WestMED makes its mark at the International Sun&Blue Congress 2024 in Almería, Spain

The Sun&Blue Congress, held on November 20, 21 and 22 in Almería, has established itself as an international benchmark in the field of Sustainable Tourism and the Blue Economy, attracting participants and projects from all over Europe and the Mediterranean. This event featured high-impact side events ranging from capacity sessions to hackathons

The WestMED Assistance Mechanism not only empowered quite a few of these sessions, but a promotional stand was also set up right in front of the main auditorium, welcoming a continuous stream of interested visitors.

An international showcase of sustainable initiatives
Within the framework of the congress, several meetings highlighted the European and Mediterranean commitment to sustainable tourism and the ecological and digital transition:

An Internal meeting CPMR-Intermediterranean Commission Task Force on Culture and Sustainable Tourism was organized by CPMR-IMC with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Andalusia Exterior (Junta de Andalucía), through its public enterprise Turismo Andaluz.
The second joint Annual Forum of the Interreg Euro-MED Sustainable Tourism Mission with the title ‘Climate Adaptation in Tourism – Building capacity and policy integration,’ was organized by the Sustainable Tourism Mission of the Interreg Euro-MED Program. Stephanie Vella (WestMED Malta), participated in the expert panel whereby the main conclusion was that the Tourism sector should place more efforts towards its Climate change adaptation as there are many topics that may affect or are already affecting its development.
The Official launch of the Western Mediterranean Sustainable Tourism Technical Group was organized by WestMED Initiative in a full room with more than 50 people. It also included the participation of Vincent Fravel (DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission), Yasmin Schinas-Romeu (Head of Regional Cooperation and Maritime Safety of the European Commission), as well as members of Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), World Ocean Council (WOC), Ascame, CRPM and Interreg Office. ASCAME, CPRM and WOC are actively involved in this new Technical Group as they are part of the Group’s Advisory Committee. The WOC also took the opportunity to present their upcoming ‘Community of Leadership on Sustainable Tourism within the Mediterranean’ and explored potential synergies with the WestMED Technical Group. This event was moderated by the WestMED National Hubs from Spain (Marta Pascual) and Malta (Stephanie Vella).
The first hackathon by WestMED’s newly formed Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism attracted great interest from stakeholders to become involved in project proposal developments and be part of a consortium in order to apply for project funding. Two proposals were further advanced towards the EMFAF 2024 funding call at this WestMED Hackathon Session. Two other NEW proposals were also mentioned. The WestMED Assistance Mechanism offered their assistance to further help develop these proposals.
The Dialogue “Alliance for the Sea” organized by AGAPA (Agency for the management of agriculture and fisheries of Andalusia) was moderated by Marta Pascual (WestMED Spain). It consisted of a dialogue between Gunter Pauli (creator of the ‘blue economy’ concept) and José Manuel Martínez, the DG of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Junta de Andalucía. During this session, ways were explored in which fisheries can benefit from and be part of Blue Economy developments. The main conclusion was that the Fisheries sector has many opportunities to explore under the Blue Economy Paradigm and were encouraged to do so – whereby the WestMED Assistance Mechanism can help.
The final dissemination event of the ECO-CRUISING FU_TOUR project was organized by X23-The Innovation Bakery in collaboration with ASCAME (Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce) Celia Murcia (Coordinator of the westMED Assistance Mechanism) participated as panel member of the roundtable where the discussion focused on engaging younger generations, digital tools and sustainable tourism. ECO-CRUISING FU-TOUR is one of the projects supported at the proposal stage by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism. This session provided a platform to consolidate lessons learned from the project and explore the transformations necessary to meet evolving demands in the sector. Central to this transformation is a strong policy commitment to adopting and financing sustainable alternatives. However, the shift cannot rest on policymakers alone; the industry itself must actively embrace change, alongside enhancing the current offerings within the sector. Equally vital is investment in skills development, particularly for younger generations. Training programs must address the growing need for expertise in sustainability, digitalization, and marine conservation. These competencies are essential to building a cruising industry that harmonizes economic growth with environmental stewardship. The participants to this session had the opportunity to experience virtual reality through the technology developed in the project and explore the future options of sustainable cruising.
An internal event by the NaTour4CChange Project was organized by Interreg Euro MED with the support of IUCN and Junta de Andalucía
An ’employment opportunities’ session was organized by blue-jobs (represented by Celia Murcia) during which job opportunities like Regenerative Tourism Manager, Pesca-tourism Guide, and Marine Environmental Educators were explored, challenges in coastal tourism jobs, including seasonality and sustainability skills gaps were discussed, and strategies were shared for aligning coastal tourism with marine conservation goals.

Financing sustainable blue projects
A final session on the main stage was specifically focused on financing blue projects. This session consisted of three different panel discussions. Marta Pascual (WestMED Spain) kicked off this session by highlighting that there are many financing opportunities to develop sustainable blue project ideas, that project owners could and should benefit from.

The first panel discussion focused on ‘Blue financing opportunities’ and was moderated by Yasmin Schinasi (Policy Officer for Regional Cooperation and Maritime Security at the European Commission and WestMED project manager on behalf of DG MARE), while Thanos Smanis (WestMED’s central team) took part in the expert panel on ‘Examples and Best Practices in Blue-Financed Projects’ where he explained that with the existing funding opportunities some projects presented during this congress have been able to prosper (such as EU WeMED_Natour, Eco-cruising Fu_tour, PESCATOBAL Association projects). He explained that these projects had received direct support, as an example of how the WestMED Assistance Mechanism helps projects find funding and/ or project partners.

In the final session, Marta Pascual moderated the expert panel on ‘Financing the future.’

Awards
As part of this congress, on the 2nd day, the “Red Nacional de Turismo Marinero“, an initiative supported by WestMED’s Spanish National Hub, received the Sun&Blue Award for the “Best Tourism Cooperation’ initiative 2024.

The Living Ports project (also supported by the Sea Basins Assistance Mechanism ), managed by the Port Authority of Vigo, received the Sun&Blue Award in the category ‘Best Port Decarbonization.’

With this extensive involvement throughout the event, the Sun&Blue congress edition proved to be an excellent platform to promote the WestMED Initiative and practical support offered by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism.

(majority of the photos, courtesy of Sun&Blue Congress 2024)