The 4th GEO Blue Planet Symposium will serve as a forum for discussion of ocean and coastal information needs for sustainable development, Blue Growth and societal awareness. The symposium will bring together producers of ocean and coastal information and current and potential users of ocean and coastal information, who will share their experience with the audience.
The goal of the GEO Blue Planet Initiative is to ensure the sustained development and use of ocean and coastal observations for the benefit of society. We do this by promoting collection of continuous ocean and coastal observations, processing of data into information and linking this information with societal needs. The societal needs feed back into ocean and coastal observation requirements and enhancement or modification of the ocean and coastal observation strategy. This requires close working relationships between scientists who collect ocean and coastal observations, those that take these observations and extract information as well as forecast future conditions, and those that use the information and forecasts in the management of our living planet. Representatives from these groups are invited to participate in the 4th GEO Blue Planet Symposium.
GEO Blue Planet is a network of ocean and coastal observers, social scientists and end-user representatives from a variety of stakeholder groups, including international and regional organizations, NGOs, national institutes, universities and government agencies. Our experts have a demonstrated capacity to bridge the gap between data and services to deliver usable information that supports informed decision-making toward reaching sustainable development.