In Mombasa, September 2025 saw two major events for BRIDGES: the first BRIDGES x WIOMSA summer school, which brought together participants from across the region to strengthen interdisciplinary approaches and the resilience of marine social-ecological systems, followed by the 13th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium, which provided a forum for more than 1,200 people, mainly from the region, to meet and exchange ideas. These two initiatives combined training, knowledge sharing, and scientific dialogue, while strengthening the visibility and impact of BRIDGES activities for the period 2025–2028.

A look back at the 13th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium

The WIOMSA symposium is recognized as the largest gathering of marine scientists in the western Indian Ocean. For this 13th edition, the event broke records with 1,190 abstracts submitted, 55 special sessions, and 32 mini-symposia.

Throughout the Symposium, from September 29 to October 3, the BRIDGES exhibition booth was a popular meeting place. Many visitors stopped by to learn about the program’s activities for the period 2025–2028, its interdisciplinary projects, and its regional collaborations. The BRIDGES team presented various communication and scientific promotion materials, allowing visitors to explore the program’s research areas, co-construction mechanisms, and upcoming capacity sharing activities.

Highlights: talks, after-work events, and experience sharing

BRIDGES also contributed to the Symposium’s scientific program through numerous presentations, including:

• Julie Furiga presented the BRIDGES information system, illustrating how the program’s data is structured and made accessible to support collaborative research: “BRIDGES-INFORMATION: A digital interdisciplinary environment on coastal and marine SES in the SWIO.”
• Stéphanie Mahévas reported on some of the work carried out during the BRIDGES x WIOMSA summer school in her presentation on socio-ecosystem models: “A participatory approach integrating modeling and uncertainty to inform marine spatial management decisions”.

A friendly after-work event was also organized, providing an informal space to continue discussions, strengthen ties between partners, and celebrate the vitality of the BRIDGES community.

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A summer school emphasizing interdisciplinarity and cooperation

Ahead of the Symposium, BRIDGES and WIOMSA co-organized the first BRIDGES x WIOMSA summer school, from September 22 to 26, 2025, in Mombasa.

Entitled “Strengthening interdisciplinary approaches for the resilience of marine social-ecological systems in the Western Indian Ocean,” this intensive one-week training course brought together 19 participants and 12 speakers representing 10 countries in the region.

Researchers, marine area managers, doctoral students, fisheries and conservation professionals: the diversity of profiles and disciplines was at the heart of the richness of this school. In a spirit of openness and goodwill, participants explored the complexity of marine socio-ecosystems through a wide variety of activities: serious games, group work, real-life case studies, field trips, and moments of collective reflection.

A regional dynamic for the future

These two events mark an important milestone for BRIDGES, whose deployment relies on strong collaborations to connect knowledge, territories, and stakeholders in order to support the sustainable transformation of marine socio-ecosystems.

BRIDGES would like to thank WIOMSA for its work and collaboration in implementing these activities.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to find out more about the BRIDGES program or join its upcoming activities.

The next BRIDGES schools will take place in December 2025 in Réunion, then in the Comoros, and will focus on scientific data management.

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