Bellagio Residency: March 2023
Project: “Gender-responsive investments in marine conservation and coastal communities in the Global South”
Markus Knigge is the Executive Director of Blue Action Fund – one of the world’s largest funding vehicles for marine protected areas in the Global South. He visited Bellagio in March 2023 to strengthen gender-responsive investments throughout Blue Action’s programs, with the hope that this work will have spill-over-effects on government policies, other major donors, and international NGOs. Prior to Blue Action Fund, Markus held various positions with The Pew Charitable Trusts where he built up the European Marine Program and led efforts to end overfishing in the EU. He also worked as EU Marine Program Officer at the WWF European Policy Office and was a senior fellow of the Ecologic Institute in Berlin and Brussels.