Connecting, Acting and Cooperating – Promoting All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Cooperation
By Sofia Cordeiro, AANChOR Project Coordinator
Supporting the implementation of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance, a coalition of Atlantic countries willing to strengthen cooperation in marine research and innovation issues along and across the Atlantic Ocean, the AANChOR project is implementing a series of activities with the aim to contribute to the alignment of existing initiatives at the Atlantic Ocean level, fostering connections and cooperation and therefore contributing to the high-level ambitions of the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance and its related Declarations and Administrative Arrangements. All the project activities undertaken contribute to the Alliance motto “CONNECT, ACT and COOPERATE”. The following themes are at the centre of the cooperation:
Under the CONNECTION activities, the AANChOR project implemented an All-Atlantic Ocean Multi-Stakeholder Platform with the aim to contribute to the identification of collaborative Pilot Actions. Following close guidance of the political umbrella, the AANChOR project has identified a total of 20 Strategic Objectives, 20 Operational Objectives and 10 Key Performance Indicators guiding the identification of the above-mentioned Joint Pilot Actions fitting the high-level ambition of the All-Atlantic Research Alliance. Having in mind the idea of collaboration, alignment, convergence and use of existing resources, the platform gathered a total of more than 70 experts from 18 Atlantic countries that identified more than 800 initiatives that could strengthen marine research and innovation collaboration at the Atlantic level and 56 gaps and 79 needs/recommendations to achieve the Strategic Objectives and the Operational Objectives identified at the political level. Another strong example of CONNECTING activities is the support of AANChOR to the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Forums. So far four forums have taken place in different Atlantic countries, and the fifth will take place in Washington DC in 2022.
In 2020 the All-Atlantic Ocean Multi-Stakeholder Platform members, supported by the AANChOR platform supervisor and managers, designed six long-term collaborative Joint Pilot Actions, using existing resources and with strong societal impacts. Contributing to the ACT and COOPERATE goal, the All-Atlantic Joint Pilot Actions are currently being implemented by a group of institutions from all over the Atlantic, and all-Atlantic stakeholders are invited to join forces and contribute to their implementation:
- All-Atlantic Ocean Capacity Development and Training Platform (AA-TP)
- All-Atlantic Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform (AA-ATiP)
- All-Atlantic Marine Biotechnology Initiative (AA-BIOTECMAR)
- All-Atlantic Data Enterprise 2030 (AA-Data2030)
- All-Atlantic Blue Schools Network (AA-BSN)
- All-Atlantic Marine Research Infrastructure Network (AA-MARINET)
Another ACTING activity is the All-Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassadors programme, a programme that aims to enable the next generation to become actors of change in their communities by promoting stewardship of a sustainable development for the Atlantic Ocean. Two cohorts of highly engaged youth ambassadors have been nominated, including a total of 47 young ambassadors from 15 countries across and along the Atlantic Ocean. To learn more about the activities that have been implemented, visit allatlanticocean.org/view/atlanticambassadors/aaoya-activities-2021--2022
Join us in this journey and contribute to make the Atlantic marine research and innovation cooperation a model in scope of the implementation of the EU Green Deal and the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science!
Conatct details:
Sofia Cordeiro, AANChOR Project Coordinator Ocean Programme Coordinator, Fundação Portuguesa para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal
Email: sofia.cordeiro@fct.pt