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"(20/05/2014) This year's European Maritime Day Conference held over the 19 & 20 May in Bremen, saw industry experts and policy makers from across Europe come together to discuss how innovation and research in the maritime economy can drive a European growth and jobs recovery whilst securing a sustainable future for Europe's seas. The main conclusions drawn by participants included: There is a vast potential for jobs and sustainable growth in the maritime economy. To exploit it we need to invest more in knowledge and innovation and focus on placing sustainability at the heart of Blue Growth. The issues related to seas and oceans can only be addressed at international level - more global governance is of paramount importance. The EU's Maritime Spatial Planning and Maritime Security Strategy are good examples of what can be achieved. Next year's European Maritime Day will be held by Piraeus, Greece, in May 2015."

Food systems are often focused on maximizing profits rather than generating income on a sustainable basis for smallholder farmers. But in the context of rapid urbanization throughout the developing world, ensuring sustainable rural transformation and building vibrant rural communities is essential to global food security. Transformation of rural areas and sustainable smallholder agriculture involves creating viable market linkages between small farmers and consumers. This third session of AgTalks brings together experts to address various approaches to building these linkages and helping small farmers succeed. Speakers: Gabriela Soto Muñoz, Maximo Torero, Beatrice Makwenda and Kari Huhtala Date: 1 April 2015 Time: 2:30-5 p.m.

ESKO FLAG covers the coastal region of the Gulf of Finland. This is an area with a long tradition of professional small-scale coastal fishing, though the number of registered full-time fishermen has been steadily declining over the past 25 years and it is increasingly difficult to get new and younger people to continue this traditional activity. In recent years, questions have been raised about the sustainability of fishing activities in this area. Notably, WWF Finland publishes a yearly consumer guide, which classifies the main types of fish caught in this area, especially salmon and whitefish, as endangered, threatened or protected species, and recommends consumers not to buy them. To compound the problem, there are also some conflicts between fishing professionals, recreational fishing and fishing tourism concerning the exploitation of fish stocks in the area.

"After Brussels 2008, Rome 2009, Gijon 2010, Gdansk 2011, and Gothenburg 2012, the 2013 European Maritime Day will be held in Malta. The European Maritime Day conference in Malta shall be held on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd of May 2013 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, the capital. The main theme of the European Maritime Day 2013 Conference will focus on coastal development and sustainable maritime tourism in the wider context of Blue Growth. It will be an occasion to reflect, at high level, on how to make Blue Growth happen through sustainable tourism, connectivity and coastal management. A special focus will be made on the Mediterranean Region."

"The European Parliament's Fisheries Committee today voted on Maria do Céu Patrão Neves' initiative Report on 'Marine Knowledge 2020: Seabed mapping for promoting sustainable fisheries', which was unanimously adopted. The Report concerns the Green Paper presented by the European Commission on 'Marine Knowledge 2020: from seabed mapping to ocean forecasting', integrated in the actions aimed at meeting the targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy for the marine and maritime sectors and to develop and expand the 'Blue Growth'."

"(30/01/2014) Today in Bucharest, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, and the Romanian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Titus Corlăţean, opened the conference "Sustainable development of the blue economy in the Black Sea. Enhancing marine and maritime cooperation". "

"Developing and developed countries alike need a paradigm shift in agricultural development: from a "green revolution" to a "truly ecological intensification" approach. This implies a rapid and significant shift from conventional, monoculture-based and high external-input-dependent industrial production towards mosaics of sustainable, regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers. We need to see a move from a linear to a holistic approach in agricultural management, which recognizes that a farmer is not only a producer of agricultural goods, but also a manager of an agro-ecological system that provides quite a number of public goods and services (e.g. water, soil, landscape, energy, biodiversity, and recreation) UNCTAD's Trade and Environment Review 2013 (TER13) contends."

"The Italian dello Stretto FLAG from Calabria is urgently looking for partners for a transnational cooperation project called SHADES, or "Sustainable and Holistic Approaches to Development in European Seaboards". The project focuses on Integrated Coastal Management (ICM and aims to facilitate an exchange of information and know-how on ICM and develop guidelines for mainstreaming integrated coastal management in partners' areas. Please contact the FLAG by the 23rd December 2013 if this area of work is of interest to you. Cooperation Factsheet - Integrated Coastal Management "

"The Italian dello Stretto FLAG from Calabria is urgently looking for partners for a transnational cooperation project called SHADES, or "Sustainable and Holistic Approaches to Development in European Seaboards". The project focuses on Integrated Coastal Management (ICM and aims to facilitate an exchange of information and know-how on ICM and develop guidelines for mainstreaming integrated coastal management in partners' areas. Please contact the FLAG by the 23rd December 2013 if this area of work is of interest to you. Cooperation Factsheet - Integrated Coastal Management "

"(20/11/2014) Following an eight year hiatus the EU and Senegal have today signed a new five-year Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement. The agreement will allow up to 38 EU boats to fish in Senegalese waters in return for a €8.69m payment by the EU. "

"In the last 30 years, aquaculture has experienced an unprecedented development in global animal production with an average yearly growth rate of over 10% between 1980 and 2000 (FAO 2010). Over the same period, capture fisheries saw their progression gradually grind to a standstill and growth stopped in 1995. "

"The quantification of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions represents a critical issue for the future development of agro-food produces. Consumers' behaviour could play an important role in requiring environmental performance as an essential element for food quality. Nowadays, the carbon footprint (CFP) is a tool used worldwide by agro-food industries to communicate environmental information. This paper aims to investigate the role that CFP could have in consumers' choices in three significant agro-food sectors in the Mediterranean area: wine, olive oil and cereals. A critical review about the use of CFP was carried out along the supply chain of these three sectors, in order to identify opportunities for enhancing food quality and environmental sustainability and highlighting how environmental information could influence consumers' preferences. "

"Ten years ago, the UNESCO International Meeting on Innovation and Excellence in TVET Teacher/Trainer Education held in Hangzhou, China, asked for developing TVET into an internationally acknowledged scientific community in order to professionalize TVET teacher/trainer education and to integrate TVET as sustainable, reproductive and innovative national scientific systems into national systems of innovation. The First World Congress on Teacher Education for Technical and Vocational Education and Training held in 2008 in Bandung, Indonesia reaffirmed this request by demanding that TVET teacher/trainer education should encompass "studies in the analysis, design and evaluation of: (a) vocational learning, educational and qualification processes, (b) occupational work and business processes, and (c) technology as an object of work and learning processes (d) as well as critical pedagogy for social change," and by asking for establishing respective "frameworks for promoting the continuing professional development of TVET practitioners." T"

"Faced with the prospect of rising costs, strict limitations on catch sizes and increasing competition from cheaper imports, more and more fishermen are re-evaluating the market potential of their catch and looking for new and more lucrative distribution channels.Zoom on the new Stockholm fish market (Sweden). Report: The FLAG fish Carp is a flagship product and a driving force for sustainable local development in the Barycz valley (Poland). Interview: Aigars Laugalis Report: An emotional business In Salento (Italy), tourism brings some great opportunities for a local fishing sector in search of added value and diversification. Trade winds Four innovative, area-based development projects in fisheries areas. Spotlight: Delivering results FLAGs have to provide evidence that Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) - Axis 4 in the current period - can foster socio-economic development in a way that cannot be delivered by top-down policies."

"Le rapport "Wake up Before it is Too Late: Make Agriculture Truly Sustainable Now for Food Security in a Changing Climate " , publié la semaine dernière par Conférence des nations unies sur le commerce et le développement, insiste par des chiffres et faits sur la nécessité de revoir les modes de production agricole sur la planète : la mono agriculture intensive, couteuse en ressources, dépendante d'intrants externes, présente à ce titre de piètres garanties pour la sécurité alimentaire dans un contexte où les bouleversements climatiques sont amenés à s'intensifier : à l'opposé, la mosaïque de petites productions locales sont amenés à jouer un rôle fondamental pour la sécurité alimentaire mais aussi pour la vitalité des zones rurales."

Download n° 10 - Spring-Summer 2014 Putting learning into practice In 2006, just eight years ago, the European Commission held a first transnational meeting in Oporto, Portugal, to launch a new "territorial approach" to addressing the challenges faced by Europe's fisheries. Axis 4, as it became known, was born and in 2014 we are starting to see the results and learn from this first experiment in local development for fisheries communities. Zoom: Peer-to-peer learning and mentoring Three examples from Sweden. Report: Partners of the sea Forging a common maritime identity through animation and collective project support in Marennes Oléron (Poitou-Charentes, France). People: Rita Pamplona Report: Axis 4 of the EFF, at the forefront of sustainable development in Romania Two examples in the Danube Delta and South Dobrogea. Four innovative, area-based development projects in fisheries areas. Spotlight:Towards a successful implementation of Axis 4 A study on Axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) in 15 Member States estimates that considerable employment benefits and some important qualitative results have already been achieved by FLAGs and beneficiaries.

"La consommation mondiale de fruits de mer a augmenté de façon spectaculaire au cours de la dernière décennie suite à la croissance démographique, à l'augmentation de la richesse et à l'évolution des habitudes alimentaires, beaucoup pensent aujourd'hui que les fruits de mer représentent une alternative saine à la viande. L'UE est le premier importateur unique de la région, la plupart des importations venant d'Asie. Le projet SEAT («Sustainable Trade in Ethical Aquaculture»), financé par l'UE, tente de comprendre les nouvelles chaînes alimentaires aquatiques asiatiques, et observe leur durabilité. Les recherches de l'équipe internationale ont couvert les quatre premiers produits d'aquaculture vendus dans les magasins et restaurants européens: le tilapia, le pangasius (poisson-chat), les crevettes grises et roses. "

The Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) of the European Commission (DG MARE), with the assistance of the FARNET Support Unit, is organising a high level conference on the results of Axis 4 of the EFF and the future of Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) in coastal communities. During the 2007-2014 period, Axis 4 of the EFF was the main instrument for the sustainable development of fisheries areas. Implemented by 312 Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs), Axis 4 has supported over 9 000 projects at the local level, applying a bottom-up, local development approach in fisheries and coastal areas across 21 Member States.

UNESCO is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2015, a crucial year for the international community's efforts to reach a consensus on limiting global warming and the creation of cleaner environments for individuals, communities and countries. In the coming months, UNESCO will continue supporting efforts to meet these challenges by focusing on several major events ahead of the UN General Assembly's scheduled adoption of new international development goals known as Sustainable Development Goals (MDGs). In education, the natural sciences and culture, UNESCO will continue using the soft power of advocacy, diplomacy and networking with civil society, to reduce the devastating effects of conflict and help make lasting peace possible. In the month of May, the World Education Forum, which brings together UN partners, national governments and international stakeholders, will hold its third session in 25 years in Incheon (Republic of Korea). The Forum will take stock of progress made towards the Education For All goals established in 2000 and define future objectives. As the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, says, "this forum is truly the threshold to the future of education, and a springboard for the post 2015 agenda," in which UNESCO is pressing for an "equitable, quality education and lifelong learning for all".

We are excited to learn that the final version of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) is now available online and in six different languages on the FAO website. Follow these links for English, French and Spanish versions.