All early career professionals and their mentors at the 10 years of the Galway Statement event.
On Tuesday 5th July the Marine Institute, along with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission, co-hosted a high-level celebration in Iveagh House, Dublin, marking 10 years of the Galway Statement – a decade of marine research cooperation across the Atlantic Ocean.
The milestone event, entitled ‘10 Years of the Galway Statement. Celebrating a decade of marine research cooperation along and across the Atlantic Ocean – Our Shared Resource’, continued Wednesday and Thursday at the Marine Institute and the University of Galway where AquaVitae was presented by the coordinator, Philip James. The event was run as a hybrid so many people also joined the celebration online.
Philip James showcased the project pinpointing the environmental benefits of low trophic aquaculture. In addition, he highlighted some of the project results, such as the Policy Brief (to be released shortly), the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and the AquaVitae young career exchange program. He ended his speech with an invite to attend the AquaVitae Final Conference that will take place in Galway on October 31st to November 2nd.
Mayleen Schlund (second on the right), one of AquaVitae exchange students, also attended to represent the project and worked in an ‘early career’ working group to provide novel solutions to some of the challenges faced in the Atlantic Ocean environment. Mayleen took part in AquaVitae training activities as an apprentice at the Fiskaaling research station in the Faroe Islands. Her experience was depicted in this article.
Isabel Sousa Pinto, leader of the research case on macroalgae (CIIMAR), was also present. She participated on the panel Atlantic Ocean observation, seabed mapping, biodiversity, ocean literacy, DNA of the Atlantic.
In addition to the project representatives, the AquaVitae final movie was projected in the main room showing what the project is all about, as well as its results and impact.
The Galway Statement is a landmark agreement signed by representatives of the European Union, the United States and Canada who agreed to join forces on Atlantic Ocean Research. The goal was to better understand the Atlantic Ocean and promote the sustainable management of its resources. The Agreement aimed to connect the ocean observation efforts of the three partners. The work also studied the interplay of the Atlantic Ocean with the Arctic Ocean, particularly in relation to climate change.
