Blue Growth

Online workshop addressing a paramount question: what happens when #EMFF support ends?

Online event

Jerusalem, Israel

Online event

Online event: a unique learning experience by interacting with actors involved in MSP management and experts from the scientific community across the Mediterranean.

A new guidance document for monitoring, evaluating & revising maritime spatial plans was just published and is now available on our website. Based on literature review and stakeholder feedback, it comes with a toolbox tested in case studies & revised subsequentially with our MSP experts.

An interactive digital tool for marine spatial planning in Ireland has just been launched. This web map portal is Ireland’s first marine spatial planning portal. It links planning within the maritime area and the relevant policies for each marine sector or activity listed in the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF).

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has assessed nine maritime spatial plans from around the Baltic Sea, developed by eight different EU countries and one autonomous region, to measure and compare the degree to which they comply with the principles of ecosystem-based management. Read more about this analysis, its conclusions and identified paths for progress.

MedCities is a partner of the Interreg-Med project BLUEfasma, which integrates and implements Circular Economy (CE) principles in the key blue growth sector of fishing, processing and marketing, as well as maritime spatial planning and maritime strategies' impacts on fisheries and aquaculture. Its overall objective is to empower the innovation capacity of SMEs, maritime clusters/networks, Public Authorities to boost blue CE growth in insular, island and coastal areas. The project already provides toolboxes and guidances such as the BLUEfasma Circularity Self-Assessment Tool, used as a unified Mediterranean measure of the SMEs readiness & willingness to invest in CE; acting as a decision support tool.

MSP-OR is an EU-funded project to advance Maritime Spatial Planning processes in Outermost Regions of Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and French Guiana. While the project website is under development you can follow their Twitter account and updates with the hashtag #MSPforRUP.

The Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community and the Interreg Euro-MED Academy is organising the learning programme “Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)” from 19 April 2022 to 22 May 2022. This programme is endorsed by the IOC UNESCO UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Germany’s draft Wind Energy at Sea Act (WindSeeG) has been amended to include measures to accelerate the market’s development. The measures include the new expansion targets, the prioritising of offshore wind energy in maritime spatial planning, short-term tendering of additional areas and reorganisation of responsibilities in authorities and ministries.

On 19 and 20 May 2022, the European Maritime Day will take place both online and physically in Ravenna, Italy. This year's theme of ‘Sustainable blue economy for green recovery’ will also address Maritime Spatial Planning in a dedicated thematic session entitled: "Maritime Spatial Planning and Stakeholder Engagement". This session will allow to take stock of the progress made since 2010, with the results and lessons of multiuse projects at sea, targeting research and innovation on food security, clean energy, green transport, climate action and resource efficiency, as well as cross-boundaries projects on MSP. The session will present the progress of the EU, as a global leader on maritime spatial planning, in addressing the Green Deal’s objectives at sea and stakeholders’ engagement.

The CulTourE4Youth project (Supporting Youth Entrepreneurship in Cultural Tourism for coastal communities) will host an International Workshop. Hosted by the Georgian CMA Coordination, the event will take place in Batumi. Mamuka BERDZENISHVILI, Georgian CMA National Hub who will host a session dedicated to Cultural Tourism.

Sopot, Poland - hybrid event

In close liaison with Natia Miminoshvili, Mamuka Berdzenishvili is a member of the CMA National Hub. He supports the implementation of the CMA goals in Georgia by assisting the National Coordinator and local stakeholders. Over his 15-year experience in the tourism industry, he has held a number of prominent positions in the private sector (Lufthansa), as well as the public sector (Department of Tourism and Resorts of Ajdara A.R.). He has also been involved in academic spheres (Caucasus University, Batumi State University) and tourism consultancy services (World Bank, EU). He is the founder and Executive Director of the Batumi-based Tourism Institute, a non-profit tourism-oriented R&D centre working on topics such as tourism legislation, digitalisation, big data and destination management.

The One Ocean Summit aims to raise the international community’s level of ambition on maritime issues; to translate our shared responsibility for the Ocean into concrete actions.

2021 ended with the Annual Regional Stakeholders Conference for the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea. If you have not yet done so we invite you to explore the content, outputs and replay video of the event on our website.

The International Center for Black Sea Studies has published a new paper entitled 'Exploiting Tourism 4.0 potentials for the Black Sea'.

The DOORS (Developing Optimal and Open Research Support) Black Sea project, funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 programme, is currently conducting a stakeholder survey.