The WestMED initiative was back in Marseilles during Euromaritime 2022

As part of the series of national events organised by the Assistance Mechanism, the French National Hub hosted an “assessment and perspectives” sequence of its activity on 28 June 2022 in the Sea-Research space.

The event was opened by the General secretary for the Sea who ensures the coordination of the French engagement in the WestMed Initiative with the ministry in charge of Foreign Affairs.

The French NH presented the work done over the last four years with a focus on submitted and awarded projects. To illustrate, lead partners presented how their projects support the WestMEDpriorities:

Ifremer with Prep4Blue contributes to Ocean Mission 2030 by providing tools and services that will allow co-design and co-implementation of solutions with citizens and stakeholders and also synergies among different contributions to the Mission (development of a Knowledge Ecosystem)
Secrétariat Général de la Mer with the IRA-MAR project to « Enhance the cooperation in reducing pollutions and chemical risks in ports » following the OuestMOPOCO project
Plan Bleu, UNEP/MAP RAC , on the recommendations of “Blue Growth Community Interreg Med” which were elaborated during the INTERREG MED Blue Growth Project
Pôle Mer Méditerranée with the H2020 GALATEA project : « a catalyser for SMEs » and one granted project PyCHARGE proposed by PYTHEAS Technology
Pôle Mer Méditerranée with a Catalog of solutions for smart Ports « Le French Smart Port in Med » which was developed with Grand Port Maritime Marseille and the University of Marseille-Aix en provence
La Touline with its offers of services to support upskilling and feed the blue economy sectors needs in properly trained and skilled workers
CNRS, presented the H2020 GROOM RI project which is developing the UAV capacities to improve the marine observation and knowledge.

All presentations made it possible to discuss the support provided in submitting “WestMed” labelled projects, sustainabality of activities (transport, port, tourism) and the adequacy of skills and professions required. It demonstrated the full awareness of the French stakeholders on the WestMED initiative and willingness to share their best practice experiences to support cooperation in the sub-seabasin with new project-definitions and submissions for upcoming funding opportunities such as Horizon Europe and EMFAF.

The exchanges and the conclusions were shared with the WestMED community during of the Hackathon event which was held in Malta on 30 June 2022.

Download all presentations (zip file)

For more information, contact Frédérick Herpers (WestMED National Hub France): france@westmed-Initiative.ec.europa.eu