Bemvindo GEOMAR – five intense days in Cabo Verde

Team Cabo Verde meets Team GEOMAR in Mindelo.

From 20 to 24 January 2023, a delegation from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel visited Cabo Verde to discuss further research cooperations with regional partners and to strengthen the role of the Ocean Science Centre Mindelo (OSCM). This plattform for support and exchange was put into operation in 2017 by GEOMAR and the Cape Verdean Instituto do Mar (IMar). The focus of the OSCM is on logistical and technological services to facilitate marine and atmospheric research in the region, regional networking as well as academic training. In addition, GEOMAR Director Professor Dr. Katja Matthes welcomed the participants of the “Ocean Race Summit” at the OSCM, a high-profile summit on sustainable ocean protection in the framework of the global regatta “The Ocean Race”. 

Day 1: Meeting our colleagues and friends from IMar

Day 1: Visit of GEOMAR’s partner institute Instituto do Mar (IMar) in Mindelo, Cabo Verde. During this working meeting the joint vision for the OSCM was discussed and agreed on. Afterwards a tour through OSCM provided an overview of the centre’s facilities.

Day 2: Strengthening Partnerships

Day 2: This day was about strengthening partnerships with the Coast Guard of Cabo Verde and the Technical University of the Atlantic (UTA) under the Campus do Mar initiative. The 50 metres long patrol vessel Guardiao was visited to discuss the planned installation of oceanographic equipment on board. At UTA, needs for a closer cooperation between GEOMAR, IMar, OSCM and UTA within Campus do Mar were formulated.

Day 3: Science-Policy, part I: Interactions on board & atmospheric research in Cabo Verde

Day 3: The German research vessel Maria S. Merian provided an excellent opportunity to meet the Minister of the Sea, Abraão Vicente, and introduce him to the vessel facilities and the type or research that is being carried out on such a vessel. The importance for having sea-going platforms to conduct marine research in the region was emphasised. Additonally, the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory and a local aquaculture plant was visited.

Day 4: Science-Policy, part II: International Summit at OSCM

Day 4: Within the framework of “The Ocean Race” stopover in Mindelo an international summit was held at OSCM with 300 guests from policy, science, sports, finances and the wider society. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guiterres as well as the prime ministers of Portugal and Cabo Verde spoke at the summit and underlined the importance of the Ocean for our wellbeing and the need for a sustainable management of marine ecosystems. During the event oceanographic equipment were presented as part of an exhibition the OSCM team has prepared.

Day 5: Meeting the Racing teams & the prime minister of Cabo Verde

Day 5: At 8:00am early in the morning the racing team Malizia offered a tour on their their boat Sea Explorer, which is not only a racing yacht, but also a kind of research vessel as it measures the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the water. Team Malizia also has an Argo float on board which will be deployed during leg 2 on the way to Cape Town. The visit was done jointly with students from the third WASCAL cohort. The students come from eleven West African countries and are currently studying “Climate Change and Marine Sciences” at UTA within the framework of the BMBF-funded “West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use” (WASCAL) programme. After the visit to the port, the GEOMAR delegation was received by the Prime Minister of Cabo Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, together with the Minister of the Sea to further outline the joint vision for the OSCM.