Established in 2008, European Maritime Day (EMD) is the annual EU meeting point on maritime affairs and sustainable blue growth, and the place where ‘Ocean Leaders Meet’ as the slogan goes. It is also a public event reaching out to young people and citizens across Europe through local events.

EMD has not only enabled many project partnerships and co-operations among stakeholders, but it has also contributed to getting the need for sustainable management of ocean resources higher on the EU’s agenda.

Stakeholders generally find the European Maritime Day a great opportunity to touch base with strategic partners, make new contacts and network, get visibility for their projects, ideas, activities and achievements, gain new insights into the evolving EU policy and funding landscape and provide input into European Maritime Policy formulation.

European Maritime Day takes place every year at the end of May. The conference takes place in a different EU country each year, see the current list until 2029 below. The cities are selected following a call for interest launched by the Council of Ministers every five years. The latest call took place in 2022.

The call for expressions of interest for exhibitors will be launched early 2024.

Blue-Cloud 2026 at the European Maritime Day

Blue-Cloud 2026 will take part to the event with a workshop on Observations to knowledge: Unlocking Ocean Insights. The workshop aims to explore the intricate connection between AI technologies, data governance, and policymaking within marine ecosystems, and how collaborative efforts among initiatives like Blue-Cloud, iMagine, SeaDataNet, and EuroGOOS address them. In addition, the audience can discover how they cooperate effectively to avoid duplication in efforts and enhance data quality. These discussions harness the collective expertise of the initiatives, reinforcing their position as leaders in advancing operational oceanography for comprehensive marine knowledge.

The initiatives involved, fully or partially funded by the EC, gather data from European research infrastructures that cover diverse European countries and sea-basins. Moreover, the initiatives foster a shared commitment to advancing technology, sustainability, and economic resilience in the maritime domain, contributing to the overarching goals of the EU in this sector.