On the 4th April, Antonella Vassallo, Managing Director IOI, and Cosmin Nicolae Chivu, Project Officer, met with the Maltese WestMED National Hub representatives, Dr Stephanie Vella and Ms Stephanie Bugeja at IOI Headquarters. The scope of the meeting was to explore areas of collaboration between WestMED and IOI, especially because ‘improved maritime governance’ is one of WestMED’s leading goals. The identified areas are mainly related to IOI’s vast Ocean governance knowledge and networks to the wider WestMED region, find potential funding opportunities to allow better access through scholarships and mutually promote each other’s initiatives, for the benefit of stakeholders in the region.
IOI’s training for early and mid-career practitioners in contemporary approaches to coastal and Ocean management, emphasising the moral, ethical and legal values in Ocean Governance (equity and peaceful uses of the Ocean) can benefit stakeholders within the WestMED.