Parliament of the Sea and awareness and mobilization campaign "Let's make Merveilles, for a sea without waste"

The Parliament of the Sea is composed of three antechambers:

·      a forum open to all those who want to be part of the regional maritime community. It now has 1 686 members

·      An assembly of 237 members composed of 4 colleges (elected, institutional, associations and professionals)

·      A bureau composed of 25 members (socioprofessionals, citizens, associations, elected officials). Together, they constitute a new democratic process that makes it possible to work more effectively on 5 themes, including that of the ecological transition.

The Assembly and the Bureau shall provide a permanent link with the Region. Whether in the Assembly or via the Forum, the Parliament of the Sea allows dialogue between the entire Maritime Community of Occitania (fishers, shellfish farmers, elected officials, port and boating professionals, tourism stakeholders, environmental or sports associations, researchers).

With a view to preserving the Mediterranean Sea and involving all the stakeholders in Occitania, the Region, the Parliament of the Sea and Cépralmar – a study centre for the promotion of lagoon and maritime activities – are mobilising through the regional awareness-raising campaign ‘Let’s make wonders, for a waste-free sea’ with the support of local environmental education associations. Faced with the alarming observation of the plasticization of the Mediterranean and its coastline, the Region and the Parliament of the Sea have been animating since 2019 the regional campaign "Let's make Merveilles, for a sea without waste".

This regional action comprises two complementary components, both preventive (acting on the cause by changing habits and using less plastic) and curative (acting on the consequence by collecting the waste that arrives at sea):

·      Regional awareness-raising to ensure that everyone is committed to this pollution: creation of awareness-raising tools to highlight the fact that everyone at their own level can do wonders by changing these everyday habits.

·      material support for local initiatives in their collection of coastal and marine waste: distribution of collection kits and provision of a maritime agenda to relay citizens’ mobilisations; distribution of the game "Let's make Merveilles, for sea turtles".

It is an engaging and collaborative awareness-raising campaign with simple and concrete actions that everyone can take to make a difference:

·      raise citizens' awareness of the challenges of preserving the Mediterranean and combating waste left behind in nature,

·      propose consumption alternatives to reduce plastics on a daily basis,

·      encourage initiatives to collect litter on beaches but also throughout Occitania.

All the actions proposed under the ‘Let’s do wonders’ dynamic fall within the operational objectives of the Mediterranean Façade Strategic Document for the reduction of waste from land-based sources at sea and the reduction of waste from maritime activities at sea. These actions are also part of the "Occitanie Plastic Plan, Zero Ultimate Plastic Waste in 2030" voted by the Occitanie Regional Council on December 17, 2020.