14-15 April 2021 | Limited places available

Blue Skills required in the future are diverse: soft, technical, digital, social media, environmental, security, entrepreneurial, socio-economic, multi-disciplinary, languages, statistics, law, maritime spatial planning. This programme will be useful for students and young graduates from a wide range of academic backgrounds, and will cover topics relevant for a diversity of sectors and careers:
● Business and incubators
● Smart Specialization Strategies
● Technological innovation for sustainable blue growth
● Talent circulation and Partnership Building
● Best/ Good Practices

Target: Alumni OGS – HOMERe – young professionals and researchers; post-graduates in the field of marine sciences and maritime sectors (blue growth/ blue economy related). The places available are limited. The selection will be on a rolling basis.

Language: Simultaneous interpretation in English, French, and Arabic

Download the pdf with all information

Call for Participants: online registration form (open until 01.04.2021) – https://ufmsecretariat.org/registration-form-ufm-homere-blueskills-workshop/

A new Technical Group on Aquaculture, a Maritime Clusters cooperation scheme, a webinar with a focus on blue skills and another WestMED Stakeholder Conference. These are some of the main activities foreseen in 2021. So, stay tuned!

During the last WestMED Steering Committee meeting, on December 16, 2020, its members outlined a roadmap of activities and initiatives to be carried out in the year to come. 2021 has just started and a number of exciting developments in the framework of the WestMED initiative are already taking shape and will be launched soon.

Two new cooperation frameworks will be initiated. They are based on the successful Technical Group on Sustainable Transport – Green Shipping with key stakeholders, that kicked-off last year. They already convened four times to discuss key developments and will continue their activities in 2021.

The new frameworks will focus on two policy areas which are pivotal for the sustainable development of the Blue Economy in the western Mediterranean. One focused on Aquaculture and one on Maritime Clusters cooperation with the aim of further strengthening ties between Northern and Southern countries within the western Mediterranean.

These initiatives directly build on the insights gained during the stakeholder webinars that the WestMED Assistance Mechanism organised in December 2020, namely the webinar on Sustainable Aquaculture and the virtual stakeholder meeting on Maritime Clusters.

Given the impact and wide range of opportunities generated by these events, a new WestMED webinar will be organised focusing on Blue Skills will be held this spring.

Moreover, another large-scale Stakeholder Conference will be hosted in 2021 – either virtual, hybrid or in-person, depending on the covid-19 developments.

More details concerning all these activities will be coming up soon, so stay tuned through our website and/or Twitter!

Press release: EEAS (European Union External Action Service) | 9-2-2021

Twenty-five years ago the European Union and the Southern Mediterranean partners committed to turning the Mediterranean basin into an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation, guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity.

The 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Declaration reminds us that a strengthened Mediterranean partnership remains a strategic imperative for the European Union, as the challenges the region continues to face require a common response, especially ten years after the Arab Spring. By acting together, recognising our growing interdependence, and in a spirit of partnership, we will turn common challenges into opportunities, in our mutual interest.

• Download Joint Communication: Renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood – A new agenda for the Mediterranean
• Download Joint Staff Working Document: Renewed Partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood Economic and Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbours

On February 2, 2021, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) held its Second Ministerial Conference on Sustainable Blue Economy aimed at improving maritime governance and at intensifying joint efforts to foster the sustainable blue economy development in the Mediterranean.

The Conference also intended to address the growing environmental and climate-related challenges that the Mediterranean region is facing, and tackle the unprecedented socio-economic crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has generated.

In the framework of this Conference, Ministers from the 42 UfM States have adopted a new Declaration on Blue Economy, where they recognise the WestMED initiative as a successful example of cooperation and a catalyst for the development of sustainable blue economy.

Hence, the WestMED initiative has been recognised as a key tool for the sustainable development of the blue economy in the Mediterranean, “focused on clear goals, priorities and measurable targets”.

The WestMED initiative will continue contributing to the main objective of the Declaration, which is to make more resilient and sustainable blue sectors such as tourism, fisheries and aquaculture while promoting sustainable investments in areas such as green shipping to meet the evolving needs and challenges of the blue economy sectors.

Second Ministerial Conference on Sustainable Blue Economy: https://ufmsecretariat.org/ufm-ministerial-conference-blue-economy/

Ministerial Declaration on Blue Economy: https://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Declaration-UfM-Blue-Economy-EN.pdf

The Portuguese National Hub, Fórum Oceano, in cooperation with WestMED Central Team, and with the collaboration of other National Hubs, organised a webinar under the 10th edition of the international event Business2Sea. The session took place on the 17th of November, gathering around 50 stakeholders from different countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Malta, Italy, Morocco, or Tunisia.

 The workshop, comprising three sessions, aimed at discussing the main objectives of the Initiative for the next few years. The goal of the event was to promote the debate about WestMED’s priorities and Challenges, and to discuss how to foster cooperation within the Western Mediterranean.

 The opening session counted on the presence of Conceição Santos, Deputy Director-General for Maritime Policy – DGPM (Portuguese National Coordinator of WestMED), Isabelle Viallon, Deputy Head of Unit Sea-basin Strategies, Maritime Regional Cooperation and Maritime Security – DG MARE, and Javier Fernández, Technical Director at Ecorys and Project Leader of the WestMED Initiative.

 During the opening session, the participants discussed topics such as upcoming priorities, synergies between Mediterranean and Atlantic, and funding opportunities. Isabelle Viallon explained that a specific fund focused on one of the WestMED main priorities is planned, encouraging stakeholders to prepare and develop robust project ideas. 

 Tourism, Aquaculture, Ports and Maritime Transport, Investments and Financing Blue Economy were the main themes debated within the second session, addressing the Green Deal and the challenges for WestMED. This session counted on with the participation of Stephanie Vella (NH Malta), Mario Dogliani (CS Mare Foundation), Malouli Idrissi (NH Morocco), and Michael Adams (Ocean Assets Institute).

 The Webinar ended with the presentation of project ideas. WestMED National Hubs from Spain, France, Malta, Italy, Tunisia, and Portugal share some food for thought presenting project proposals on Clusters, Ports, Fisheries or Aquaculture.

 The Workshop was a step forward to boost the cooperation within the WestMED area, the relevance of the speeches and the project ideas presented are materials to feed the work in next future.

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