The AIR Centre’s Executive Director, Miguel Miranda, participated in the International Conference on Sustainable Fishing and Aquaculture (CIPAS 2025) in Luanda, Angola, showcasing the application of Copernicus Earth Observation data to enhance ocean monitoring and support fisheries operations in Angolan waters.
Organized by Angola’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources under the theme “Responsible Fishing and Sustainable Aquaculture: A Challenge, a Commitment, a Mission Uniting the Nation,” the two-day conference brought together national and international experts to foster dialogue on sustainable fisheries.
On November 5, Miguel Miranda presented “Integration of Copernicus Data into the INIPM Portal: Supporting Ocean Monitoring and Fisheries Operations” as part of the Science, Data and Ocean Monitoring panel. His presentation highlighted the AIR Centre’s collaboration with Angola’s National Institute of Fisheries and Marine Research (INIPM) to enhance ocean observation capabilities using advanced satellite data. He also promoted the sea state forecasting service supported by the AIR Centre, which provides real-time data on significant wave height, peak period, currents, temperature, salinity, and elevation for Angola’s coastal waters – essential parameters for safe and efficient fisheries operations. This service is now fully accessible via INIPM’s official portal.
By integrating Copernicus data into local monitoring systems, the AIR Centre is supporting Angola in strengthening its capacity for evidence-based fisheries management and ocean surveillance, bridging Earth Observation technology with practical applications for ocean sustainability.
The conference was opened by José de Lima Massano, Minister of State for Economic Coordination, who emphasized Angola’s commitment to the National Development Programme 2023-2027 and the National Strategy for the Sea of Angola 2030, aligning with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the African Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050.
The AIR Centre’s participation in CIPAS 2025 reinforces its commitment to supporting sustainable ocean management and fostering international collaboration in marine science across the Atlantic basin.
All-Atlantic Summit 2020
The All-Atlantic Summit will include the 6th High-Level Industry-Science-Government Dialogue on Atlantic Interactions (HLD) and technical sessions focusing on innovation to develop inclusive ocean economies in the Atlantic region. The event originally was to be held at The Navy Yard in Philadelphia but has transitioned to an online summit slated for Oct. 5-9. Registration is free and open to the public. The 6th HLD will be followed by four days of technical sessions under the theme “Innovation for Sustainable Marine Development and the Blue Economy.” The summit is hosted by Penn State’s Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering and Design with Africa (AESEDA) and co-organized by AIR Centre. The summit will bring together high-level representation from member nations of the AIR Centre, the international scientific research community and industry partners to discuss ideas, initiatives and projects around AIR Centre’s thematic missions as well as supporting cross-cutting activities such as capacity building, infrastructure sharing, and space and ocean literacy.
Networking Friday with Carlo Fezzi (University of Trento)
On October 9th, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, we will have Carlo Fezzi, Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Trento (Italy) and Senior Lecturer at the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute, University of Exeter (United Kingdom). He will discuss the economic valuation for spatial targeting of coastal ecosystems’ conservation in the face of climate change. Preserving coastal ecosystems requires identifying priority areas for action. Economics can contribute to this process by developing methods to understand which locations provide the highest values for the society and which policy interventions are will deliver the highest benefits for the lowest cost. In this context, cultural services such as recreation deserve a prominent position, particularly in those areas with thriving tourism and leisure sectors. They are also crucial from a policy perspective, since their values can be at least partially captured via access fees or green taxes and, therefore, are extremely suitable for financing conservation and restoration programs in practice. This study shows how information on the number of visits to different outdoor recreation sites in a wide area can be used to develop a behavioral economic model providing welfare estimates that are directly applicable to inform a wide array of spatial planning questions related to coastal management. The empirical application is based on more than 150 different recreation sites located on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Carlo will present the changes in economic values from different scenarios including creation of marine protected areas and climate change impacts.
Networking Friday with Martin Visbeck (GEOMAR)
On October 2nd, 2020, 1-2 PM UTC, Martin Visbeck, Professor for Physical Oceanography at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Kiel University, discussed the Future Ocean Sustainability – From Ocean Observation towards Sustainable Development. The session will be moderated by Isabel Sousa Pinto, Professor at the University of Porto and Head of the Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation group at Interdisciplinary Centre for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR). Martin introduced two elements of the value chain more specifically: First the All-Atlantic Ocean Observing System (AtlantOS), a community-based program to support the implementation of an integrated basin-scale observing system ‘that benefits all of us living, working and relying on the ocean’. AtlantOS is working to support the ocean community to enhance and sustain basin-scale ocean observing in the Atlantic as a contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and similar programs and promotes the GEO Blue Planet Initiative. How can we transform current ocean observing from a niche action to the societal norm. Martin also introduced the concept of a Digital Twin of the Ocean as the next step in the value chain, filling the need to integrate a wide range of data and information sources (from physics to ecology through biology, chemistry and geology, as well as from social or economic sciences and business operators), to transform data into knowledge and to connect, engage, and empower citizens, governments and industries by providing them with the capacity to inform their decisions with the goal to arrive at a more sustainable ocean governing system. Neither AtlantOS nor the Digital Twin Ocean can succeed without full engagement of the ocean community including the Global North and Global South, actors from academia, business, civil society, indigenous and communities of practice. The upcoming UN Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to advance such agendas in the Atlantic and around the globe.