With the support of the Embassy of France and the University of Ghana’s Department of Earth Sciences in Ghana, IFREMER (France), and the Upstream Training Trust (South Africa), AEON-ESSRI was part of, and contributed to the sixth session of the Earth-Ocean Links (EOL) Masterclass in Accra, Ghana. This itinerant Masterclass between South Africa and Ghana has a label UNESCO since 2021. It aims to contribute to society by:
- increasing the chances of getting a job;
- increasing industry-academia relationship;
- acquiring a holistic tolerant vision; and
- increasing researchers’ self-confidence.
Presentations and practical courses extended over six days at the University of Ghana, and followed by a field trip to Takoradi in the western coastal region. The focus for this year was to enhance capacity in the fields of Marine Geosciences and to facilitate the start of new joint research projects between Nelson Mandela University, University of Ghana, Cape Coast University, University of Bretagne, and IFREMER. 
40 researchers and postgraduate students attended the school:
- South Africa – 1 senior researcher, 2 postdocs, 3 PhDs, and 1 Master from Nelson Mandela University
- France – 2 senior researchers, 1 PhD, and 1 Master from IFREMER and Université de Bretagne Occidentale
- Ghana – 5 senior researchers, 5 PhDs, and 10 Masters from the University of Ghana
- AND 2 senior researchers, 4 Masters and 3 Honours from Cape Coast University.
The presentations and short courses focused on stratigraphy, sedimentology, coastal management, geo-health, geophysics, citizen science, water chemistry, climate and sea-level changes, both in South Africa and Ghana. Brainstorming sessions facilitated the exchange of ideas and the drafting of three joint research proposals pertaining to:
- water quality;
- coastal plains and marine shelf, and
- economic geology and geodynamics.
During fieldwork, participants studied outcrops of basement rocks and Sekondian sedimentary sequences, as well as visited fisherman settlements and the Cape Coast Castle.
We would like to express our appreciation to our colleagues from the University of Ghana, the University of Cape Coast, and IFREMER for this very successful trip. We particularly thank Dr. Joseph Thompson, Prof. Larry Pax, and Prof. Marc Yidana at the University of Ghana, as well as our French partners: Prof. Marina Rabineau and Dr. Daniel Aslanian (IFREMER). The next, 2024 EOL Masterclass in Gqeberha, South Africa, will include training at sea using the RV Observer of the South African Institute Aquatic Biodiversity. The floating school will use multi beam eco sanding and sub-bottom profiling techniques to map portions of the Algoa and Saint Francis Bays.
