On April 16^th, 2024, a side event themed "Blue Citizen" was held in Athens, Greece, paralleled 9^th Our Ocean Conference. The side event was organized by Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources (TIO-MNR) and Beijing Entrepreneurs Environmental Protection Foundation (SEE Foundation), in partnership with the World Economic Forum - Friends of Ocean Action, Ant Forest Foundation, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Peter Thomson, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Ocean, delivered opening speech at the event.

Alfredo Giron, Head of the Ocean Action Agenda at the World Economic Forum, moderated the side event, which featured interactive presentations around “Foster Blue Citizen, Promote Blue Partnership, Take Action for a Healthy Ocean”. The event was enlightened by the discussion session boasting Liu Zhenghua, researcher at Third Institute of Oceanography of China's Ministry of Natural Resources and Chief Scientist at APEC Marine Sustainable Development Center; Minna Epps, Head of IUCN's Ocean Program; Meg Caldwell, Vice President of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Marine de Bazelaire, Group Advisor on Natural Capital - HSBC , and Yang Biao, Secretary-General of the Beijing SEE Foundation, on the pathways to foster blue citizens and proposed ideas and suggestions on how to strengthen blue partnership exchanges and cooperation among stakeholders.

The participating delegates all agreed that jointly promoting the Blue Citizenship Initiative and deepening blue partnerships are crucial for enhancing the resilience of marine communities to climate change and achieving the 30x30 goal. They advocated for coordinated and practical actions to further strengthen cooperation and contribute to a healthier, more resilient, and prosperous ocean hand in hand.