16th UfM Regional Platform on Sustainable Blue Economy

2 October 2024, Faro. UfM countries, Observers, and Experts gathered together in Faro (Portugal) in order to continue to set the path towards the implementation of the 2021 UfM Ministerial Declaration on SBE / its related Roadmap, with a focus on: i) reporting by the countries; ii) joint follow-up to the 2nd UfM Stakeholder Conference on SBE held in Athens on 19-20 February 2024; iii) consolidation of partnerships in the framework of the Roadmap, including ongoing synergies with the WestMED Initiative, associating also the UfM’s work on maritime transport; and iv) medium-to-longer term planning.

In the framework of the ongoing close coordination and strategic alignment with the WestMED Initiative, the meeting was organized back-to-back with the Steering Committee of the WestMED Initiative (01 October) and the WestMED Hackathon on SBE project crafting (October 3rd), both counting with the participation of the UfM.

The sequence of meetings in Faro also presented a valuable opportunity to enhance cross-Divisional coordination, in particular with the UfM Transport and Urban Development Division. In this regard, TUDD took part in both the UfM Regional Platform on SBE and the WestMED Hackathon (October 2 and 3 respectively). In particular, TUDD shared the state-of-the-art on progress towards the implementation of the UfM Regional Action Plan on Transport 2021-2027 endorsed at Ministerial level in February 2023, and participated in the WestMED Hackathon project crafting sessions on Green Shipping. UfM direct support was also mobilized in order to facilitate the participation of the UfM Focal Points on Transport to the WestMED Hackathon on SBE project development