WestMED plays a central role at UfM’s 18th regional Platform on Sustainable Blue Economy

/dans /par

On 15 and 16 October 2025, the 18th UfM regional Platform on Sustainable Blue Economy took place in Brussels, Belgium.

The objective was to discuss progress towards the implemenation of  the 2021 UfM Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy, its related Roadmap and priorities. Next to this, major recent developments were discussed such as the European Ocean Pact, the Mediterranean Pact, and the BlueComp competence framework to navigate the blue economy 

During these two days,  the actions by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism were present in many parts and underlined its central role as strategic regional partner in the development of the sustainable blue economy.

A number of  succesful WestMED supported projects were showcased to illustrate relevant regional actions in line with the UfM Ministerial Declaration.

Amongst these were the CallMeBlue project, promoted in the context of the WestMED Maritime Cluster Alliance. This project was presented in person by the project leader ForMare, and key partners such as Leancubator and the Tunisian Maritime Cluster.

Other WestMED supported initiatives included the MSP CoP, the S3 Partnership on Sustainable Fuel, promoted through the Green Shipping Technical Group, a COST Action proposal developed in partnership with the AquaWest Technical Group, and the newly established Libyan Maritime Cluster led by WestMED’s National Coordinator.

The WestMED initiative was also regularly mentioned during the roundtable where Mediterranean countries presented their achievements and future plans for national as well as regional cooperation.

One of these plans included Tunisia’s initiative to launch a new WestMED Technical Group for Blue Skills, as part of their current WestMED Co-Presidency.

This new Technical Group is currently in the making and will be discussed in the upcoming WestMED Steering Committee meetings – with the next one planned for 27 November 2025, preceding the WestMED Stakeholder Conference in Tunis.