On June 30th, at Jaime Lobo e Silva Culture House, in the heart of Ericeira's historic center, was held the second conference of Ericeira WSR+10, an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve (EWSR), dedicated to the Surfonomics theme and to a central question "How to Enhance Sustainable Value in the Local Economy protecting the Natural Resources of the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve?".
Miguel Toscano, Director of Innovation Area and Collaborative Networks of Ericeira Surf Club, the entity responsible for the organization of this event, kick off at the opening session presenting the holistic model of the Club and their activities. It was followed by a panel of notorious speakers: Hugo Moreira Luís, Councilor of Mafra Municipality, Patrícia Araújo, Director of Marketing and Sales of BIOSPHERE Portugal, Álvaro Sardinha, founder and CEO of ECONOMIAAZUL. All brought different perspectives of the connection between surfing and the economy, focusing on the Sustainability Plan of EWSR, in its final phase of production, as well as the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in the coming years for this region.
Sandra Silva, Director of Programming Services of the Directorate General for Maritime Policy, closed this part of the conference with the presentation "How to enhance the creation of Value through the EEA GRANTS Blue Growth Programme?", giving some examples of the importance of this Financial Mechanism not only in Business Development, Innovation and SMEs, but also in Research, Education and Ocean Literacy.
The event also had two round tables with local economic agents, who debated the contribution of surfing to the creation of value and a sustainable development and discussed how the challenges in production and consumption can be overcome in favor of a bluer economy and focused on the protection of the EWSR’s natural resources.
The Ericeira World Surf Reserve is the only one in the Europe, integrating a global network under the guidance of Save the Waves Coalition, an international association that created this program aiming the preservation and promotion of coastal regions with waves of unique quality. More information about Ericeira WSR+10 can be found on the project website.