MISSION ‘RESTORE OUR OCEAN AND WATERS BY 2030’-

THE MEDITERRANEAN LIGHTHOUSE IN ACTION

Palermo, 30-31 May 2023

This high-level event is organised by the European Commission in close cooperation

with the Italian government, the Sicily Region, and the University of Palermo, with
the support of the BlueMissionMed Co-ordination and Support Action.

The event will be an opportunity to witness the political commitments of the

Mediterranean countries towards the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters
(europa.eu) and to present the actions and initiatives which contribute to the Mission
objectives that may be scaled up and replicated in other sea basins.

The event will welcome stakeholders from the Mediterranean basin, international
and sea basin intergovernmental organisations as well as representatives from
regions, cities, ports, islands, shipping, industries, academia, education, researchers,
investors, NGOs, citizens and youth.

The programme will include demonstrations of EU projects contributing to the

Mission’s objectives, celebration of coalitions of cities and regions as well as a Blue
Islands ceremony, with exchanges of best practices, awards to islands championing
the Mission, and with strong participation from youth and blue schools.

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 DRAFT
PROGRAMME
Palermo

30 MAY – MORNING: SIDE EVENT OF THE BlueMissionMed

COORDINATION AND SUPPORT ACTION
FOR MORE INFO: BlueMissionMed – Supporting the Mediterranean sea basin
for the implementation of the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters

1st BlueMissionMed Stakeholder Forum – Shaping The Future of the Mediterranean basin to
respond to EU Mission Ocean and Waters objectives
 DAY 1
30 May 2023 DRAFT PROGRAMME
Palermo
Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’-
The Mediterranean lighthouse in action
Moderator: Katrina Sichel
Venue Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo

CONFERENCE OPENING
Exhibition area

14:30 - 15:00 Welcome and introduction:

Video on political buy-in for the Mission
• Gaetano Galvagno, President of Sicily Region Assembly
• Pascal Lamy, Chair of the Mission Board Restore our Ocean & Waters
• Kestutis Sadauskas, Deputy Director General, DG MARE and Mission Manager,
European Commission
• Catherine Chabaud, Member of the European Parliament
• Alvaro Enrique Albacete Perea, Deputy Secretary General Higher Education, Research
and Innovation, Union for the Mediterranean

15:00 – 16:30 Actions by the Mediterranean lighthouse communities

Reporting from 1st BlueMissionMed Stakeholder Forum for Mission Ocean &
Waters
Citizens & youth: Alan Deidun, Mission Board member
Research and education: Fantina Madricardo, CNR and Claudiane Chevalier, Ifremer

Regions: Annagiulia Randi, Emilia Romagna region

Islands: Maria Garcies, CPMR
Cities: Josep Canals Molina, MedCities

Ports & shipping: Figen Ayan, President of MedCruise

Industries: Mahdi Khomsi, BusinessMed
Fisheries and conservation: Stefania Valentini, Federpesca and Carole Martinez, Med Pan

16:30 - 17:00 Coffee break and networking

17:00 - 17:10 Health of Oceans for Humanity and Nature

Joachim von Braun, President, Pontifical Academy of Sciences

17:10 - 17:15 European Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership - Med Sea Connection
Margherita Cappelletto, Italian Ministry of University and Research

17:15 – 18:00 Panel with examples of cities and regions signatories of the Mission Charter
• Cities: Francesca Corso, Municipal Councilor of Genova, Salvatore Quinci, Mayor
of Mazara del Vallo, Yuliyan Naydenov, Danube River municipalities association,
Anne Gunnas, Lysekilis city.
• Regions: Morena Diazzi, Representative of Emilia Romagna; Luz Paramio,
Representative of Azores; Robin Guillon, Representative of Provence-Alpes-Côte
d'Azur.
Coalition of all Cities and Regions signatories of the Mission Ocean & Waters

18:30 - 22:00 Aperitif & networking dinner at the University of Palermo

Welcome address by Rector Prof. Massimo Midiri

For those who wish, there will be a guided tour to The Steri building, one of the symbolic places of the city
of Palermo, located just inside the University building where the networking dinner will take place.
 DAY 2
31 May 2023 DRAFT PROGRAMME- 31 MAY
Palermo
Morning Session
Moderator: Katrina Sichel
Venue Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo

9:15 - 10:15 PLENARY OPENING

Welcome
• Renato Schifani, President of Sicily Region (tbc)
• Roberto Lagalla, Mayor of Palermo

• Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries (video)
• Joanna Drake, Deputy Director-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission
• Moncef Boukthir, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Republic of
Tunisia
• Nello Musumeci, Minister for Civil Protection and Sea Policies, Italy
• Anna Maria Bernini, Minister for University and Research, Italy

10:15-10:30 Awards ceremony of the Blue Champion Islands

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00– 11:30 Statements by government representatives from Mediterranean countries
• Olivier Poivre D’Arvor (France) and representatives of Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain.

11:30- 12:15 Leading actions for the reduction of pollution

This session will address some actions to reduce plastic litter at sea by at least 50%; reduce
microplastics released into the environment by at least 30%; reduce nutrient losses, the use and risk
of chemical pesticides by at least 50%.

• John Bell, Director Healthy Planet, DG Research and Innovation, Deputy Mission Manager,
European Commission
• Jann Martinsohn, Head of Unit, Ocean and Water, Joint Research Centre, European
Commission

Pitches from national projects/programmes/initiatives

Introduction by Nicola Carlone, Vice Admiral, Commandant of the Italian Coast Guard

• Spyros Kouvelis, Mission Board member

• Berengere Prince, World Bank
• Anne-Leïla Meistertzheim, Plastic@Sea
• Daniela Maric Pfannkuchen, Interreg Italy-Croatia

Q&A
 12:15 - 13:00 Panels highlighting some actions of the Mission Charter
• Typhoon, Angeliki Kosmopoulou, Athanasios C. Laskaridis Foundation
• Green Deal Malta, Stefan Spiteri, Ewropa
• ACCESS2NAPA, Francesco Magagnoli, Port of Ravenna Authority
• For Coastal municipalities with mooring fields over Neptune seagrass beds, Juanita Zorrilla,
Submon

• Outreach and Support to the Mission, Geneviève Pons, Europe Jacques Delors
• Global Blue Economy Hub, Paul Holthus, World Ocean Council Europe
• BBI-JU Flagship SCALE project, Julie Person, Microphyt

Q&A

13:15 - 14:30 Networking lunch - Celebrating the Mission Charter’s signatories from the Mediterranean

DAY 2
31 May 2023
Palermo DRAFT PROGRAMME- 31 MAY
Afternoon Session
Moderator: Katrina Sichel
Venue Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo

14:30 - 15:00 Panels highlighting some examples of EU funded projects

Introduction by Paloma Aba Garrote, Acting Director of CINEA

• BlueMissionMed- coordination and support action for the Mediterranean lighthouse

• REMEDIES- Co-creating strong uptake of remedies for the future of our oceans through
deploying plastic litter valorisation and prevention pathways
• SEACLEAR2.0- Scalable Full-cycle Marine Litter Remediation in the Mediterranean
• OCEAN CITIZEN- Marine forest coastal restoration: an underwater gardening socio-
ecological plan

15:00 - 16:00 Panel with some examples of islands signatories of the Mission Charter
• Sylvain Petit, BeMed-Islands capitalisation process, SMILO
• Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Tilos island
• Marcial Bardolet, Balearic Islands, Mediterranean Posidonia Network
• Chloe Ní Mháille, Aran Island
• Giuseppe Siracusano, Salina Island

Coalition of all islands signatories of the Mission Ocean & Waters

16:00 – 16:20 Coffee break

16:20 – 17:00 Panel with examples of school projects signatories of the Mission Charter

• Rosalba Giugni, Marevivo

• Danae Patsiou, “Schools against plastics”, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research
• Rebecca Katsaris, “Increasing Marine Environment Awareness Via Creative Arts”,
Enalia Physis Environmental Research Center

Celebrating the Blue Champion Schools in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Education and with the
participation of schools

17:00 - 17:30 Conclusion

• Tonino Picula, Member of the European Parliament, Chair of SEARICA
• Maria Cristina Pedicchio, Mission Board Member