The event is organised on the 25th anniversary of the founding of the University of Milan Bicocca together with the Vittorio Veneto Liceo Scientifico - also in cooperation with the European Commission.
The ocean, seas and rivers are increasingly an engine for the European economy, with enormous innovative potential, recognized by the Blue Economy strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors. According to the European Union, the ‘sea’ provides 4,5 million direct jobs. If the global Blue Economy were compared to a national economy, it would be the seventh largest in the world, and the ocean as an economic entity would be a member of the G7. It operates in the planet’s vastest ecosystem: seas and the ocean cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface, they hold 97 % of all our water and sustain 80 % of all forms of life.
The importance of the ocean and our seas is also recognized by the United Nations, which organized the World Conference on Oceans in Lisbon in 2022 and recently concluded successfully the so-called High Seas Treaty negotiations aimed at protecting vast areas of our planet’s oceans.
And yet in our daily lives, we are leaving an ever-increasing footprint on the ocean and waters which is rapidly degrading their health and threatening their ability to provide many essential services.
This makes us all responsible, individually and collectively, for their protection, regeneration and health. Our young people are able to find visionary solutions to accelerate the transition to zero pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, or to identify ways how best to protect and regenerate our rivers, lakes and our mare nostrum.
This event aims at promoting a dialogue and debate with our future ocean and water stewards and leaders around new scientific advances, innovation activities and solutions in support of implementing the European Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030. It will showcase how the different related Mission Lighthouses offer many new and inspiring blue jobs and professional opportunities.
The demand for new skills and competences to well execute these new blue jobs and related job profiles will be huge; it will open many future job avenues and opportunities for our future generation. Finally, yet importantly, a fit for purpose trained workforce will constitute an important asset for supporting the implementation of the European Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.