Annika Rømer’s Post

The ocean isn't just where life began—it's our key to a fair and sustainable future. 🌊 As we enter the fourth year of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), we've seen incredible momentum. Thousands of partners worldwide are uniting under UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission to deliver the science necessary for the ocean we dream of. Now, it's time to reflect and plan ahead. What have we achieved so far? Where should our focus lie in the next few years? Excitingly, the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona from April 10-12 will be the hub for this discussion. Hosted by the Government of Spain, this event will gather the global Ocean Decade community to celebrate progress and set new goals for a sustainable future. 🎉 From tackling climate change to ensuring food security, this conference will cover it all. Together, we'll pave the way for science-based innovation and inclusive ocean management.  🪸 But we can't do it alone. Partnerships are key. Let's work together, from local to global levels, to safeguard our ocean for generations to come. 💙 See event informations here: https://lnkd.in/e4855HNR  #OceanDecade #SustainableFuture #Conference

📢 We are pleased to share that four partners of the PLANET4HEALTH project recently attended the High Level conference "Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change" in Brussels, organised by the European Commission. Gaia Bertarelli, stefano campostrini and Paolo Girardi from Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia along with Kristin Aunan from CICERO - Center for International Climate Research and Carla Maia from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Suzana Blesic from Institute for Medical Research were in attendance. 📍 🌍 The high-level conference “Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change'' brought together climate change and health researchers, funders and policymakers to discuss current challenges, priorities and research needs in this area. Additionally, the conference supported the launch of a strategic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) to identify priority topics for the years to come on climate change and health research. Stay tuned for more updates from our dedicated team! #EUCLIMATEANDHEALTH #planet4health #planetaryhealth #horizoneurope

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), also called the 'Ocean Decade', is nearing the halfway point. Against this backdrop, Our Shared Seas has hand picked a number of important ocean events in 2025, calling it the Blue Wave of Action. Get the first installment: https://lnkd.in/gCDYfdDc

This timely conference, just before the launch of the public consultation on the National Climate Adaptation Framework, saw almost 50 researchers, practitioners and policy-makers engage in knowledge-exchange at Maynooth University on the 22-23rd of January. Two Horizon projects, coordinated at Maynooth University, GoGreenRoutes, a €10.48 million project, and GoGreen Next, a €6 million euro project, both support research and innovation activities to develop transformative solutions which can address both human and environmental health. The event coalesced expertise on how initiatives designed to mitigate climate change can enhance our health and well-being. Researchers from the projects including Prof. Nadja Kabisch (Leibniz Universität Hannover), Prof. David Sheffield (University of Derby), Dr Lorraine Darcy (TU Dublin), Alan Scarry (University of Limerick), Prof. Marc Jones (Manchester Metropolitan University), Dr Annalisa Setti (UCC) and project lead Dr Tadhg MacIntyre (Dept. of Psychology) contributed on topics from nature-based solutions to active travel, sustainable nutrition and our relationship with nature. Panel discussions and roundtables enabled the exploration of the translation of evidence-based approaches into both healthy campuses and healthy workplaces with input from Dr Stephen Flood (Climate Change Advisory Council), Prof. Simone Grassini (University of Bergen, Norway), Martha Halbert (Cork City) and Denise Cahill (WHO healthy Cork city), Orlagh Eustace (Maynooth University Healthy Campus) and representatives of An Taisce, Mental Health Ireland and other stakeholder organisations. The potential impact of this event and the GoGreen projects were recognised by Prof. Rachel Msetfi (Vice-President Research and Innovation) who said: “These are exactly the type of EU projects that we envisioned in our new five-year strategy with its focus on urban health and wellbeing, promoting sustainability and mitigating the impacts of climate change with clear policy impacts in Ireland and at the European level.” We also welcomed H.E. Mari Skare, the Norwegian ambassador to Ireland who recognised the long standing connections between our countries and the collaboration with the Norwegian Inland University of Applied Sciences who develop Virtual Reality scenarios in both projects. The outputs from this event will be disseminated in an update on the state of the art research in an infographic for World Earth Day. It is fitting that promoting future health in cities is the aim of these Horizon projects, an ambition with benefits for society, citizens and nature.

Stories to keep you awake...or to sleep more peacefully. This Tuesday, November 12th, starting at 4pm, the event Commitment to the Climate: Stories, will take place at Casa Encendida. For us (Democratic Society), it is a tremendous joy to see that what was created 4 years ago with the pandemic in the middle has now reached its 4th edition. An event that was born from the desire to be able to share tangible commitments and actions that seek to stop and cushion the climate crisis in which we are immersed. Throughout these years, all kinds of actors have come to show their actions: private sector, public administrations, neighborhood associations, social movements, multinationals, cooperatives, small and medium-sized companies, entrepreneurs, etc. With the aim of showing the city of Madrid all the things that are done from sectors as apparently different as agriculture, mobility, construction, art, etc. in order to stop a crisis that affects us all. Our next desire is to ensure that these seemingly disconnected initiatives and actors can unite and pool resources together. We hope to achieve this in the next 4 years. Thanks to Madrid City Council Climate Change Sub-directorate, Fundación Montemadrid, Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano itdUPM, Antonella Broglia y Zuloark Colectivo for making this possible.

📆10th-12th of April 2024 🌊2024 OCEAN DECADE CONFERENCE 🇪🇸BARCELONA #OceanDecade24 Three years after the start of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), a global conference is bringing together the Ocean Decade community and partners to set joint priorities for the future of the Decade. Hosted by Spain and co-organized with UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO), the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference is being held over the next few days in the coastal city of Barcelona. This exciting 3-day, in-person event is an important milestone on the path to 2030, the event will cover the full range of Ocean Decade Challenges including critical issues such as #climatechange, #foodsecurity, #sustainablemanagementofbiodiversity, #sustainableoceaneconomy, #oceanpollution, and #naturalhazards. We are so excited to see the 3-5 year roadmaps outlining collaborative measures to protect and restore our oceans that hopefully come from these 3 days in Barcelona 🙌🏻🌊 ‘The challenges facing the ocean are immense. But no single nation or sector can tackle them alone.’ ❓Are you in BCN for the event? If so drop us a message - we’d love to hear all about it. #UNESCO #OceanDecadeConference #OceanConservation #OceanPollution #CleanSeas #CleanerSeas #UNDecadeOfOceanScienceForSustainableDevelopment #Barcelona #OceanDecade ➡️https://lnkd.in/evsJBxvY 🎥You can watch the livestream HERE: https://lnkd.in/dpxFWDfi

Two weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the 14th meeting of the European Environment and Health Task Force WHO in Utrecht. As a youth board member of Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe and a future medicine student, this experience was invaluable. I shared my experiences and insights from my role on the youth board and learned so much from various sessions and discussions. The 2-day event reviewed progress since the Seventh Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest, where countries adopted the Budapest Declaration. This declaration prioritizes urgent action on health challenges related to climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, and COVID-19 recovery. The “Roadmap for Healthier People, a Thriving Planet, and a Sustainable Future 2023–2030” guides countries in accelerating transitions towards sustainability, outlining urgent actions, commitments, and measures to achieve them. One key takeaway was the importance of greening our public living environment. Climate change has enormous consequences, and creating green spaces can mitigate heat stress and water nuisance while maintaining a healthy (ground)water system. Together with Hester van den Bor, our goal at Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe is to promote a green public living environment. We encourage schools to green their schoolyards and urge municipalities to incorporate more green spaces in both existing and new residential areas. By creating green play areas, we can help the younger generation understand the benefits of a greener living environment and, of course, make them more aware of how fragile our earth is. Our action plan includes: ☘ Creating and distributing a survey to understand why schools do or do not green their schoolyards. ☘ Organizing a Zoom session with multiple schools to share knowledge and encourage greening. ☘ Participating in meetings with municipalities to emphasize the importance of green (play) areas. ☘ Consulting with municipalities to raise awareness about the importance of green areas in existing neighborhoods. Inspired by the WHO conference, I am excited to implement new insights and strategies into my projects with the youth board. The knowledge and connections gained from this conference will undoubtedly help us make a positive impact on our environment and community. I will definitely take these new insights with me into my medical studies as well. I really want to thank Brigit Staatsen for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

Let’s make it clear, I am far from being a perfect environmentalist!!! 😯 🌿 Among others: ·      I love meat and eat beef a few times a year.  ·      My travels include flying 1 to 3 times annually.  ·      I continue to ski, though I admit it wasn’t the wisest choice this season.  ·      I save time and energy by buying things online instead of taking the public transport to go to Munich city center. However, beyond the individual actions, I try to use the several powers I have to make a positive impact: ✅ As a consumer, I have drastically reduced my consumption, specially clothes and shoes. 🛍️ ✅ As a citizen, I am engaged as a volunteer to spread environmental awareness. 📢 ✅ As an influencer, on a small scale, I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and trying to publish more on LinkedIn (yes, doing my best!). 💬 ✅ And last but not least, at work, I am pivoting my activities and leveraging years of experience in transformation at scale for the transition to sustainable business models. 📈 Thanks again to Le Pitch Climat | Climate Pitch for allowing me to bring awareness to these powers at scale in a very positive way! 🙏Taking up our various heroes' capes is one of the key messages brought during this interactive conference! 

Still resonate in me the echo of August  GEN Europe ecovillages gathering in Sweden. Reflections have melted away and what remains will be the cornerstone for current and future work. Next week I will be attending a discussion on the role of water in the city, a perspective seen from urban and peri-urban agriculture. A conference like many others, cool venue, interesting people, important topic. The two events are linked - there is no agriculture and no city without community. What role do we want to see for urban areas? Are we bouncing back from the climate crisis, or are we its epicentre? How should we proceed, knowing what we already know and being aware of all the trouble to come? Perhaps slowing down is a uniquely intelligent option.... Below is a link to a text I wrote that was published in the October newsletter of RIPESS Europe : https://lnkd.in/dc_M85M3 The picture shows the way I am slowing down this autumn.

Nature based solutions are best alternatives as soft structures. Shelterbelts or bio-shields developed in coastal areas with coastal plants taking into cognizance the beach profile and coastal ecosystem dynamics will act as and play the mitigatory role and will save the lives and livelihoods of coastal population. These are also ecosystem friendly when compared to hard concrete structures.