The workshop is promoted by EuroMarine through the TransOcean long-term working group, with the co-organization of University of Algarve, Centre of Marine Sciences of the Algarve, Institut de Ciències del Mar and Associaciò SeaWilding, and the collaboration of the university partnership SEA-EU, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Université Le Havre Normandie, OYSTER-EuroMarine working group and Bluewave Alliance. Artistic performances and participative activities are courtesy of the local artists with the support of the ArtPoints and La Última Merda collective.

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An international workshop on our belonging to the living planet

The workshop “We Are Ocean: The Planetary Organism (WeOcean)” stems from the profound conviction that every human being, and humanity as a whole, is part of a far more complex entity: planet Earth. The idea of the Earth as a living organism –with the Ocean as its central and essential component– is as ancient as the earliest cosmogonies, yet it remains absent from the prevailing agendas of international scientific gatherings. The volume of data currently available invites us to revisit this idea from the perspectives of ocean and Earth sciences, while also incorporating creative approaches from philosophy, the arts and artificial intelligence. The message embedded in our belonging to a larger living organism is extraordinary, with far-reaching social implications in terms of global equity and sustainability. Human beings are approximately two-thirds water. The Ocean holds 97% of all planetary water. These simple facts demonstrate that each of us is alive because of the Ocean – that it is entirely fitting to say that we are Ocean. Recognising this reality opens new pathways of expanded cognition, an awareness grounded in living rather than in thinking, capable of generating a genuine feeling of interconnection with other people and with Nature.

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Key Themes

01.

Monday 4 May, 2026

The Living Ocean - A renewed understanding of the living planet

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Tuesday 5 May, 2026

02.

Expanding Reality - New approximations to our belonging to the living planet

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Format and Venue

The three-day workshop will take place at the Universidade do Algarve – Penha Campus facilities in Faro, Portugal, from the morning of Monday 4 May to the afternoon of Wednesday 6 May 2026. The campus offers an auditorium with a seating capacity of 235, together with several additional spaces for meetings, art exhibitions and co-creative activities. The format combines presentations and open debates, and will include invited talks, short communications, debate sessions, an excursion through a natural coastal landscape, musical performances and participatory creative activities. All academic sessions will be live-streamed and archived in a repository for future reference. A special issue in a high-impact SCI journal is also envisaged.

Venue

A Diversity of Thinkers

Over thirty invited thinkers –Earth scientists, social scientists, philosophers and creative artists– will gather to revisit the truth and implications of the proposition that we all are Ocean.

Speakers

Registration

Attendance at the We-OCEAN workshop is free of charge but requires prior registration, which will be considered a a firm commitment to attend all three workshop days. Acceptance is conditioned to the number of applications, after consideration of the data and statement of interest provided at registration, and will be notified the first week of April. There is no need to register if you wish to join the live streaming of the conferences and debates, a link to the streaming platform will be published in this web several days previous to the workshop.
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Registration deadline: 31 March 2026 (early registration is strongly encouraged).

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