A great number of stakeholders and guests from 5 countries met in Greece for the completion of the “Blue Isles” project. This successful program, which was implemented for 2 years, aimed at the reduction of fishing waste and the preservation of marine ecosystems in islands and coastal areas of the European Union.
The program started in January 2022 and focused on the development of tools and reports that were presented in the Athens event, where the participants had the chance to talk about the following:
- Interstate report on the perceptions and knowledge of the fishing and aquaculture industry professionals with regard to innovative and sustainable methods and approaches, based on extensive field research in the participating countries
- Educational material for supporting fishing and aquaculture industry professionals on adopting sustainable work practices
- E-learning platform that hosts the relevant educational material and provides access to all data and results of the project
- A podcast series that raises awareness on the challenges faced in the seas of Europe, including interviews with experts from diverse backgrounds. The podcast episodes will be published in five different languages, while one episode per country will be translated to English as well
- A bundle of policy recommendations that focuses on the conclusions gained from the project implementation and promotes the installation of Aegean Rebreath’s Marine Litter Collection Stations in islands and coastal areas of Europe
As part of the project implementation, our organization made good use of the cooperation with the members of the Blue Municipalities Network and developed significant action in the field. For this reason, we would like to extend our thanks to all our partners, who proved that there are promising practices in Greece, which are now recognized on a European level.