Newsletter Edition #5: January 2026

Announcements:

Join Us at the PHAROS MegaEvent:
Three Days of Ocean Restoration

29 - 31 January 2026 | Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote)

PHAROS is organising its first Living Lab MegaEvent in Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, a three-day gathering bringing together government, researchers, innovators, investors, and local communities to launch Living Labs and accelerate marine restoration across the Atlantic and Arctic.

There’s something for everyone: workshops, webinars, field trips, and hands-on citizen science.

Who Should Come?

Marine professionals, educators, fishers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, MPA managers, students, and anyone passionate about ocean health.

Most sessions are open to everyone. Some require registration or invitation.

Ready to Participate?

Join the Atlantic and Arctic Lighthouse community.
Let’s restore our oceans together.

LIVING LAB MEGA EVENT SESSIONS
Open to Everyone

Litter Entrepreneurs Webinar “From Waste to Worth”

Thursday (29.01.2026) This in-person seminar introduces best practices for becoming ocean entrepreneurs. Participants will learn how to transform plastic litter into sustainable businesses through innovative solutions, training, and tools for circular economy ventures. The session will be held in Spanish and will also be accessible online via Zoom, with live English subtitles available for online participants.

Best Practices in Living Labs Workshop

Friday (30.01.2026) This interactive training workshop empowers stakeholders to co-develop marine biodiversity solutions, shares effective engagement methods, citizen participation strategies, and governance approaches for Living Lab implementation. We welcome leaders of Living Labs.

Invite Only Sessions

Thursday, 29 January 2026

• Fisher Guardians: Launch of Recycling Containers With Fishers

Friday, 30 January 2026

• Round Table: Permitting Challenges & Opportunities for Academia and Collaborative Projects

• PHAROS Marine Protected Area Managers Workshop

• Blue Schools Seminar

• MINKA Information Session for Academia

In Case You Missed:

LITTER ENTREPRENEUR PROGRAM WEBINAR SERIES

Eyes on the Ocean:
Tracking Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution

On 26 November, PHAROS hosted the second Meet the Oceanpreneur webinar, bringing together experts to explore how cutting-edge technology and entrepreneurship can combat marine litter and plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.

The 50-minute session featured Dr Konstantinos Topouzelis, Co-founder and CEO of SciDrones, who demonstrated drone and satellite-based AI tools for mapping pollution hotspots, and Abhilash Venkateshaiah, CEO of Eden Tech, who showcased microfluidic technologies capable of detecting microplastics down to 20 microns with 94% accuracy, 10 times cheaper and hundreds of times faster than conventional methods.

Moderated by Uroš Novak from Slovenia’s National Institute of Chemistry, the session highlighted the critical role of data-driven detection systems, lab-to-market transitions, and policy-tech connections in achieving the EU Mission to “Restore Our Ocean and Waters by 2030”. The webinar recording is available on the PHAROS website, offering valuable insights for students, NGOs, startups, and policymakers working towards circular economy solutions and marine conservation.

Framing The Challenge:
Launching a New Era for the Blue Economy

On 25 September, PHAROS launched its ambitious 8-part “Meet the Oceanpreneur” webinar series with the inaugural session “Framing the Challenge: The State of the Ocean Economy,” attracting over 40 participants from across Europe.

Moderated by Stefania Campogianni of WWF Mediterranean, the webinar featured opening remarks from Dimitris Kokkinakis (Impact Hub Athens) and Gordon Dalton (PHAROS Project Coordinator), followed by keynote presentations from Lisa Simone de Grunt (World Ocean Council) on corporate ocean responsibility and Henk van Dalen (The Ocean Cleanup) on technology-driven plastic removal, having already collected over 38 million kilograms of plastic from rivers and oceans.

Kęstutis Sadauskas, Deputy Director-General of DG MARE, highlighted the EU’s €500 million investment in 80 ocean innovation projects across 220 pilot sites, emphasising that restoring ocean health creates significant economic opportunities. The fireside chat underscored three critical pathways: transitioning from a sustainable to a regenerative blue economy, reimagining rather than eliminating ocean sectors through innovations like Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture, and leveraging blended finance models to scale solutions by 2030.

The full webinar recording is available on the PHAROS website, with the next session exploring marine litter tracking technologies.

About PHAROS

Lighthouse For Atlantic & Arctic Basin

PHAROS is an EU-funded project, led by the Canary Islands Ocean Platform (PLOCAN), and implemented by a consortium of 24 organizations from September 2024 to August 2029, which aims to provide nature-based solutions for restoring ecosystems and biodiversity while tackling climate change and human impacts in the Atlantic and Arctic maritime regions. These goals align with the European Union’s ambitious Ocean Mission objectives.

Funded by nearly 9.5 million euros in European funds, the PHAROS project aligns with the European Union’s Ocean Mission. This mission focuses on protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and biodiversity, eliminating pollution, and achieving a sustainable, carbon-neutral, and circular blue economy by 2030.