On 20 June 2024 a webinar was organised by the Union for the Mediterranean(UfM) titled ‘Scaling up synergies and partnerships for the sustainable maritime and coastal tourism transformation in the Mediterranean’

The coastal and maritime tourism sector is of key strategic importance in the Mediterranean, concentrating 35% of global tourist arrivals, and marked by a steady recovery following the 2019 COVID pandemic.

Despite its strong potential to drive the ‘green and blue’ transition forward in and for the Mediterranean (through tackling climate change, protecting and restoring maritime and coastal ecosystems, and providing opportunities for quality employment), the sector is currently characterized by structural fragilities undermining its future sustainability, including significant impacts on the environment and local populations with high seasonality, and low-offer diversification.

Building on the outcomes and main messages of the 2^nd UfM Stakeholder Conference on Sustainable Blue Economy, this webinar aimed at scaling up and showcasing the role of synergies, partnerships, regional collaboration, and innovation towards the ‘green and blue’ transformation of the maritime and coastal tourism sector, in and for the Mediterranean. It highlighted the ongoing coordination efforts among existing programmes and share concrete examples of multi-level and cross-sectoral cooperation, including partnerships between academia, industry, and public authorities.

Marta Pascual from the WestMED national Hub Spain presented the new WestMED  Stakeholder Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism.

The overall objective of the WestMED Sustainable Tourism Technical Group is to serve as a technical stakeholder forum to discuss trends and opportunities towards sustainable tourism within the region, provide support to participants to develop project ideas and form consortia for funding applications focused on tourism related topics set at EU level such as green transition, digitalization, promotion of social inclusion, governance, and skills.

The technical group, led by WestMED’s Spanish and Maltese National Hubs, is planning a series of webinars after the summer of 2024 while the official launch of the technical group will take place during the Sun&Blue Congress (20-22 November 2024, Almeria, Spain).

Download the webinar concept note and agenda

For more information on the WestMED Sustainable Tourism Technical Group visit the news article outlining its background and setup.

You can also contact Marta Pascual (National Hub Spain) or Stephanie Vella (National Hub Malta)

Marta Pascual presenting the new WestMED Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism

Source:  Publications Page European Commission

The seventh edition of the EU Blue Economy Report, presented in a fresh format, persists in thoroughly examining the scale and breadth of the Blue Economy within the European Union (EU).

Its primary aim remains to offer guidance to policymakers and stakeholders in fostering the sustainable advancement of oceans and coastal resources, aligning closely with the principles of the European Green Deal (EGD). By providing economic insights, the Report also aims to inspire potential investors.

This seventh edition of the Report focuses on a summarised data analysis, trends and drivers of the Blue Economy sectors.

The analysis of the sectors Marine living and non-living resources, Marine renewable energy (offshore wind), Port activities, Shipbuilding and repair, Maritime transport and Coastal tourism is based on data collected by the European Commission from EU Member States and the European Statistical System. Specifically, fisheries and aquaculture data were collected under the EU Data Collection Framework (DCF); data for the other sectors are taken from Eurostat Structural Business Statistics (SBS), PRODCOM, National Accounts and tourism statistics.

Along with these sectors, the reader can find relevant information on innovative Blue Economy sectors, namely Desalination and Blue biotechnology. These sectors offer significant potential for economic growth, sustainability transition, as well as employment creation. Comparable data are not yet fully available in the public domain, and therefore data presented in the Report for these sectors come from various sources.

This year’s Report also includes special sections on Energy Transition and Climate Change in the EU Maritime transport sector, on the EU fishing fleet and the partnership in fisheries and aquaculture, as well as a section on Coastal flood impacts due to climate change along the EU27 coastline, with a particular reference to the EU Outermost Regions. This edition will continue taking advantage of the EU Blue Economy Observatory platform, which provides more timely and regular updates of the Blue Economy data per sector, EU-27 Member State and sea basin. Further analysis will be published throughout the year, as the most recent data become available, and sectors or topics gain more relevance. Analyses are given for the EU-27 as a whole and by sector and industry for each Member State. An initial regional analysis is also envisaged, to be completed within the EU Blue Economy Observatory

Download the report

On 30 May 2024, The European Maritime Day in Svendborg Denmark kicked off with a High-Level Panel focused on the EU Sea Basin strategies and  its progress made since the adoption of the EU Sustainable Blue Economy (SBE) Communication three years ago.

The panel discussed the role of the Sea Basin Strategies in implementing the SBE policy framework, the challenges faced and areas to be explored for future policy cooperation.

The session was led by Director General Charlina Vitcheva (DG MARE) and contributions were made by representatives from the chairmanships/presidencies of the respective Sea Basins:

• Eric Banel, General Director for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries, and Aquaculture (Atlantic and Greater North Sea Initiative, France);
• Marisa Lameiras, Director General for Maritime Policy (WestMED, Portugal);
• Grigore Stratulat, State Secretary, Ministry for Environment (Black Sea Common Maritime Agenda, Moldova)
• Andreas Nordseth, Director General of the Danish Maritime Authority (Greater North Sea initiative).

Key Highlights and Outcomes of the panel:

1. The panel showcased the significant role that Sea Basin Strategies play as enablers of the Sustainable Blue Economy approach, as outlined in the 2021 EC Communication. Concrete examples of achievements in sectors such as maritime cluster development, aquaculture, green shipping, blue skills, marine spatial planning, and coastal and maritime tourism were presented. For more information on the work done by the Sea Basin Strategies, check out the recently published video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8XTiHx1bl4&t=72s , which was launched during the event
2. Discussions emphasized the need for greater synergies and coordination among EU sea basins. Future priorities for the next five years were outlined, highlighting the importance of international cooperation and the need to build bridges between different sea basin strategies. The panel also served as an opportunity to reflect on integrating lessons learned from the other strategies’ implementation into the newly created North Sea Basin Strategy.
3. Establishment of High-Level Group: A high-level group meeting of the chairs of the Sea Basin Strategies was announced to be held at each EMD, led by DG Charlina Vitcheva. This group will serve as an informal reflection group at the highest level to guide the future direction of the Sea Basin Strategies.

Concrete opportunities for future cooperation and synergies:

1. Cross-sea basin thematic cooperation across key topics, particularly around the area of blue skills and ocean literacy, which is a priority for all the sea basins involved. Cooperation among existing “technical groups” will continue to be strengthened, focusing on Aquaculture in the WestMED & Black Sea; and on Green Ports/Shipping in WestMED and Atlantic.
2. Strengthening political cooperation among National Coordinators of the initiatives, inter alia by promoting the participation of representatives of sea basin strategies member countries in each other’s Steering Committee/Group meetings.
3. Promoting stakeholder cooperation across sea basins in upcoming regional conferences and events, such as the “Assises de l’économie de la mer” to be held on 19-20 November 2024 in Bordeaux (France), or the upcoming WestMED “Hackathon” to take place in Algarve in October.

The results of this discussion served as input for the workshop that was organised the same day : ‘Maximising synergies amongst EU “blue” initiatives’

Watch the full recording of this discussion on WestMED’s YouTube channel

Marisa Lameiras da Silva (WestMED’s Portuguese co-presidency 2024): “Coordination, collaboration and cooperation in each sea basin and between the sea basins need to be a mantra – to follow the same goals”