The 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon made significant progress in the arduous battle against the ocean emergency. The conference saw a wave of commitments, pledges and actions towards larger and more effective protection of the ocean, aiming to bring the SDG14 - Life below water to its deserved place as a central pillar of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNESCO through its IOC project office at its Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe has had a crucial role in advocating for ocean sustainability and ocean literacy and so was put forward in 3 official events, namely, the Ocean Literacy Dialogues, the second edition of SEA BEYOND finals, conducted in partnership with the Prada Group, and ultimately, the Blue Curriculum: a training session event.

The UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, with the support of Bulgaria, is implementing the project “Building a climate resilient future: capacity development in climate change adaptation and disaster risk management in selected UNESCO designated sites of South-East Europe”. The project aims to contribute to a more climate-resilient South-East Europe region, notably climate resilience at UNESCO designated sites by improving the understanding of the impacts of climatic change and natural hazards on natural and cultural sites, and improving capacities for effective emergency preparedness and response within site governance frameworks. The project targets 5 UNESCO Member states in South-East Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The project envisages institutional and professional capacity development through the introduction of a set of regional guidelines and tools in the areas of Climate Change Adaptation/Disaster Risk Management and the organization of training for UNESCO designated sites, notably Biosphere Reserves and World Heritage sites in South-East Europe.

UNESCO invites professionals from visitor/interpretation/information centres of UNESCO designated sites (namely World Heritage properties, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks) in Europe to apply for participation in the 4th Regional Workshop on the role of Visitor Centres in UNESCO Designated Sites. The workshop, tentatively scheduled for 7-9 November 2022 in Buzău (Romania), will focus on tourism sustainability and visitors management.

On 21 July 2022, at the Artcor premises in Chisinau, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova officially launched the “Digital Transformation of Cultural and Creative Industries in the Republic of Moldova” project, in the presence of various stakeholders from the cultural and creative sector. This comes as a result of the UNESCO-Republic of Korea Funds-In-Trust for the Development of Creative Industries selecting the Republic of Moldova as one of its beneficiaries for the 2021-2022 cycle titled “Digital Creativity Lab”. This follows in its endeavour to support digital creativity in the spirit of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of Cultural expressions, ratified by the Republic of Moldova in 2006.

UNESCO provided technical support to a cooperative endeavour between the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federal Institute of Statistics and the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics to improve the quality of education statistics in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In particular, the Antenna in Sarajevo of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe aided statistical institutions and education authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to create more reliable and quality statistical data, thus advancing policy planning and budget allocation across the education sector.