Four years ago, on this day (24th May 2013), representatives of the European Union, United Stated of America and Canada signed the Galway Statement on Atlantic Ocean Cooperation thereby launching a Transatlantic Ocean Research Alliance, aimed at advancing our knowledge of the Atlantic Ocean and promoting the sustainable management of its resources.

SponGES is one of the projects funded by the EU H2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Galway Statement umbrella. Through genuine Trans-Atlantic cooperation among 20+ partners of the three signatories, SponGES is committed in its contribution to bringing this vision forward. Through our research activities we are: building a solid knowledge base on deep-sea sponge grounds of the North Atlantic upon which new biotechnological products can be developed; improving the capacity to model and forecast links and changes in the ecosystems in view of an interlinked and changing Ocean; and developing tools for improved and sustainable management of the many goods and services that these habitats provide to us, mankind. A legacy for present and future generations. After all, this is our shared, and deep, Ocean.