The Regional Government, through the Regional Fund for Science and Technology and the Regional Directorate for Science and Technology, in partnership with the European Marine Science Educators Association (EMSEA) organises the 7th EMSEA Annual Conference at Expolab – Living Science Centre in Lagoa, São Miguel Island.

The event will be held from September 16 to 20. It is expected to be attended by one hundred teachers, researchers and other people involved in the field of marine science education, who will share their knowledge and best practices in ocean literacy.

The Regional Director for Science and Technology highlighted today, at the presentation of the event, the holding of an open “EMSEA Expo” session on September 18 that will be directed to local teachers and the community in general. As he emphasised, this session “will take place for the first time under an EMSEA conference.”

With this initiative, the aim is to “raise the awareness of participants for various themes related to the sea and the oceans in an attractive and fun way as well as to inspire local teachers to adopt new learning methods,” stated Bruno Pacheco.

Shortly after the introduction of ocean literacy themes in Elementary School contents in the Region under the “Blue Azores” programme, the holding of this conference is “another step towards the consolidation of Science Education as a key tool for our development,” said the Regional Director.

In this regard, Bruno Pacheco highlighted that “the Regional Government continues to attract international and educational events to the Azores,” noting the implementation of “structured programmes” such as the “Blue Azores.”

The press conference for the presentation of the 7th EMSEA Annual Conference was also attended by the Mayor of Lagoa, Cristina Calisto, and the Executive Director of Expolab, João Paulo Constância.

Established in 2011, EMSEA is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting ocean literacy that brings together teachers and educators from European science centres and aquariums. It provides a platform for promotion and capability building in the field of marine sciences.