All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance

The All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA) is the result of science diplomacy efforts involving countries from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, aiming at enhancing marine research and innovation cooperation. AAORIA intends to advance the shared vision of an Atlantic Ocean that is healthy, resilient, clean, safe, transparent, predictable, productive, understood and treasured to promote the well-being, prosperity and security of present and future generations. 

Signed in 2022, the AAORIA Declaration builds on the success of the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation and the Belem Statement on Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Cooperation. Furthermore, its objectives align with the EU's priorities outlined in the Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030, the Partnership for a climate-neutral sustainable and productive blue economy, the European Green Deal, and international dimension of the EU Atlantic Action Plan. With AAORIA’s motto being ‘Connecting-Cooperating-Acting’ the Alliance aims to become a long-term, sustainable, and highly impactful international partnership, capable of delivering transformative science and innovation, and concrete benefits for Atlantic communities. 

The OKEANO CSA is the third EU-funded Coordination and Support Action (CSA), after the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance Coordination and Support Action (AORA CSA) and the All-Atlantic Cooperation for Ocean Research and innovation (AANChOR CSA) project. Representatives from the European Commission and 16 partner organisations from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Cabo Verde, France, Germany, Ireland, Morocco, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Spain make up the OKEANO CSA consortium. Funded under Horizon Europe by the European Commission, the OKEANO CSA is coordinated by the Marine Institute (MI, Ireland) and its primary role is to support the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance.   

The main objective of the OKEANO CSA is to provide coordination and support to the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance, ensuring effective governance, cooperation, and communication amongst signatories. The OKEANO CSA aims to facilitate dialogue and collaboration at local, national, and international levels, to consolidate existing initiatives emphasising the importance of climate regulation, biodiversity preservation, and sustainable ocean economies. Specifically, OKEANO aims to achieve its objectives through several key actions:  

• Coordination and Support: Provide professional support for effective governance and communication within AAORIA.  
• Dialogue and Coordination: Facilitate structured dialogue and coordination between AAORIA and stakeholders at various levels.  
• Supporting Existing Initiatives: Strengthen ongoing AAORIA initiatives, particularly ECOPs capacity building.  
• Strategic Research Agenda: Develop a comprehensive research agenda integrating perspectives from North and South Atlantic regions.  
• Communication and Outreach: Disseminate information about AAORIA's activities and engage stakeholders through targeted efforts.  
• International Fora: Organize international events to foster scientific cooperation across the Atlantic.  

Throughout these actions, OKEANO emphasizes engagement with stakeholders across Atlantic communities, including youth and indigenous groups, to address pressing challenges such as climate change, marine pollution, and sustainable fisheries.

JPI Oceans is instrumental in maximising the impact of the OKEANO CSA and supporting AAORIA, leading the project’s communication, dissemination, and exploitation efforts. JPI Oceans also plays a pivotal role in leading tasks related to Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) capacity building. On R&I coordination support, JPI Oceans will lead efforts to pave the way towards establishing a joint call for research and innovation proposals among Atlantic Ocean countries to facilitate concrete opportunities for scientific collaboration under the AAORIA Declaration, leveraging national and potentially EU funding. JPI Oceans maintains a robust strategic outlook that extends beyond European borders through its active participation in AAORIA and its CSAs, both AANChOR (2018-2023) and OKEANO (2024-2027).

The All-Atlantic Cooperation for Ocean Research and innovation Coordination and Support Action (AANChOR CSA) was funded under the last European framework programme Horizon2020 and was one of the main activities implementing the vision of the Alliance, preceding the OKEANO CSA. AANChOR was composed of a consortium of 18 partners from various European countries, including JPI Oceans, as well as from Brazil, South Africa, Cabo Verde, Argentina and Morocco. It was coordinated by Fundação Portuguesa para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal).  

To upscale research and innovation cooperation within the Atlantic basin, to better understand and sustainably manage the Atlantic Ocean as a whole, and to seed the basis for healthy future large-scale joint Atlantic marine activities, AANChOR had three main objectives:  

• Identify concrete joint actions to support the implementation of the EU-Brazil-South Africa Belém Statement  
• Contribute to the implementation of the selected joint actions  
• Define long term measures for sustainability of the cooperation framework beyond the lifetime of the CSA  

More than 70 stakeholders collaborated through the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance’s Multi-Stakeholder Platform and identified more than 1000 initiatives aimed at strengthening marine research and innovation collaboration at the Atlantic level, 56 gaps and 79 needs/recommendations to achieve the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance ambition. Based on these findings and on the idea of collaboration, alignment, and use of existing resources, they developed six ambitious and long-term collaborative Joint Pilot Actions. As partner in the AANChOR CSA, JPI Oceans co-led the initiative of All-Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassadors alongside the German Marine Research Consortium (KDM). Since the first cohort ended at the end of 2020, the programme was expanded to a second cohort of 26 ambassadors from 15 countries, plus 12 mentors from the previous cohort. JPI Oceans was also responsible for the recruitment of the Belgian ambassador, Eloïse Savineau. In 2022, JPI Oceans co-organised their Summer School in Washington D.C, back-to-back with the All-Atlantic Forum.