Regional Conference of the "closing the circle" programme

identifying regional challenges and opportunities to address the issue of marine debris, sargassum and marine spatial planning

4 - 7 April 2022, Dominica and Online

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CONFERENCE PROGRAMME AND BIOS

The World Maritime University is pleased to invite the international community to participate in the Regional Conference of The Nippon Foundation and WMU ‘Closing the Circle Programme', titled 'Identifying Regional Challenges and Opportunities to address the issue of Marine Debris, Sargassum and Marine Spatial Planning'. The Conference is scheduled to take place from 4 to 7 April 2022 in Dominica, with virtual participation available on 5 - 6 April 2022 from 08:00 - 18:00 AST (14:00 - 00:00 CEST)

The World Maritime University – Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute (GOI), and The Nippon Foundation are the primary co-sponsors of this regional conference. This inter-sectoral stakeholder conference will include topical presentations from the programme team and expert contributions from key stakeholders in the region including Ministries, Regional UN Agencies, Regional Organizations, Academic Institutions and Civil Society. The aim is raising awareness and identifying the regional challenges and opportunities in order to address the issue of marine debris and sargassum, and to facilitate marine spatial planning in the Eastern Caribbean region.

The Closing the Circle: Marine Debris, Sargassum and Marine Spatial Planning in the Eastern Caribbean Programme was implemented in 2020 by the GOI with the generous support of The Nippon Foundation.

The programme website is available here: https://closing-the-circle.wmu.se/.

Global Participants

Representatives of UN system bodies and key stakeholders in the region from Ministries, Regional UN Agencies, Regional Organizations, Academic Institutions, Civil Society, Media and WMU.

Topics

  • Societal Awareness
  • Science & Technology
  • Blue Green Economic Responses
  • Covid-19 Impacts & Responses
  • Climate Change & Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
  • Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) & the Post 2020 Biodiversity Framework
  • Socio-economic Assessments of Marine Plastic Pollution
  • Sustainable Solutions for the Future
  • Role of Monitoring Science and Citizen Science

Sponsors

Regional Collaboration

Recognizing that all the goals are interrelated and indivisible, the conference is a call for action in support of achieving, in particular, Goal 14 focused on the ocean.