The Marine Sciences Programme faces its final phase with a commitment to ensuring the continuity of scientific cooperation
- The final phase of the programme opens a process of reflection on how to keep alive the scientific network created around the sea in Galicia.
- The continuity of the programme, which is funded by the Consellería do Mar, includes, among other avenues, the creation of a Scientific Reflection Forum on Marine Sciences in Galicia.
The Marine Sciences Programme of Galicia, one of the most ambitious research and innovation initiatives related to the sea developed in the region in recent years, is entering its final phase with the aim of preserving and strengthening the network of scientific and technical cooperation generated during its implementation. To this end, the programme’s coordination team met this Tuesday at the Marine Technology Centre – Cetmar Foundation to reflect on its impact and on possible ways to ensure the continuity of the collective effort driven from Galicia.
Framed within the Complementary Plans of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, in the context of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (Next Generation EU), the Marine Sciences Programme of Galicia is part of the national Joint Marine Sciences Programme, involving collaboration between Galicia, Andalusia, Cantabria, the Region of Murcia, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community. The Consellería do Mar of Galicia financed CETMAR’s coordination responsibilities with €4,000,000.
Since 2022, the programme has helped to structure the Galician scientific and technical ecosystem linked to the sea through collaboration among universities, research centres, technological institutes and public administrations, as well as through continuous dialogue with the marine and coastal sector. The aim is to deploy a coordinated research and innovation strategy to address key challenges such as marine monitoring and observation, climate change, aquaculture and other areas of the blue economy. In total, 363 researchers and technical staff took part, belonging to 82 research groups from 13 institutions.
The results achieved are reflected in 184 scientific and technical solutions and advances, with direct or potential application in the sustainable management of the marine environment and resources. One of the most notable elements of the programme was its contribution to strengthening human capital. A total of 117 people were directly hired, incorporating new PhD holders who worked collaboratively and across institutions—an experience that is expected to continue in future dynamics of scientific cooperation in Galicia.
During the meeting held at Cetmar, those responsible for coordination agreed that an effort of this scale should not fade once the programme ends. The networking work carried out over these three years has contributed to a more efficient system, capable of responding to the country’s needs without giving up on fundamental research, whose results may materialise in the medium and long term.
In view of the current uncertainty regarding funding mechanisms that would allow both the work and the collaborative structure itself to be maintained, participants committed to meeting again in the short term to design, as a legacy of the programme, the creation of a Scientific Reflection Forum on Marine Sciences in Galicia. This forum is conceived as a consultative and coordinating space to facilitate systematic information exchange among specialists, joint action planning and the preparation of coordinated responses to strategic calls, with the aim of attracting resources to ensure continuity and strengthen links between the research community and other organisations with interests in the sea, promoting a sustainable relationship with the marine environment and its resources.
