What is the contest about?

Throughout history, the Mediterranean’s complex identity has been carved by the sea, facilitating the flow of knowledge, culture, and goods between civilizations and across continents. Inversely, the Mediterranean coast has been shaped by its residents, whereby construction and destruction left their toll on the marine and coastal environment.

At the interface between land and the sea, and as the hubs for these exchanges, ports and harbours have a key role in contributing to the sustainable management of both the marine space and the coastal hinterland.

This year, the Mediterranean Sea Basin event Let’s make the Mediterranean Blue organized by the EU4Ocean coalition* will shed light on the role and responsibilities of these ports and harbours in contributing to:

• … the preservation of the natural, cultural and societal values of Mediterranean coastal cities
• … the sustainability of the Mediterranean Sea – Make the Med Blue!

In this framework, the EU4Ocean coalition is organising yet another photography contest, this time open to all 22 countries** of the Mediterranean Sea basin! Citizens and residents of these Mediterranean countries are encouraged to share their vision on how ports/harbours affect their cultural and natural environment, and on how ports/harbours can play a leading role in maintaining a healthy and clean Mediterranean Sea!

The #MakeMedPortsBlue contest, promoted by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), encourages ALL Mediterranean residents and citizens, especially young planners, architects, and photographers, to express their view and their creative vision!

How does it work?

The contest will run from the 2^nd of September 2021 till the 1^st of May 2022, midnight CET.

To take part in the competition, participants have to follow these steps...

• Upload a photo on your public Instagram, that reflects the impact your local port/harbour has on its coastal and marine environment - be it positive or negative – or solutions implemented by your port/harbour that helps protecting the coastal and marine environment.
• A photo with a message: Be creative, there are no restrictions on what you can shoot, but let there be a clear message behind it!
• Add a title of max 100 characters
• Add a caption of max 500 characters
• Use the required hashtag #MakeMedPortsBlue (to add optionally: #EU4Ocean #MakeMedBlue #MakeEUBlue).
• Send the high-resolution image with your full name, country, the title, and the caption to MakeMedPortsBlueeu4ocean-coalition [dot] eu (MakeMedPortsBlue[at]eu4ocean-coalition[dot]eu)

Please note that by sending this information you are agreeing to the EU GDPR terms and conditions.

The deadline for submission is the 1^st of May 2022 (midnight CET), so hurry up, grab your camera and upload your photo!

One winner per Mediterranean country will be selected and will be showcased during the “EU4Ocean coalition closing event” (date TBD): Among these 22 photos, one winner will be invited to share the story behind the winning photo.

Eligibility criteria

• To be (or becoming) an architect, planner, designer, engineer, maritime professional or photographer… and/or just passionate about the sea, the human-sea interactions and the development of harbours in the Mediterranean Sea!
• To be at least 16 years old and have a public Instagram account.
• To be a resident/citizen of a Mediterranean country
• To upload a picture that presents a Mediterranean port/harbour (including touristic marinas, fishing harbours and commercial ports)
• Titles/Captions not submitted in English to be accompanied by English translation for wider exposure!
• Re-posts of older posts are considered as long as they are published between the 2^nd of September 2021 and the 1^st of May 2022. Older posts for which the hashtag is only added in the description text afterwards will not be evaluated.
• Hashtag: #MakeMedPortsBlue

Contest specifications

• Content: The photo should not have any inappropriate content, language, or imagery (no violence, racist comments, pornographic or personal attacks on people or organisations, etc.). The EU4Ocean Team and Jury Panel reserve the right to disregard photos that are deemed to be inappropriate, unlawful, or objectionable.
• Copyrights: Photos realised for the contest shall be original work and shall not infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights such as copyrights, related rights, trademarks, or any privacy rights and image rights. Don’t take images of private persons without their consent. No children should be recognisable in the photo.
• Format: JPEG/TIFF – 4:3/ 16:9
• Permissions: In case your photo is selected, you will be contacted to fill out an online form where you are asked to:
  • Grant permission to have your name, contribution, biography, and photo on the Maritime Forum website and other online channels of the European Commission, as well as on the online channels of the project partners* managing the contest.
  • Provide by email the following:
    • Full name
    • Age
    • Country
    • Full address
    • Email
    • Short biography
    • Photo
  • Confirm that your work does not infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties or image rights. Failure to fill out the form will result in disqualification from the contest.
• By participating in the contest, you also give consent to the European Commission, to use your photos for their own publicity purposes and communication.
• The organiser reserves the right to change or replace the competition prizes and/or modify the rules and regulations of the competition as and when necessary, without prior notice.

Terms & Conditions

Detailed Terms & Conditions can be found HERE. Please read them carefully.

Timeline

• Launch of the contest: 2^nd of September 2021
• Deadline for submission: 1^st of May 2022 (Midnight CET)
• Screening/exhibiting of the 22 winning photos: Date TBD (date TDB ~ May/June 2022 – EU4Ocean closing Event).

​​​​

Selection and Jury

1^st selection: To select one winner per Mediterranean country

• Internal EU4Ocean selection

2^nd selection To select one winner among the 22 countries

• International jury panel - [EU4Ocean closing event]

Jury panel

An international Jury panel will participate in the selection process and will consist of representatives from various institutions such as EU4Ocean coalition, Port authorities, the ECC, The European Commission, Youth4Ocean Advocates etc.

Prizes and incentives

• 22 winners (one per Mediterranean country) will be exhibited during the EU4Ocean final event, and their photos disseminated on #EU4Ocean social media platforms.

Communication and contacts

Communication: Check your Instagram message box regularly. If you win, we will contact you via private message.

You can always reach us with questions at: MakeMedPortsBlueeu4ocean-coalition [dot] eu (MakeMedPortsBlue[at]eu4ocean-coalition[dot]eu)

Contacts:

• Vera Noon, ACTeon, EU4Ocean coalition [v [dot] noonacteon-environment [dot] eu (v[dot]noon[at]acteon-environment[dot]eu)]
• Hadi El Hage, European Cultural Centre, Università IUAV di Venezia [hadyecc-italy [dot] eu (hady[at]ecc-italy[dot]eu)]

*EU4Ocean is a project funded by the European Commission and implemented by a consortium of 12 partners across Europe, which includes: ACTeon (coordinator, France), Seascape Belgium (Secretariat of the European Marine Observation and Data Network and the European Atlas of the Seas, Belgium), the European Marine Board (EMB, Belgium), Nausicaá-National Sea Centre (France), the World Ocean Network (WON, France), Ciência Viva (Portugal), the European Marine Science Educators Association (EMSEA, Belgium), Ecologic Institute (Germany), the European Centre for Information on Marine Science and Technology (EurOcean, Portugal), Secretariat of Submariners (S.Pro, Germany), MARE Nostrum (Romania), European Schoolnet (Belgium), and Farah Obaidullah (Independent Ocean Advocate & Founder Women4Oceans, The Netherlands).

The contest is implemented by the EU4Ocean coalition in collaboration with the European Cultural Center (ECC) in Venice, and in partnership with MSP/MEP project and IUAV.

**Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey