This year’s European Maritime Day #EMD2015 is taking place at the port of Piraeus in Greece on 28-29th May, and will be focused on the theme of ports and coasts as gateways to growth.

With the blue growth agenda prominent at the event, Seas At Risk will be presenting joint workshops with members and allies that will highlight the need for care and control in the growth of economic activity on our seas. Our marine litter team will conduct a workshop with Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM) and Waste Free Oceans on Port Reception Facilities and the fight against marine litter. Seas At Risk has also worked with our members Archipelagos and the Marine Conservation Society on a workshop on Innovative and sustainable aquaculture.

Alongside the two day conference, which will be attended by representatives of the European Commission, industry, member states and NGOs, the weekend will be opened up to the general public, with free access to cultural and historical sites around the ancient port city.

You can see the full agenda of the conference here, the details of workshop sessions here. There will also be a ‘matchmaking’ networking event on both evenings, with the chance to make connections and share information and views on the EU maritime agenda.

Marine Debris: out of sight, out of mind? not for scuba divers @KarmenuVella#EMD2015@EU_MAREhttp://t.co/esCWwZNSPKpic.twitter.com/CVvg1SKD8E

— Project AWARE (@projectaware) May 28, 2015

Seas At Risk - The Seas at Risk Alliance is a European association of non-governmental organizations working to protect and restore the health of the European and Northeast Atlantic seas. As a member, Project AWARE is working alongside other Alliance members to ensure that EU governments take marine litter seriously and commit to adopting the most effective measures to tackle the problem including setting aggressive marine litter reduction targets for all EU States. Project AWARE joined Seas At Risk on 05th June 2014.

Related Articles:

• The Death of the Circular Economy?
• EU Circular Economy Package: Questioning the Reasons for Withdrawal
• Making the Link: Marine Litter and the Circular Economy