In 2013, the European Union, United States and Canada came together to declare a new age of ocean research, innovation and collaboration through the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation. From this, iAtlantic’s predecessor project, ATLAS (2016-2020), along with a portfolio of other ocean-focused projects funded under the EU’s Horizon2020 Blue Growth call, made great steps forward in understanding the dynamics of the North Atlantic Ocean and its inhabitants. Ten years on, and the results generated by those projects – and by their own predecessors implemented under the FP7 and FP6 funding cycles – provide much of the baseline data and foundational research that iAtlantic and sister projects AtlanticECO, TRIATLAS and Mission Atlantic (among others) are using to push the frontiers of marine science forward at the full ocean basin scale. This has been made possible by the Belem Statement on Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Cooperation, signed in 2017, which builds on the Galway Statement by broadening the international cooperation agreement to include South Africa and Brazil.
This week, Galway10 – a celebration of the many achievements under the Galway Statement – takes place with a high-level event in Dublin on 4 July followed by a public celebration in Galway on 5-6 July 2023. iAtlantic and ATLAS coordinator Murray Roberts joins both events, sharing a short intervention at proceedings in Dublin and joining many other research and policy leaders past, present and future for celebrations in Galway.
You can follow the events in Galway online on 5-6 July (registration required), and enjoy Murray’s thoughts in this summary video produced by the EC to mark a decade of excellence in collaborative ocean research.
