A-AAGORA at EMD 2026 in Limassol: Bridging Science, Seas, and Citizens Together through Blue Senses

European Maritime Day 2026 will take place in Limassol, Cyprus on the 21-22 May 2026

This week, Limassol (Cyprus) will become the meeting point of Europe’s maritime community as it hosts the European Maritime Day (EMD) 2026. This high-level event brings together policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, NGOs, educators, artists, and citizens to collectively shape the future of Europe’s seas and coastal regions.

Beyond policy discussions and technical exchanges, EMD 2026 also highlights a crucial dimension of ocean governance: public engagement and ocean literacy. Building a sustainable future for Europe’s seas requires citizens not only to be informed, but also to actively participate in protecting and restoring marine ecosystems.

In this spirit, A-AAGORA (together with fellow EU Mission Ocean projects TIDAL ArtS, BlueLights, PartArt4OW, and SHORE) is co-organizing a public engagement journey during EMD 2026 through the Blue Senses initiative (www.bluesenses.eu) The collaboration brings together science, education, arts, and citizen participation to create interactive experiences that connect people more closely with the ocean and coastal restoration efforts.

As part of its contribution to the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”, A-AAGORA will engage visitors through Blue Senses – a participatory and experience-based approach to ocean awareness and coastal transformation. Rather than presenting marine science solely through reports and presentations, Blue Senses invites participants to experience the ocean through their senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and even tasting elements connected to the ocean. This immersive approach helps citizens better understand both the richness and vulnerability of coastal ecosystems.

Throughout EMD 2026, visitors will have the opportunity to discover and participate in several A-AAGORA activities across Limassol:

• 21-22 of May at the Blue Senses booths  at Molos Main Pier and at the EMD Exhibition at Carob Mill, where visitors can explore A-AAGORA MOOC course on coastal restoration,  meet the experts, discover educational materials for children, play games,  and learn about opportunities related to marine restoration, citizen engagement, and nature-based solutions and how storytelling, gamification can help strengthen ocean literacy across generations.
• 21 of May, at 16:40 in Stretto Café EMD Workshop ‘Advancing Marine Restoration: From Demos to Impact’ will be drawing on RESPOSCY, CLIMAREST and A-AAGORA project outputs to work on the lessons learned and form discussions on the gaps and opportunities, analysing governance, regulatory conditions, permitting, financing and monitoring across sea basins and conclude with a shared pathway for replication aligned with the European Ocean Pact
• 21st May from 15h-18h Frederick University will host a serious game of A-AAGORA (registration required), which will offer participants an interactive (and cooperative) ways to explore challenges and solutions linked to coastal resilience.
• 22^nd of May from 17:00, Molos Pier A-AAGORA’s experts will join discussions on nature-based solutions in the “Alien101”  initiative while tasting of invasive alien species!
• 22^nd of May at 18:00 at Molos Pier  a workshop moderated by Pierre Strosser (A-AAGORA project) focused on how society, education, and the arts can contribute to coastal resilience and ecosystem restoration.

By connecting people to the ocean through interactive and sensory experiences, A-AAGORA reinforces a simple yet powerful message: restoring our ocean is a shared societal journey, and every citizen has a role to play.

Join us in Limassol! More details, and full program of activities (as well as registration) are available at www.bluesenses.eu