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Welcome to the workshop 'Learning, teaching and practising - together - sustainable development'! What do young people need to know? What do they need to be able to do? What should they value enough to act upon when they graduate into adult life? What can we to together to be fit for the transitions and huge challenges of our societies? Considering that we have to feed and house 9 billion people by 2050, produce four times more energy while decarbonising our economies? Revert the impoverishment of the oceans, which lost more than 90% of their big species in the last century in the North Atlantic alone. These were key questions participants from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America discussed upon invitation of Mundus maris on 2-3 March 2012 at the Free University of Brussels. The wealth and diversity of past experiences shared by the participants opened new insights and a strong sense of togetherness and trust. New joint activities are on the cards. Read more.

Invitation to a conversation with the oceans including the awards ceremony for the best submissions from youth groups telling a story about the ocean.

Join us for a special event with arts presentations and food and drinks, 11 June 2014, from 18h30 to 20h in the premises of FARNET - 38 Rue de la Loi, 1000 Brussels.

“We are called to be the architects of our future, not its victims.”

R. Buckminster Fuller

Read more.about this event and discover more celebrations e.g. in Hann, Senegal.

Punctually for World Oceans Day 2014, our new newsletter is out! Read it on our facebook newsletter tab, or click here to see it: 

"Listen to the Pulse of the Planet" was the call for a concert on 24 January 2013 in the Yehudi Menuhin Space in the European Parliament under the patronage of Vice President Isabelle Durant. Some 45 musicians from the European institutions and the children's choir of the European School Brussels II performed the Goldberg Variations of Johann Sebastian Bach.

The founder of the concept, Naomi Takagi, sees it as the start of a global initiative and says: "The universality, the unifying power and the healing nature of Music are acknowledged throughout the world. "  Read more

Maria Damanaki, EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, spoke on 22 November 2011 in the European Parliament at a seminar promoting low impact fisheries. The seminar was organised by Seas at Risk, an umbrella organisation for environmental NGOs from 11 countries in collaboration with MEPs Anna Rosbach, Isabella Lövin and Christofer Fjellner. Research findings were presented showing that many parts of the Commission proposal for reforming the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) went into the right direction, but that some parts needed further strengthening. A particular plea was put forward to provide positive incentives for low impact fishing and to discourage destructive gear and fishing methods. In her response, the Commissioner commented that “we need the fish, but we need to fish in a smarter way...”. Read more

Some of us might wonder what marine litter is exactly and where it comes from. We all know the term “litter” and have seen it in some kind of form in our daily lives; an empty plastic bag drifting in the wind, cigarette butts on the pavements, empty drink bottles in the park or even remote idyllic places wasted by the presence of litter. What we see on land is not different from what is going on in the sea and thus the term “Marine Litter” has been introduced to describe discarded, disposed of, or abandoned man-made objects present in the marine and coastal environment. It consists of articles that have been made or used by people and, subsequently, deliberately discarded or accidentally lost. They originate from ocean-based (fishing vessels, cargo ships, stationary platforms, fish farming installations, pleasure crafts and other vessels) or land-based sources (littering, dumping, poor waste management practices, untreated sewage and storm water discharges, riverine inputs, industrial facilities, tourism, extreme natural events) and can be found all around the globe. Most sources of marine pollution are land based and some studies indicate that up to 80% of marine litter originates from land. Read more.

European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, opened this year's Slow Fish fair in Genoa, Italy. She was particularly keen on contributing to the fight against illegal fishing and healthy marine ecosystems. Mundus maris contributed specifically to two of the workshops, one on fishing in Africa and one on direct sales and traceability - another aspect of fighting illegal operations. In addition to these types of multi-stakeholder reflections, Slow Fish offered a variety of sustainably produced fish food, educational activities and promoted sustainable tourism. Read more.