Mediterranean Environment and Sustainable Development Forum (Palermo, 15-16 May 2019)

Eight years ago, at the Blue Sea Land Festival in Mazara del Vallo (Sicily), Italy launched an international call for more structured cooperation efforts in the field of the blue and green economies. To organize the Environment and Sustainable Development Forum, it has joined forces with the Osservatorio della Pesca del Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Fishing Observatory) and the Second World Conference on Revitalizing the Mediterranean Diet, run by the FAO and the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies. The forum will attempt to identify sustainable environmental solutions for Mediterranean coastal ecosystems, from self-sufficient local agricultural methods to innovative plastic collection initiatives with partners in the southern Mediterranean.

The forum will be part of the conference programme. An inaugural session will take place on 15 May, followed by two parallel sessions on 16 May, giving participants the opportunity to develop proposals for initiatives to be discussed at the Assembly of the 100 in Tunis on 11 and 12 June, in preparation for the Marseille Summit. In synergy with the forum, the European Commission is holding workshops on the blue economy in Palermo on 14 May as part of the WestMED initiative.

Partners

Discussions, which will be aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15), will be part of a framework for dialogue open to all countries in the region. They will involve the following national and international organizations:

• The Sicilian fisheries organization Distretto della Pesca Siciliano (Italy)
• The fishing observatory Osservatorio della Pesca del Mediterraneo (Italy)
• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• The International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM)
• The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)
• The Center for Mediterranean Integration