EU-FIN (European Union FIshing Network) Project Description
The DICA ETS association is pleased to present the EU-FIN (European Union FIshing Network) project, which falls under the EUROPE FOR CITIZENS community program, strand 2, Democratic Engagement and Civic Participation.
The main objective of the project is to create an international network that brings together various municipalities from different European nations, united by a consolidated and thriving tradition in the fishing sector.
The project entails the organization of 4 events (Ravenna, Syracuse, Espinho, Denia) during which various delegates can discuss key issues in the sector, such as the importance of the fishing tradition in various countries, also in correlation with sustainable development and social integration, European and national legislation and directives, exchange of best practices, analysis of the political and economic costs of non-integration and non-harmonization within the European context. Other expected results include increasing awareness of the Europe for Citizens program and disseminating the results achieved during the meetings to a wider audience, to raise awareness of the importance of a shared fishing policy and its tradition.
The project leader is the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Sicily, with 19 partners consisting of municipalities and European associations from 10 different EU countries.
The DICA ETS association has been entrusted with the management and communication of the 4 planned events.
Below is a brief description of the four events held and the results achieved:
The first event took place in Ravenna, Italy from February 9th to 11th, 2015. The conference "Sustainable Fishing – Problems and Common Perspectives" held at the Sant'Alberto Nature Museum consisted of three sessions. The first session included a presentation of the program that enabled the realization of this project and allowed participants to learn more about the Ravenna area and the illustration of the Nature Museum, one of the excellences of the Emilia Romagna Region that hosted EUFIN and its delegates for this first project event. The subsequent technical-scientific session focused on the situation of fishing in the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting its problems and future prospects, economic and environmental sustainability, safety, and health for consumers, marketing strategies for the commercialization of fish products. During the conference, educational workshops were also held with 55 students and 6 teachers from the Enrico Mattei secondary school in Marina di Ravenna. Students had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of some territorial fish species. This activity allowed young people to get closer to the fishing sector and its products, and it is only through knowledge that the consumption of fish products, whose properties are undoubtedly beneficial for consumers, can be increased.
The second event of the project took place in Denia, Spain from May 6th to 8th, 2015. The conference "Innovation and Sustainability in Marine Environment and Traditional Fishing" was held at the Denia Castle. The technical-scientific session focused on sustainability in the marine environment in relation to traditional fishing and the innovation of its techniques. Thanks to the interventions of Italian veterinarians, representatives of Greenpeace from the city of Madrid, the Director of the Research Department of the Oceanographic Institute of Valencia, Professors from the University of Alicante, and a representative of the local fishing community, participants were able to understand the positive impact in terms not only of environmental but also and above all economic sustainability of sustainable fishing policies. The afternoon session was characterized by a round table on actions to be developed in partnership in the 2014-2020 programming. Presentations were followed by a debate among the participants where affinities (in terms of geographical areas and intervention areas) between the various partners and conference speakers emerged, who expressed their willingness and interest in being involved in future project actions. Finally, a draft of a memorandum of understanding for a common development path for seaside cities was discussed with the delegates. The municipality of Borgia proposed the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (GECT) as the legal form for the realization of this body, a community cooperation instrument that allows cooperative groups to implement co-financed territorial cooperation projects or to carry out territorial cooperation actions at the initiative of the Member States.
The third event was held in Espinho, Portugal from September 9th to 11th, 2015. The conference "Artisanal Fishing: from regulation to sustainable practice, a tourism opportunity" took place at the Forum of Art and Culture of Espinho (F.A.C.E.) (the building housing the F.A.C.E. is a former factory for the preservation of blue fish, converted into a cultural space for the citizens of Espinho (museum, exhibition spaces, and conferences) and was attended by about 60 local delegates in addition to the invited international delegates. During the event, authoritative Italian and international experts intervened to outline a clear and exhaustive picture of the fishing situation in the Mediterranean, within the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union. The afternoon session was characterized by a round table for the definition of actions aimed at the establishment of a "Transnational lobbying association" through the memorandum of understanding discussed during the Denia event and for the sharing of a common project proposal to be presented under the MED Program - Specific Objective 3.2 "Maintaining biodiversity and ecosystems through the strengthening of management and interaction of protected areas." Furthermore, the discussion on the establishment of a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation was relaunched through the organization of a day of discussion and specific planning to be carried out following the last event planned by the project in Syracuse.
The final event of the EU FIN project, currently being defined (September 2015), will take place in Syracuse and will be characterized by three main specific objectives: the official signature between project partners of the Memorandum of Understanding "For a common development path of seaside cities," the definition of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, and the dissemination of project results.
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