompanying ecotourism ideas to be tested in real conditions.

Tommaso Scavone, project designer and project manager from Petra Patrimonia Corsica, is proud of the results achieved so far:

“We are demonstrating that when citizens, public stakeholders and private actors are willing to co-develop long-term visions, it is possible to activate sustainable processes at all levels. On the ground there are several ideas and initiatives carried out by pioneers – women, youth, start-uppers – looking for collaboration and partnerships: all of them are linked together by a ‘fil rouge’ that is “the love for their territories. And we as partners are there – on the ground – to support all of them and to try together to reboot ecotourism in the WestMed area!”

 

More info about Reboot Med
Budget Overall: €1 200 000

EU Contribution: 999 380

Partners/ countries ·         Coordinator: Coopérative Petra Patrimonia Corsica (France)

·         PRISM Impresa Sociale s.r.l. (Italy)

·         Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions-CPMR (France)

·         F.A.R. Maremma (Italy)

·         WWF Med (Tunisia)

·         Balearic Islands Tourism Agency (Spain)

·         Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tanger-Tetouan- El Hoceima (Morocco)

·         Diawling National Park (Mauritania)

·         Association of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry – ASCAME (Spain)

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Duration 1 September 2023-31 August 2024

References

collage of University of Malta representatives at the WestMED stakeholder conference 2023

Three different projects involving the University of Malta presented at WestMED stakeholder conference

Source: website University of Malta

The BlueSchoolsMed, CORALLO and ANDROMEDA projects, which all feature the University of Malta as a partner or even as a Coordinator (as in the case of the CORALLO project), were all recently presented at the high-profile WestMED Stakeholder Conference.

Prof. Alan Deidun, resident academic within the Oceanography Malta Research Group (OMRG) of the Department of Geosciences, and Prof. Mark Mifsud, resident academic within the CEER (Centre for Environmental Education and Research), presented, as panellists, the BlueSchoolsMed project. The Blue Schools network, which forms part of the EU4Ocean Coalition, seeks to foster a greater element of ocean literacy within schools by encouraging them to pursue marine educational activities, so-called ‘Blue Challenges.’ These Blue Challenges are co-created between educators, students and project partners and could address any thematic related to the sea, including food from the ocean, climate and the ocean, landscape and ocean, a healthy ocean, migration and the ocean, maritime culture and heritage as well as communication and the ocean. Once designed, Blue Challenges need to be implemented within the school in question, with its impact being evaluated on a regular basis, leading eventually to the formal Blue Schools recognition. In November 2022, the first batch of four Maltese schools joined the network.

The WestMED stakeholder Conference was held on 22 June 2023 and was open to all stakeholders that are contributing to improve the sustainable blue economy in the region, featuring business owners, entrepreneurs, NGOs, scientists, investors, lecturers, local and regional authorities and policy-makers. This year’s focus was on the four main thematic areas that the WestMED Initiative actively supports: Sustainable Aquaculture, Green Shipping and Ports, Maritime Clusters and Marine Spatial Planning. During the same conference, the CORALLO and ANDROMEDA projects were also showcased through an ad hoc stand and demonstration held on the margins of the conference set up by Dr Adam Gauci, from the OMRG. Prof. Deidun, in his vest as Board member of the EU Commission’s Mission Starfish, also had the opportunity to meet up with Ms Charlina Vitcheva, Director General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission.

Read full article (website University of Malta)

brochures on displayed at table

Change starts with you! Citizen Science Campaign on plastic in the ocean

This is the message which was conveyed to a number of students attending an ocean literacy event in Malta (EMD) organised by Prof. Alan Deidun and his team at the Department of Geosciences (University of Malta) on May 16 2023. The event is part of a citizen science campaign on plastic in the ocean.

Further information on two projects which the Department is currently working on can be found here:

More information on Blue Economy projects on Malta and the Western Mediterranean region? Contact the WestMED National Hub Malta

room filled with students

Announcement poster stakeholder conference with photo of La  Valetta in Malta

Rejoignez-nous le 22 juin à Malte pour l’édition 2023 de la conférence des parties prenantes de l’initiative WestMED.

Après le succès de la Conférence des parties prenantes WestMED 2021 à Rome et des Hackathons 2022 sur le développement de projets à Malte, nous vous invitons à l’édition 2023 de la Conférence des parties prenantes WestMED.

La conférence se tiendra le jeudi 22 juin 2023 à Malte. L’événement est ouvert à toutes les parties prenantes qui contribuent à améliorer l’économie bleue durable dans la région.

Que vous soyez propriétaire d’une entreprise, un entrepreneur, un scientifique, un investisseur, un conférencier, une autorité locale ou régionale ou un décideur politique, cette journée est faite pour vous. Découvrez les derniers développements, rencontrez de nouvelles personnes inspirantes et consultez en personne les experts (nationaux) de l’économie bleue de l’initiative WestMED.

Cette année, l’accent sera mis sur les quatre principaux domaines thématiques que l’initiative WestMED soutient activement : Aquaculture durable, Transport maritime et ports verts, Clusters maritimes et Aménagement de l’espace marin.

Nous partagerons avec vous les résultats obtenus jusqu’à présent et discuterons des défis à venir.

Le format sera interactif. En fonction de votre niveau d’expertise, vous pourrez contribuer à la discussion ou demander à d’autres experts de vous aider dans vos activités.

En outre, nous prévoyons de vous fournir les dernières mises à jour et des informations sur les possibilités de financement les plus pertinentes pour vos idées de projet.

En prime, nous étudions la possibilité d’inclure une visite unique sur place, afin de tirer des enseignements des réussites en matière de développement de l’économie bleue à Malte.

La conférence des parties prenantes sera suivie d’une réunion ministérielle officielle (sur invitation uniquement) le 23 juin. À cette occasion, les ministres des dix pays membres signeront une nouvelle déclaration ministérielle dans laquelle ils s’engagent à reconfirmer et à rationaliser les priorités pour stimuler l’économie bleue dans la région méditerranéenne.

Pour Plus d’informations  visitez la page de la conférence

 

Memorandum of Understanding signed between WOC and UfM-WestMED

Memorandum of Understanding signed between World Ocean Council and the UfM/WestMED to boost private sector engagement in the Mediterranean Blue Economy

On March 28,2023, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the World Ocean Council (WOC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the UfM Headquarters in Barcelona. This, within  the framework of the 2021 UfM Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy and Roadmap for its implementation, and the WestMED Initiative, supported by the UfM and by the European Commission.

The MoU details key avenues of collaboration to promote cooperation, strong engagement, stewardship, and corporate responsibility from the business and investment communities in the maritime  sectors at Mediterranean level.

Cooperation will mainly focus on blue business development and entrepreneurship (incl. blue skills, careers, jobs and employability) and blue investments i..e the blue finance process in the Mediterranean. This via joint promotion and possible co-organisation of events, helping connect political to business apirations, exchanging expertise etc.

The WestMED Assistance Mechanism and the WOC are currenly exploring practical plans for joint development and cooperation in 2023.

EMD in my country poster

Boost your maritime event with EMD in my country 2023

Last year, over 600 EMD In My Country events took place all over Europe and beyond!

It is time to break a new record to celebrate our blue planet this year!

Any blue event between 1 April and 31st October 2023 can apply.

There is no limitation: from beach clean-ups to educational tours or seafood fairs, all events promoting sustainable ocean and blue economy are welcome.

As a token of our gratitude for your action, you will receive promotional material for the participants in your event, which will be featured on our website. Make sure you indicate the number of participants in your application to receive enough goodies.

Now it’s up to you! Fill in the application form before 15 March 2023 and bring European Maritime Day 2023 to your country!

Visit the maritime day event website here

Submit your application here

Stephanie Vella at MMF

Dr. Stephanie Vella zooms in on the importance of sea basin partnerships at ESG Conference

On 16 February, 2023  a conference was organised by the Malta Maritime Forum tackling ESG from every angle including the legal, economic, banking, industry and financing implications. Dr. Stephanie Vella (WestMED National Hub Malta) was part of the panel providing an insight into the economic aspect of ESG and the use of EU funds in order to tackle in particular the environmental and social elements of ESG. Dr Vella highlighted the importance of building networks and partnerships over the sea-basin and the role of the Westmed in this regard.

There can be little doubt that ESG is changing the shape of business across all economic sectors and the maritime industry is certainly no exception. The industry and all players within it must be adequately prepared to ensure it can face the challenge and responsibilities in an effective manner. In this way, ESG becomes an opportunity rather than a cost because it gives the operator an edge over the competition.

 

For more information, contact Stephanie Vella at  National Hub Malta

MM

WestMED National Hub Malta highlights its project matchmaking role during the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership event at the Malta Council for Science and Technology

On the 15th February, the Malta Council for Science and Technology organised an evening with stakeholders in order to launch the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership. During the event, which was also attended by the Parliament Secretary for Youth, Research and Innovation, MCST provided a detailed overview of the Partnership including the pillars and its key enablers. MCST also explained the five Priority Areas which are the basis for the first call including:

  • Development and validation of Ocean Digital Twins at sub sea-basin scale
  • Blue generation marine structures
  • Planning and managing sea-uses
  • Healthy ‘Blue Food’ under a ’One Health’ approach
  • Enabling the green transition of ‘Blue Food’ production

This partnership provides an opportunity to continue addressing the objectives of the Westmed and creating synergies with other sea-basins.

The WestMED National Hub for Malta took the opportunity to provide an overview of the WestMED during the event to the stakeholders including the assistance provided by the Assistance Mechanism in the identification of partners for projects.

For more information, contact Stephanie Vella at  National Hub Malta

Finger pressing search bar

Nouveau nom de domaine pour le site web et les e-mails de WestMED

L’Initiative WestMED a reçu un nouveau nom de domaine pour toutes ses communications : westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu.

Cela signifie que le site web, ainsi que les adresses électroniques ont changé. Le site web est désormais accessible à l’adresse suivante : https://westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu.

Tous les e-mails recevront l’extension @westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu. Ainsi, la nouvelle adresse électronique pour l’Algérie, par exemple, est désormais la suivante : algeria@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu.

Vous trouverez ci-dessous un aperçu de toutes les nouvelles adresses électroniques.

Le nouveau nom de domaine est le domaine officiel de la Commission européenne. Cela signifie que le site web a dû subir une transformation majeure afin de se conformer aux normes de la CE qui concernent des éléments tels que l’accessibilité, la sécurité et la confidentialité. Dans le même temps, certaines pages ont également été remaniées pour être plus conviviales.

En arrière-plan, les serveurs du site ont également été mis à jour afin de respecter les normes de sécurité strictes exigées par la CE.

Voici une liste de toutes les nouvelles adresses électroniques :

 

Hub National Algerie algeria@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub National France france@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub National Italie italy@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub National Malte malta@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub National Mauritanie mautitania@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub d’experts Maroc morocco@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub NationalPortugal portugal@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub National Espagne spain@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Hub National Tunisie tunisia@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu
Communications communications@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu

 

Les courriels envoyés à l’ancienne adresse électronique seront transférés pendant une période de 6 mois, jusqu’au 30 juin 2023.