The first edition of the Bluewave Awards, delivered yesterday Monday at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona, rewarded the marine biologists Manu San Félix, Kike Ballesteros and Enric Sala. These awards, organized by the Bluewave Alliance – a non-profit initiative promoted by the Isdin laboratories – support projects “whose objective is to recover the health and beauty of the Mediterranean”, according to the organizers themselves.
San Félix received the Bluewave Award - Public Awareness "for giving visibility and raising awareness about the main treasures of the Mediterranean and mobilizing society"; Ballesteros was awarded the Bluewave Award - Science "for excellence in scientific research that contributes to marine conservation and restoration"; and finally, Sala was awarded the Bluewave Award - Lifetime Achievement for his Pristine Seas project, "which encourages the creation of marine reserves where life can thrive."
In addition, the five winners of the first edition of the photography and video contest We Love the Mediterranean were also announced, whose main objective "is for citizens to fall in love with the Mediterranean Sea, as well as to contribute to social awareness about the need to take care of of the seas”, wield the organizers. The winning images of this contest can be seen at the Bluewave Expo, which will be installed until June 18 on the Illa Diagonal in Barcelona.
The Bluewave Alliance also organized the first Bluewave Symposium throughout yesterday, a day dedicated to discovering the jewels of the Mediterranean and discovering how to protect them. The symposium, which took place at the AXA convention center in the Catalan capital, aims to achieve, according to its organizers, "that companies, scientists and entrepreneurs join forces to protect this sea." "Companies have a great opportunity to be part of the solution to live in a sustainable world," said Juan Naya, CEO of Isdin.
The award-winning marine biologist Manu San Félix, from the Vellmarí Association and collaborator of National Geographic, introduced the attendees to the jewels hidden in the Mediterranean. The scientist Emma Cebrián and the marine biologist Kike Ballesteros, another of the winners, moderated two round tables with world experts to address the habitats of the Mediterranean and the species that live in it. And, for his part, Enric Sala, a marine biologist in charge of the Pristine Seas project and who was another of the winners, presented his global marine conservation project to the audience.
The Bluewave symposium also unveiled some of the initiatives of the Seareg Foundation, Gravity Wave or the Vellmarí Association, among others, the so-called "sustainability entrepreneurs", which made visible the threats facing the Mediterranean and the actions that can help save it .
