And Geonardo is a proud founding member!
On June 8th, the World’s Ocean Day, the EU4Ocean Coalition on Ocean Literacy was officially launched during the first Virtual Ocean Literacy Summit, together with Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, and IOC-UNESCO. The coalition is composed by three parts:
- The EU4Ocean Platform;
- The Youth4Ocean Forum, and
- The Network of European Blue Schools
Following the coalition, the first meeting on the EU4Ocean Platform took place on the 18 June 2020 with more than 90 participants from different sectors and backgrounds.
The aim?
To be a focal point for organizations and initiatives to connect, collaborate and mobilize efforts on ocean literacy!
After this information session, on last July 2nd it was announced the final list of founding members, which includes Geonardo, covering together 20 EU Member States, (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden) & 3 Associated countries (Monaco, Norway, UK)
The EU4Ocean Platform founding members will work in Working Groups (WGs) to focus on particular themes/topics, including: Climate and Ocean, Food from the Ocean and Healthy and Clean Ocean. As we plan for EU4Ocean events in September 2020, you can in the meantime take part on the #EU4Ocean platform by becoming a member of the platform.
Why ocean literacy?
The ocean is a source of life for human beings. “Understanding human influence on the Ocean and the Ocean’s influence on people” is at the core of ocean literacy. Recognising how human beings and the ocean are interconnected will help us make responsible choices to better protect our ocean and to use the opportunities it offers in a sustainable manner. This is what we are striving for in Europe, contributing to the improvement of the well-being of Europeans, as envisioned and recently confirmed in the European Green Deal. This is why EU4Ocean came to shape, serving as a connecting platform where everybody can join the tide and increase our collective impact.
Watch the video!
The launch of the EU4Ocean initiative is a call for action to all citizens who believe in ocean literacy as a way to contribute to the sustainable management of the ocean. A short video lets you dive in the EU4Ocean and its communities of change makers, giving us a glimpse of their goals and commitment for the years to come.
You can watch the video here.
