On May 16th 2023, the Molajoli Hall of the San Michele monumental complex in Rome hosted the Networking Meeting of the Italian and Maltese Desks of the Creative Europe program.

The Creative Europe programme invests in actions that preserve and promote Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage, by responding to the challenges and needs of the cultural and creative sectors. Creative Europe aims to consolidate the commitment of these sectors to become more inclusive, digital, and environmentally sustainable.

The focus of the May 16^th meeting was on two of the strands into which the programme is divided – media and culture – and the coordinators of several cultural organisations had the opportunity to report on the progress of their respective projects supported by the Italy and Malta desks. Through the discussion, everyone was able to imagine new strategies and pathways for the implementation of such diverse undertakings.

Participants included Fabio Bruno from 3D Research and Fabio Figurella and Elton Debattista from DAN Europe (Malta Divers Alert Network Europe Foundation), who presented ART4SEA Melting Art, Creativity and Marine Sciences to foster Ocean Literacy in the Mediterranean area, as coordinator and partners of the project.

ART4SEA, which kicked off last February, promotes and supports a collaboration between artists, marine scientists, creatives, and digital technology experts, to engage as many people as possible and get them to change their relationship with the ocean, taking action individually and collectively. By the end of July, the ART4SEA call will be published to select 24 international artists that will be engaged in a co-creation project addressed to spread ocean literacy.

During the meeting, Fabio Bruno also reported on CREAMARE Linking creativity, culture and media technologies to raise awareness of UCH and ocean health, another project supported by Creative Europe and coordinated by 3D Research.

CREAMARE is in its second year and is about to publish the second open call to select professional creatives (graphic designers, 3D artists, storytellers, level designers, audio producers) that will contribute to the production of a serious game and other digital products, which will be used to communicate, disseminate and promote Underwater Cultural Heritage and raise awareness about relevant social problems such as pollution and other environmental threats that affect the oceans.

A key aspect emphasised during the Networking Meeting was the development of a solid partnership for the realisation of the projects supported by the Creative Europe programme. And both projects coordinated by 3D Research boast the cooperation between high-profile European partners from different sectors that share a consolidated experience and the same interest in the sea environment, each from their own different and complementary perspective.