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Community-led actions to restore our ocean, seas and waters | Deadline 18 Sept 2024

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Deadline:  18 Sept 2024
Budget/ Technical Assistance: € 50.000.000
Countries/ regions: a.o. all WestMED countries
More information: website


This call aims to mobilize communities of actors across the European Union to take decisive action in restoring, protecting, and preserving our ocean, seas, and waters. The call will support community-led pilot actions and transition agendas, as well as provide technical assistance tailored to the needs of Mission communities. Community-led actions will focus on implementing innovative solutions that transcend traditional approaches, incorporating technological, nature-based, social, cultural, regulatory, and financial innovations.

Additionally, the call encourages collaboration with scientific institutions and the integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines to ensure the societal impact of innovation activities. Applicants are encouraged to foster partnerships with local stakeholders, NGOs, government agencies, and relevant actors to maximize the impact and scalability of their initiatives.

Maritime Spatial Planning projects (EMFAF-2023-PIA-MSP) | Deadline 27 February 2024

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Deadline: 27 February 2024
Budget: € 4.000.000
Countries: Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia
More information:   funding and tender opportunities portal by the European Commission 

 

Objective

The objective of this call for proposals is to facilitate the implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) in the EU, including through the effective application of Directive 2014/89 establishing a framework for MSP. This call is intended to fund projects developing innovative responses to tackle specific challenges that EU Members States might encounter when putting into effect, monitoring and/or revising their maritime spatial plans.

Many of these challenges are common to coastal Member States. Therefore, there is a shared interest in developing innovative responses that can apply within a sea basin and/or across sea basins. This means that projects should bring together participants from different Member States, located in a sea basin, or from different sea basins. To meet these challenges Member States will have to:

  • Reflect and align their maritime spatial plans to the ambition of the European Green Deal and the related initiatives in areas such as climate change mitigation and/or adaptation, biodiversity, food, mobility, energy transition, alongside established activities and interests.
  • Cater for cumulative impacts of ocean stressors: promote the use of an ecosystem-based approach, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), strengthen the process of the Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs), which are an integral part of MSP and promote environmental monitoring to collect data and asses impacts (e.g. on offshore renewable energies).
  • Reinforce the sea basin dimension of MSP: meeting the above-mentioned challenges, and integrating the new EU initiatives, will require greater cooperation in planning activities in the different sea basins.
  • Making MSP digital and pan-European: The aim of this “digitalisation” is to harmonise data and to disseminate the contents of these plans through a common or shared digital platform – the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet).

Demonstrations of innovative floating wind concepts | Deadline: 21 January 2025

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Deadline: 21 January 2025
Budget: €30.000.000
Countries: Algeria,France, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia
More information:   funding and tender opportunities portal by the European Commission 

Scope

The overall aim is to accelerate the cost-effective construction and deployment of floating wind farms, facilitating their rapid and sustainable deployment across Europe and lower their overall costs.

The transition of the energy system will rely on reducing the overall energy demand and making the energy supply side climate neutral, in current and future climate conditions. R&I actions will help to make the energy supply side cleaner, more secure, and competitive by boosting cost performance and reliability of a broad portfolio of renewable energy solutions, in line with societal needs and preferences. Furthermore, R&I activities will underpin the modernisation of the energy networks to support energy system integration, including the progressive electrification of demand side sectors (buildings, mobility, industry) and integration of other climate neutral, renewable energy carriers, such as clean hydrogen.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

  • Increased knowledge about design, construction, assembly and operation and maintenance of floating wind farms.
  • Improved overall constructability, reliability, installability, operability and maintainability of floating offshore wind systems.
  • Demonstrated efficient, low-cost and sustainable emerging technologies for floating wind turbines; reduction of the LCoE.
  • Reinforced European offshore wind turbine value chain and skills.
  • Data for future optimisation of industry scale commissioning of the floater, mooring and anchor system.

 

ocean-innovation-challnge poster for call

UNDP – Ocean Innovation Challenge – Call Sustainable Fisheries | Deadline 9 May 2021

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Deadline: 9 May 2021
Budget: 50.000-250.000 USD
Countries: TN, DZ, MA, MR, LY

Themes:

  • Fisheries and Aquaculture

The UNDP Ocean Innovation Challenge is looking for innovative solutions promoting sustainable fisheries to receive support up to 250K USD. Application deadline: 9 May 2021.

Over the years, the international community has taken important steps to promote sustainable fishing, such as the FAO’s Code of Conduct on Responsible Fishing, the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, and through the work of various regional fisheries agreements and RFMOs. Nevertheless, progress on key SDG 14 targets pertaining to sustainable fisheries has lagged and the main target, 14.4, was clearly not met in 2020.

Recognizing the increasing urgency of addressing unsustainable fishing, the second OIC Challenge, launched in March 2021, seeks innovative solutions that address one or more of the following SDG 14 targets:

  • 14.4 By 2020, end overfishing, IUU fishing and destructive fishing practices
  • 14.7 By 2030, increase the economic benefits to SIDS and LDCs from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries (and) aquaculture
  • 14.b Provide access for small scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets

Project proponents can include governments, private companies (including start-ups), NGO/CSO, United Nations entities, academic institutions, and intergovernmental organizations.

Over the years, the international community has taken important steps to promote sustainable fishing, such as the FAO’s Code of Conduct on Responsible Fishing, the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, and through the work of various regional fisheries agreements and RFMOs. Nevertheless, progress on key SDG 14 targets pertaining to sustainable fisheries has lagged and the main target, 14.4, was clearly not met in 2020.

Recognizing the increasing urgency of addressing unsustainable fishing, the second OIC Challenge, launched in March 2021, seeks innovative solutions that address one or more of the following SDG 14 targets:

  • 14.4 By 2020, end overfishing, IUU fishing and destructive fishing practices
  • 14.7 By 2030, increase the economic benefits to SIDS and LDCs from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries (and) aquaculture
  • 14.b Provide access for small scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets

Project proponents can include governments, private companies (including start-ups), NGO/CSO, United Nations entities, academic institutions, and intergovernmental organizations.

More information on the call-page of the ocean innovation challenge website