By Caecilia Managò (ERINN Innovation)

The third Mission Atlantic General Assembly took place on 2nd – 6th October 2023 in Florianopolis, Brazil. It was an important opportunity for the partners from the adjacent continents framing the Atlantic Ocean, to come together for a week of intense exchange on the research undertaken, including workshops to align the tasks and further the outcomes, across both, the tasks and stakeholder needs. Therefore, the agenda revolved around three key features:

• Knowledge Sharing: Scientists and experts delivered keynote lectures, sharing their groundbreaking research and discoveries. These talks provided a platform to disseminate results and inspire.

• Networking and Collaboration: Structured networking events, social gatherings, and informal discussions stimulated and fostered connections and collaboration among scientists.

• Workshops and Hands-on Sessions in the afternoon: Workshops offered participants opportunities to deepen specific scientific topics, acquire new skills, and explore practical applications.

Patrizio Mariani, Mission Atlantic coordinator: welcome and overview of MISSION ATLANTIC 2022-2023

Each day, a keynote lecture and two consecutive sessions of 60 minutes with 20 minutes per presentation enabled comprehensive knowledge sharing across the partnership. These Scientific sessions could be followed online through a link provided for each day and was disseminated via social media (follow us on X, LinkedIn, Facebook and youtube).

Day 1: Healthy Ocean; Chair of the day: Ricardo Coutinho (IEAPM); Sergio Floeter: Keynote A "Connectivity, biogeography, and community structure of reef fishes of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge islands"; Carlos E. L. Ferreira "The PELD-ILOC long term monitoring program in the Brazilian Oceanic Islands"; Isadora Cord "Unravelling phylogenetic regionalization in the tropical Atlantic"; Fernanda Silva "Warming-induced changes in reef fish community in the southwestern Atlantic transit zone"; Jonatan F. Marquez "Joint species distribution models of the Norwegian deep-sea benthic community"; Julian Burgos "Modeling VMEs in the North Atlantic: present and future"; Olga T. Sato "Physical and Biological Patterns Along the Tropical and South Atlantic Western Boundary from Satellite Data".

• 2nd October 2023, Day 1: Healthy Ocean. This included research on life cycles, plasticity, and adaptation of marine organisms across benthic and pelagic communities, spanning from genes to ecosystems, under multiple pressures. Advances on biodiversity management and restoration were showcased, to offer innovative solutions to address relevant threats on marine ecosystems. The aim was to gain insights into the relationships among and across marine organisms' responses to environmental changes and explore novel approaches to safeguard and restore the health of our oceans.

Day 2: Atlantic Ocean assessments; Chair of the day: Benjamin Planque (IMR); Jörn Schmidt (online): Keynote B "Ocean Health and Pan Atlantic IEA"; Debbi Pedreschi "All Atlantic Risk assessment and/or Celtic Seas case studies"; Tiago Gandra and Vitor A. de Souza "Southern Brazilian Shelf applying BBN to determine spatial relationship maritime activities and adding spatially explicit data to ODEMM"; Marinez Scherer and Gabriela Sardinha "Depressurizing the Atlantic Ocean: The Brazilian MSP (Marine Spatial Planning) process and management initiatives"; Pedro Alfonso "Movements and threats of Marine Megafauna in the mid-north Atlatic Ridge"; Maria Gasalla "Shared and non-shared socioeconomic pathways in Atlantic ecosystems"; Vicente Gomes "IEA: reflections on what to teach besides Science and Technology?"; Benjamin Planque "Future Integrated Ecosystem Assessments - Discussions";

• 3rd October 2023, Day 2: Atlantic Ocean assessments. This included research developing a system approach addressing human activities, pressures, impacts, ecosystem components and related goods and services. Research across all these components was presented, towards enhancing an integrated approach to marine ecosystem assessment and to develop fundamental knowledge on the status and dynamics of Atlantic marine social-ecological systems, including the main drivers of short and long-term change and across different spatial scales.

Day 3: Digital Ocean; Chair of the day: Thomas Furey (MI); Jason Holt: Keynote C "Modelling climate impacts in the Atlantic and Adjacent seas"; Guillem Chust "GAM-NICHE: A new tool based on Shape-Constrained GAMs to build Species Distribution Models under the ecological niche theory"; Luis A. Conti "Geomorphological Mapping of the Celtic Using Machine Learning Techniques"; Jarbas Bonetti "The multiscale concept of Geodiversity as a resource for Marine Spatial Planning"; Lohengrin Fernandes "High-resolution 3D Planktonic Mapping with coupled Imaging/Acoustic Technologies"; Bruno Andrade "Hydrological index to assess the polluting potential of river basins on the southern Brazilian continental shelf"; Michael Heath "Status of StrathE2E case study model implementations";

• 4 October 2023, Day 3: Digital Ocean. This included research to incorporate cutting-edge technologies, advanced sensors, and innovative methodologies to enhance ocean observations, ecosystem monitoring, and high-resolution numerical modeling. Our approach encompasses comprehensive methods for acquiring, storing, and processing big data, while also exploring the interconnectedness between data, information, and knowledge development, with a particular focus on the role of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and robotics.

Introduction by coordinators (from left to right: Daniele Iudicone & Patrizio Mariani) to the joint activity Mission Atlantic & AtlantECO

On 5 October 2023, Day 4 a joint event with the the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance Sister Project, AtlantECO was held. In the Morning, the sister projects had the opportunity to exchange on advancements and to foster collaboration and synergies. In the afternoon, a joint Policy Stakeholder Event “Atlantic Ocean: Connecting People and Science" provided the floor for stakeholder engagement and feedback.

Policy Stakeholder Event "Connecting People and Science"

The General Assembly culminated in a shared social event for acquaintance, including building of friendships across researchers, in representation of the organizations from more than 25 different countries surrounding the Atlantic! This way, the way was paved for international communication, cultural exchange and science diplomacy. Accompanied by exquisite Brazilian culinary and culture with Samba Chamber Music, the participants from across the globe were engaged by the hosts to dance, which enhanced once more the bonds, harmony and positive energy for the forthcoming years of collaboration “Towards the Sustainable Development of the Atlantic Ocean”.

Joint Evening Session between Mission Atlantic and AtlantECO Sister Projects

On 6 October 2023, Day 5 progress and deviations, administrative obligations, upcoming important dates, events and publications, as well as next steps and actions to follow-up, were discussed and defined.

From left to right, Mission Atlantic Coordinator and UFSC Senior Scientists: Marinez Scherer (UFSC), Patrizio Mariani (DTU), Sergio Floeter (UFSC)

In this sense, from Mission Atlantic to all people involved, with best wishes, do fundo do coração, muito obrigado, até breve!