High-Level Conference on research and innovation for a sustainable ocean

The High-Level Ministerial Conference, part of the “The All-Atlantic2021 - All-Atlantic R&I for a Sustainable Ocean” initiative, will be held under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 2 to 4 June at the Micaelense Theatre in Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Taking part in the meeting will be the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, the Portuguese Minister of Maritime Affairs, Ricardo Serrão Santos i, the President of the Regional Government of the Azores, José Manuel

Bolieiro, and the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel i.

During the conference, the “Azores Declaration on All-Atlantic Research & Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean - Connecting, Acting, Cooperating on Space-Climate-Oceans interactions” will be signed. This declaration is aimed at knowledge building and the development of methodologies based on oceans-space-climate-food interactions, using advanced earth observation systems, artificial intelligence and data processing.

The document will reinforce the importance of the collaborative networks promoted through the Atlantic International Research Centre - AIR CENTRE and the “Atlantic Interactions” agenda. These networks are the basis for the Atlantic Constellation, a group of small medium- to high-resolution satellites for marine observation and advanced image processing.

The “All Atlantic Blue School” network will also be launched during the conference. This network is the result of the partnership between Portugal’s Ciência Viva - National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture and the Brazilian Federal University of São Paulo and is aimed at learning more about the oceans and making young people more responsible and aware of the importance of the sustainability of the oceans and marine resources.