8th UfM Blue Economy Working Group and Digitalization skills webinar

9-10 June 2021. The 8th meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Blue Economy Working Group took place online on 10th June, chaired by the European Commussion and Jordanian Co-Presidency, with the assistance of the UfM Secretariat. 

The meeting focused on the implementation of the UfM Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy adopted in February 2021. Emphasis was placed on cooperation with stakeholders and financial institutions, the need for capacity building to support specific sectors within a broad Blue Economy approach, fighting unemployment, and supporting blue skills as enabler of growth. Furthermore, it was agreed to explore the possibility of having focused meetings involving specialised regional organisations or agencies, and link as much as possible the UfM Agendas and Working Groups.

The UfM and WESTMED took the opportunity to organise a complementary webinar on the 9th June, analysing and discussing how digitalisation skills can be applied to aquaculture and tourism in the Mediterranean. More than 150 participants attended, gathering representatives of government agencies, national and regional organisations, SMEs, local businesses, start-ups, academia, decision-makers.