Young Voices for the Ocean: The first Youth Policy Dialogue with Commissioner Costas Kadis

What do young people want for the future of our ocean? 

That’s what we asked 15 young people from across Europe as part of the first Youth Policy Dialogue of Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis.  

We asked what they believe should be included in the upcoming European Ocean Pact – here’s what they shared with Commissioner Costas Kadis. 

Fostering marine knowledge  

A deep knowledge of the ocean is key to well-crafted policies for the ocean.   

To gain a better understanding of the link between the ocean and climate resilience, panellists suggested adopting an ecosystem-based approach. In other words, a way of managing natural resources considering the entire ecosystem, to balance environmental, social, and economic needs while maintaining the health and resilience of ecosystems.  

Simplifying jargon words, making knowledge about the ocean easier to understand for citizens, and allowing people to have their say via public consultations were all recommended. 

Making the blue economy attractive to young people  

Job creation was a central theme of the conversation.  

It was pointed out that young people see the fishing communities as impoverished. Thus, better levels of compensation and better promotion of the blue economy are needed to attract young people to the sector.  

Commissioner Kadis underlined that generational renewal is one of the biggest challenges in the fisheries sector, and that skills and support for young people will be a priority in the European Ocean Pact. 

The complexity of bureaucracy in applying for funding, as well as problems with accessibility, was one of the main issues highlighted by the young participants. As noted by Commissioner Kadis, the Commission is currently looking to identify where bureaucracy can be reduced. 

“In order to make the blue economy attractive, we need to make it known to the young people.” 

Stella Christou, Cyprus 

Improving ocean literacy 

By involving people at an early age, you create a lifelong commitment to ocean protection.  

Citizen science initiatives, like clean-ups of rivers or coasts, can help young people act as data collectors, scientists and reporters.

Initiatives like the EU4Ocean coalition and its Network of European Blue Schools help bring the ocean into the classroom, but the challenge remains to include ocean literacy in national curricula and educational systems, not only in textbooks but also with field experiences.   

Making use of new technologies 

Using AI and new technologies to help improve marine knowledge was also presented as a great opportunity.  

Benjamin, from Malta, gave the example of an app developed to help local fishers identify different species, particularly useful in areas with many ‘invasive’ species. 

Commissioner Kadis noted that policies are more effective when people, including young people, make use of free tools such as the European Marine Observation Data Network (EMODNet) or the future Digital Twin of the Ocean. 

“What I think is really hopeful is that under the current Horizon Europe, one of the missions - the third mission - is to “restore our ocean and waters by 2030” {…}. And that’s the right direction in terms of innovation, because this is what's going to facilitate the changes that we need.” 

Cruz Glynka, Poland 

Protecting the ocean & coastal communities  

The protection of both the ocean and coastal communities is at the centre of the young panellists’ recommendations for the European Ocean Pact.  

Speakers highlighted the need for comprehensive environmental assessments as a requirement for site selection - for instance for renewable energy projects in the ocean.  

Concerns on deep-sea mining were also raised, on which the Commissioner reiterated the EU’s precautionary approach: prohibiting deep-sea mining until scientific gaps are properly filled. 

Such need to protect both the ocean and the coastal communities was well presented by Inès, from France, on the topic of marine protected areas: 

“I think that the EU Ocean Pact really needs to prioritise well-designed marine protected areas that are in a network and co-designed with local coastal communities from the beginning, because there's a big history of patterns of exclusion {…} and they don't end up fulfilling their objectives in the long term and this is negative both for fishing communities and for conservationists.” 

Sharing the sea  

Maritime spatial planning is key.  

In other words, how do we balance the many uses of the sea in a fair and responsible way? If this is already central to the work done by the European Commission, the young speakers gave interesting innovative examples that spoke to them. 

Nicolò, from Italy, gave a clear example of why maritime spatial planning is needed: 

“I live in a big city with a big harbour, and we have different needs when it comes to the use of the ocean. At a small scale I am trying to implement a multiple use of the city’s sea area to match sport activities, tourism, and fishers.” 

Like Ghizlan, from the Netherlands, spoke of the 'oyster hotels', where they grow oysters below the wind turbines: 

“We need more and more of these initiatives, and we need to work together to continue these discussions for a blue and sustainable future.” 

A great thank you to our panellists: Simona Emilova Mileva, 21, from Bulgaria, Stella Christou, 29, from Cyprus, Nelly Vondrova, 22, from Czechia, Aava Onerva Holopainen, 19, from Finland, Inès Hamila, 25, from France, Stella Mavropoulou, 27, from Greece, Mark McDonnell, 19, from Ireland, Nicolò Di Tullio, 30, from Italy, Urtė Vakarė Drungilaitė, 23, from Lithuania, Benjamin Mifsud Scicluna, 22, from Malta, Ghizlan Rebbah, 22, from the Netherlands, Cruz Glynka, 29, from Poland, Catarina Abril, 27, from Portugal, René Dominik Gašpar, 23, from Slovakia and Joan Saurina Ricós, 21, from Spain.

During his mandate, Commissioner Costas Kadis will be holding, at least once a year, a Youth Policy Dialogue. Because keeping in touch with the point of view of the youth is crucial to designing balanced policy.  

Looking forward to next year’s cohort and Youth Policy Dialogue!