Conference on bridging science and diplomacy: Coral missions in the Red Sea

Dr Martin Vetterli, President of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,

and

Mr Andreas Maager, General Consul of Switzerland in Marseille,

are pleased to invite the members of Club Suisse de Monaco to a conference as part of the Monaco Ocean Week 2023:

Coral missions in the Red Sea, a first milestone

The event will be followed by a cocktail.

Speakers:

• Dr Olivier Küttel, Head of International Affairs, EPFL
• HE Mr Alexandre Fasel, Ambassador, Special Representative for Science Diplomacy, Swiss Confederation
• Prof Anders Meibom, Director of the Transnational Red Sea Center
• Dr Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Scientific Coordinator at Transnational Red Sea Center

Background:

In 2022 and early 2023, the Transnational Red Sea Center conducted three scientific missions in the northern Gulf of Aqaba, Djibouti and Sudan in close collaboration with its regional partners and with the official support of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the exclusive occasion of the Monaco Ocean Week, this unique initiative bridging science and diplomacy in favor of Red Sea corals, hosted at Ecole Polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne (EPFL), will present the initial results of these first milestones of its long term vision and action plan to preserve the most promising - if not the last - coral «refuge» on Earth against global warming. 

The event held at the Monaco Yacht Club will include the screening of a short documentary on the Djibouti mission, and an open discussion on the challenges of preserving these « reefs of hope », and how Swiss-lead science diplomacy is playing a critical role in this regard.

Following the presentation, a cocktail will be offered where you can further exchange ideas with the experts on site. 

Interested parties can also meet for a one-on-one discussion with the responsible persons on 21 and 22 March 2023. To do so, please contact Samuel Gardaz: samuel.gardaz@epfl.ch