From 10 to 13 November, the coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, hosted the A-AAGORA General Assembly, bringing together project partners and Associated Regions at a key moment for scientific alignment, strategic planning and preparation for the project’s final phase. The week also included the meeting with the Associated Regions, a joint session with the sister project CLIMAREST, and the A-AAGORA Advisory Board meeting, fostering a highly collaborative working environment. The meeting was organised by the A-AAGORA coordination team, led by Ana Lillebø, researcher at CESAM/DBIO and project coordinator, with local support from the Marine and Environmental Research (MER) Lab and the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research of Cyprus, which ensured logistics and partner reception.
The opening session was led by the project coordinator, who presented an overview of the overall status of A-AAGORA and the priority objectives for the coming months. Over the course of two days, several discussion and knowledge-sharing sessions enabled the alignment of progress and priorities, with particular emphasis on advances in the development of digital tools, the evolution of the technological platform, and the production of policy-oriented materials and capacity-building actions. A central focus of the meeting was strengthening the link with the Associated Regions, ensuring that the solutions developed within A-AAGORA respond to local realities and can be effectively replicated.
The second day placed greater emphasis on the Associated Regions, with contributions from Galicia, Cyprus, Greece, Orléans, Split-Dalmatia and Iceland, which presented their local progress and challenges. The discussions highlighted the environmental, social and economic diversity represented within the consortium and the central role of these regions in replicating and scaling up the project’s solutions. Another key moment focused on the economic dimension of the solutions developed within A-AAGORA, including the design of sustainable models capable of ensuring continuity and long-term practical application, as well as the development of performance metrics and indicators to test solution effectiveness on the ground and support their future integration into management instruments, public policies and regional investment. The Advisory Board participated remotely, contributing directly to the review of the solution blueprints and providing strategic, impact-oriented recommendations.
The third day included a joint session with the CLIMAREST project, dedicated to the exchange of lessons learned, sharing of results, and the presentation of the children’s book “Exploring the Ocean with Clio”, co-developed by both teams. This activity reinforced the value of inter-project collaboration within the context of the Ocean Mission and highlighted the importance of creating communication tools that bring science closer to society.