European Blue Forum - What next? - What will it do? - How can we be involved?

In responding to this, firstly, it is important to recall that European Blue Forum is for stakeholders to unite and discuss shared challenges and priorities with the aim of finding consensus, synergies and solutions towards a common vision. Thus, in a large part, its future direction and activities will be shaped by the blue community that we are creating. However, this is an evolving process, and it is necessary to create and maintain a strong momentum by firstly providing the opportunities for stakeholders to come together and voice their priorities and challenges, as well as aspirations.

Building on the successful and dynamic panel sessions held in Brest, we are organising two ‘deep-dive’ virtual workshops, to be held after the summer, which will further explore the questions discussed at the launch event. Currently, the consolidated briefing paper prepared for the launch, is being developed further on the basis of the panel sessions in Brest, into two separate papers, one for each workshop.

In early July, a request for expressions of interest will be published, providing additional information about the workshops, and giving members of the European Blue Forum the opportunity to actively participate in the workshops. Although we would like to involve all our members in those virtual workshops, for logistical reasons that is unlikely to be possible and numbers will be limited to approximately 60-80 participants. However, if you want to be part of the workshops, you will need to answer the call for expression of interest.

Every effort will be made to ensure the workshops are as inclusive as possible. Recordings will be made available afterwards, and all members of the European Blue Forum will be invited to provide their comments and feedback to the discussions that take place.

The output from these workshops, and the final output from the first year of the European Blue Forum’s activities, will be the production of two stakeholder position papers, providing the perspectives of the entire European sustainable blue economy stakeholder group - our Blue Community.

In the next steps of the European Blue Forum, the position papers will be used to shape the forthcoming public blue policies. At the same time, we will strengthen coordination by engaging with all the Commission’s Directorates-General, ensuring that the diverse outputs and recommendations generated within the forum resonate with other EU policies.

At the end of this year, the European Blue Forum Secretariat, together with the Advisory Board, will set the work plan for the European Blue Forum over the next 12 to 18 months. We encourage you all to engage with workshops and feedback opportunities over the next months to ensure that firstly your views are captured within the stakeholder position papers, but also that you have the opportunity to influence the structure and direction of the European Blue Forum and through this, the future of Europe’s Sustainable Blue Economy.

For anyone that has not yet seen the briefing paper prepared for the launch of the European Blue Forum, we encourage you to read it here: https://maritime-spatial-planning.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/final-briefing-paper-en.pdf 

A look back at the launch

The official launch of the European Blue Forum took place on Friday the 26th of May 2023 at Oceanopolis, Brest, France. We were very happy to welcome Mr Seamus Kearney as moderator.

Official opening words were provided by Director General, Ms Charlena Vitcheva, from DG MARE. She provided a brief background to the birth of the idea of the European Blue Forum, as well as her own hopes and aspirations for its future.

For those of you that missed the event, a recording of the opening session is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiTStJPLdHA

Panel Sessions

Two dynamic and engaging panel sessions were held, drawing on panellists, themselves representing multiple stakeholders, from different sectors and geographical regions. Panellists provided their thoughts and insights to questions posed, in some cases highlighting opposing viewpoints, but always it was an exciting and balanced discussion.

Panel Session one - What do we need from European seas by 2030, and are we asking too much?

As part of this panel session, we were introduced to the thought-provoking term, ‘Degrowth’, highlighting the finite dimension of the Planet’s and oceans’ resources, as well as the limit of ecosystems. All panellists agreed on common challenges for communities to adapt to upcoming changes, especially climate change. The importance of data collection and transparent knowledge to support decision-making, the involvement of local stakeholders in the discussions and collaboration between stakeholders to identify trades-off, were part of the key take-aways of this session.

If you missed this panel session, or would like the opportunity to listen again, a recording of this panel session is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmLCSRXCf3g

Panel Session 2 – What does a fossil fuel free sustainable blue economy look like and how can we as a community support the transition?

Another new concept was introduced during this panel session, ‘Blue Doughnut Economics’. Do we need to reconsider the status quo? This is a question that was widely discussed during this session by our panellists who questioned the way our maritime economies currently work. Key enablers to support the shift to a fossil-fuel free blue economy were mentioned, such as deploying new technologies, supporting funding of initiatives and creation of holistic and synergistic approaches between sectors for a fair transition.

If you missed this panel session, or would like the opportunity to listen again, a recording of this panel session is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th_TttPAHOE