The event will take place in Bologna on the 11th of July 2024.
Published on 09 July 2024 | News
The Decade Collaborative Center for Coastal Resilience, Director Prof. Nadia Pinardi, with Prof. Silvana Di Sabatino, have been invited to attend the G7/EU High Level Conference on Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean Health and Coastal Resilience”, taking place in Bologna on the 11th of July 2024, organized by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research and in collaboration with the European Commission, under the auspices of the HE Mission “Restore our Ocean & waters” and in the framework of the Italian G7 Presidency, Science and Technology track.
Focused on the Mediterranean macro-region and Atlantic Ocean, the conference aims to showcase international efforts to restore their marine biodiversity, enhance climate resilience, and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events on their coastal communities. It will present the state of implementation of monitoring, restoration and regeneration of seas, ocean and coastal areas, moving from research and innovation to local deployment, also through the development of the Digital Twin of the Ocean. It will showcase international efforts, measures and innovative solutions to regenerate marine biodiversity and ecosystems, improve climate mitigation and adaptation at the climate-ocean nexus, and enhance the resilience of coastal communities to the increasingly threatening effects of severe weather events, storms, hurricanes, ice-melting and sea- level rise. It will also address the resilience and security of water systems at the interface between land and seas, under climate change related extreme events such as droughts and floods.
The event will feature strategic mobilisation initiatives involving G7 countries, with particular focus on the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’, as well as the “Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership”, the “All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance”, and the “Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area - PRIMA”.
It will link to international organisations and R&I initiatives, such as the Union for the Mediterranean and the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences and its coordinating infrastructures, such as the Decade Collaborative Center for Coastal Resilience, hosted by the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Professor Nadia Pinardi, Director of the UNESCO Decade Collaborative Center for Coastal Resilience at the University of Bologna:
"I am very pleased to represent the University of Bologna and the Decade Collaborative Center for Coastal Resilience at the G7 meeting on Thursday, July 11th. This event presents a unique opportunity to showcase our commitment and innovations in coastal resilience.
The University of Bologna's Decade Collaborative Center for Coastal Resilience, supported by the Emilia Romagna Region, will be showcased at the G7 as a forward-thinking strategy for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptability. Our motto - The power of Science for coastal communities: better informed, better prepared - reflects our science-based approach to supporting and protecting coastal communities. We firmly believe that better information leads to better preparedness, and we are committed to using our research to promote the resilience and sustainability of coastal areas in the face of future climate challenges".
Professor Silvana Di Sabatino: “I am honored to represent the University of Bologna at the G7 meeting that will take place in few days in Bologna. This is an extraordinary opportunity to discuss about climate change and climate adaptation in our territories with growing evidence. Ocean and land are closely connected and what happens on the coast affects more and more our communities living on the coast and inland. Our role as academics and researchers is to push the frontiers of knowledge to prove on scientific-basis what the possible adaptation and mitigation solutions are and to inform policy makers to advance implementation of those solutions. Only working together the challenge that climate change is posing to us can be tackled successfully, and this meeting is a tangible sign of how the science and policy dialogue can develop”.