From Policies to Action: Powering the EU Ocean Pact and the Uptake of the EDITO at the 2025 UNOC
The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC), held in Nice from 9 to 13 June 2025, brought together global leaders, scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs and diverse members of the civil society in an urgent call to take ocean action to the next level. Among the most high-profile initiatives showcased during the event was the ongoing development of the European Digital Twin Ocean (EDITO). For more details on what EDITO-Model Lab, and our sister project, EDITO-Infra, presented in Nice, please go here.
The launch of the European Ocean Pact (EOP) — a new EU-wide strategic framework for marine protection, sustainable blue growth, and ocean knowledge — was a key announcement during the 2025 UNOC. Strongly aligned with the aims of EDITO, the European Ocean Pact formally endorses the delivery of a fully operational European Digital Twin Ocean by 2030 and highlights its role in driving science-based ocean governance.
Showcasing Science at the One Ocean Science Congress
Before the official opening of UNOC, EDITO-Model Lab had a solid presence in the One Ocean Science Congress (OOSC), held from 3 to 6 June. The event served as a platform to emphasise the foundational role of science in shaping future ocean governance, and highlighted the need for integrated digital tools, like EDITO.
Various members of our consortium contributed to several high-level sessions and poster exhibitions throughout the OOSC, including presentations on habitat suitability mapping, next-generation numerical ocean models, and the use of digital twins for coastal resilience. The team also took part in a Town Hall event exploring how digital platforms can make marine knowledge more inclusive and actionable.
These sessions underscored the scientific and technical credibility of EDITO-Model Lab while demonstrating how the initiative is actively translating scientific research into operational tools for public decision-making and community engagement.
Dive deeper into the EDITO-Model Lab Focus Applications (for intermediate users such as numerical modellers, data scientists and pure researchers).
Explore the EDITO-Model Lab What-if Scenarios (for end users like policymakers, applied researchers, blue economy actors, NGOs, and citizens).
Glimpsing the Future at the EU Digital Ocean Pavilion
From 2 to 13 June, the European Digital Ocean Pavilion within the UNOC’s largest side-event, offered thousands of visitors an immersive experience of Europe’s digital ocean ambitions. The pavilion featured three zones — INSPIRE, ENGAGE, and DECIDE — each designed to connect attendees with the various aspects and purposes of EDITO.
Rewatch over 70 hours of recordings showcasing all the 33 sessions that took place in the EU Digital Ocean Pavilion during 11 days here.
EDITO-Model Lab had a strong presence throughout the two weeks, engaging all types of participants — from the very young to very seasoned — through different sessions. Our consortium delivered talks on making marine knowledge accessible to communities, a hands-on training workshop for policymakers and other end users to employ our What-if Scenarios, a media roundtable on digital twins to boost the literacy levels of communication experts, and a presentation on how EDITO can accelerate the implementation of the European Ocean Pact.
The presence of high-level policymakers, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, underscored the strategic relevance of EDITO. During her visit, she explored real-time visualisations and simulations that reveal how our digital ocean simulations can support climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and blue economy innovation.
"An extraordinary tool that helps us to better understand the ocean, from pollution to navigation, from risks to our coasts to biodiversity" — Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Launching the EDITO-Model Lab Hackathon for the Next Generation of Users
To close out EDITO’s engagement in Nice, the EDITO-Model Lab Hackathon was officially launched on 13 June 2025.
Running until late October 2025, this 4-month innovation sprint is the project’s largest capacity-building action. It brings together 50 selected intermediate users — including numerical modellers, programmers, researchers and data scientists — to develop new Focus Applications using the EDITO platform.
Participants will work with Python, Jupyter Notebooks, and cloud-based environments, supported by mentoring from EDITO-Model Lab consortium. The hackathon will explore use cases ranging from oil spill prediction to coastal flood modelling and plastic tracking.
Final applications will be presented at a public event and may feed into future iterations of EDITO. This important activity is not only about expanding simulation capabilities of the users, but also about consolidating a thriving community that will lead the uptake of the European Digital Twin Ocean beyond the life of EDITO-Model Lab.
(Re)Watch the EDITO-Model Lab Hackathon launch here or learn more about some of our Focus Applications: Marine Biodiversity, Zero Carbon Maritime Shipping, and Zero Marine Pollution.
Maximising EDITO's added value for decision-making
By linking political momentum with technical progress and community engagement, EDITO-Model Lab’s activities at UNOC 2025, EU Digital Ocean Pavilion and One Ocean Science Congress showcased the growing maturity, openness, and policy relevance of EDITO. As the ocean community looks ahead to the next major milestones, the work of our project will remain central to building a digital infrastructure that empowers better decisions for the ocean.
© Photos by Mercator Ocean, Philippe Fitte, and various members of the EDITO-Model Lab consortium. Video by Ultra Hack for EDITO-Model Lab.
- Portability and interoperability of numerical models and simulation techniques
- Optimisation and adaptation to new and future computing platforms
- Coupling, interaction and hybridisation between different numerical models and Machine Learning components to represent ocean physics, biogeochemistry, biology and ecology
- Flexibility in use, configuration design and simulations to suit applications
- Virtual Ocean Model Lab is a co-development platform to connect developers of various models, users willing to produce simulations using AI and ML, and associated infrastructure providing access to different computing (HPC, CLOUD) and data storage and dissemination resources (data lake)
- Usage examples and user support for Focus Applications and What-if Scenarios
