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Marta Pascual presenting at WestMED's national 2025 event on Tourism in Spain

Spanish WestMED National event 2025: Opportunities and Future of Blue Tourism in Spain

1 April 2025/in News /by National Hub Spain

On 12 March 2025, the Spanish National Event of the WestMED Initiative took place in Madrid at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.

The event, from 9:00-14:00 CET, gathered around 56 participants from various sectors of tourism activities, from consultants, to hospitality, tour operators, service and products providers, marketing, maritime tourism businesses, recreational sectors, regional tourism authorities, and fisheries sector amongst others. The entire organizations/participants list that attended the event can be found at the end of this document.

In terms of representativeness, the event was attended by stakeholders from all coastal Autonomous Communities from Spain, excluding Ceuta, Melilla and Cantabria. Most participants came from the Madrid region, but the event also gathered participants from Andalucia, Valencia, Balearic Islads, Murcia, Canary Islands, Galicia, Cataluña, Basque Country and Asturias.

Event Objective
The event had the objective of presenting and discussing about current and future opportunities for Blue Tourism within Spain. To steer this conversation, main initiatives and ministries were invited as speakers to present the work they are doing with regards to sustainable tourism within Spain. Two projects (one funded by EU and another national one) were also invited to showcase how they are also advancing towards these blue tourism efforts.

Opening
The event started with some opening and welcome words from Mr. Antonio Rodríguez de Lievana Sahagún, Director General of Coordination of Internal Markets and other Communitarian Policies from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAUC). Mr. Rodríguez de Liévana, expressed the views from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation with regards to blue economy as the ministry is very aware that the activities linked to the sea must be sustainable from the social, economic and environmental point of view and that they represent a valuable source of wealth and a fundamental asset for the settlement of the population. He then continued to explain that the event gathered representatives of the different administrations and other actors of the blue economy with the aim of having the opportunity to talk to each other about the challenges we face and the tools we have available to reach these blue economy objectives.

With regards to blue tourism, Mr. Rodríguez de Lievana, expressed the wish for a promising future for blue tourism in Spain, with a growth potential that could benefit both the local economy and environmental conservation, if managed in a responsible and sustainable manner. He also mentioned “With the right approach, this type of tourism can become an engine of economic development in coastal regions, as long as the balance between the enjoyment of natural resources and their preservation is respected.”

WestMED Initiative
After these opening words, the WestMED Initiative was presented by the National Hub from Spain for the WestMED Initiative, Mrs. Marta Pascual, who highlighted the efforts that WestMED Initiative is doing with regards to developing a sustainable tourism activity within the Mediterranean Sea. Mrs. Pascual also explained the recent developments of the newly constituted Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism within WestMED and presented some of the tasks, activities and achievements obtained by this technical group so far.

Sea Basin Strategies
The event was followed by an intervention from Mr. Javier Fernández, from ECORYS and Coordinator of the three of the Assistance Mechanisms of the EU Sea Basin Strategies. Mr. Fernández explained further opportunities, synergies and cooperation mechanisms that currently exist; not only within each of the Sea Basins, but also between the three Sea Basins (Western Mediterranean, Atlantic and Black Sea and potentially also with the new Greater North Sea Initiative). He also mentioned opportunities to link with the Union for the Medieterranean (UfM) and other Mediterranean Governance efforts.

UfM Study
Mr. Fernández talk was followed by an intervention from Mrs. Irene Alonso from ECORYS, who presented the latest findings from the study on the Implementation Roadmap of the Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy 2021. She highlighted those findings within the study related to blue tourism and highlighted that, despite being an important sector within the Mediterranean, many future opportunities are also envisioned.

Blue Book presentation
The event continued with the presentation of the “Blue Book” of Sun&Blue Congress by the Director of the congress, Mr. Tim Ott Reuter. This book is the compilation of the main outputs, messages and points that were raised during the 2^nd edition of the Sun&Blue Congress, which highlights all the topics that need to be aligned to obtain a real sustainable tourism (from energy, to water management, hospitality sustainability, diversification of experiences, efficiency of the processes, etc.).

After these intro speeches, the event had a short 30 min coffee break after which it was the turn of the various Ministries representatives to offer their perspective and knowledge on how blue tourism was addressed within their respective institutions.

Touristic offers in Spain
The first of the Ministries to take the floor was the Ministry of Industry and Tourism. Mrs. Ilona Shekyants Kazaryan, Subdirector general of sustainable touristic developments, mentioned the various efforts that MINTUR is doing with regards to promote and develop sustainable practices, activities and experiences within the touristic offers of Spain. She also mentioned the funding calls that the Ministry has launched within “Experiencias Turismo” for further advancing and developing some of these sustainable ideas into tourism products and offers.

Pesca Tourism
After Mrs. Shekyants intervention it was time for Mr. Manuel Pablos López, Subdirector general of economic sustainability and social affairs from the General Secretary of Fisheries from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture. Mr. Pablos López explained the efforts that within the MAPA they are developing towards pesca-tourism and maritime tourism activities. Both activities being of tourism, but having the fisheries sector, their traditions and culture always as driver of those tourist offers. He also highlighted the funding opportunities that exist for blue tourism activities within the EMFAF funding opportunities.

Spanish Maritime Cluster
After these two ministries speeches it was the turn for the Spanish Maritime Cluster to present the activities, they are developing and supporting with regards to sustainable tourism. Mr. Vicente Capell, explained the efforts the cluster was supporting with regards to the recreational tourism activities, decarbonization of recreational vessels and nautical ports, etc.

Tourism and MSP
Blue Tourism, being a maritime activity that occurs at Spanish coastlines and maritime spaces, also requires some allocation of space within the maritime spatial plans. As such, the event was followed up by the interesting intervention of Mrs. Aurora Mesa Fraile, Chief of the Maritime Spatial Planning from the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, who explained how the Spanish maritime spatial plans have been designed, what are their next steps and how the blue tourism sector has been incorporated into the needs and designs of these plans.

Blue Tourism Project examples
The event closed with the presentation of two interesting projects that deal with blue tourism within Spain. One from the Atlantic fringe and another one from the Mediterranean perspective.

Mrs. María Cardeiro López, manager of FUNDAMAR (Fundación para la Pesca y el Marisqueo) and Project manager of FISATUR (Red Atlántica de Experiencias Turísticas para la promoción del patrimonio cultural marítimo pesquero), explained the project´s objectives, main achievements and future activities.

Mrs. Nayra Irga Pérez Sánchez and Shonia Cruz, from REDDETUMAR, presented the Red Nacional Turismo Marinero, a national network of maritime tourism activities within Spain that aims to gather all maritime tourism activities, offers and developments to serve as a real diversification option for fishermen to earn some extra income.

Concluding remarks
The concluded by Mr. Omado Collado Díaz and Mrs. Rosa Bernardo, both National Coordinators from the WestMED Initiative and the Atlantic Action Plan, respectively, and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAUC). They both thanked those present at the event and highlighted the efforts that the WestMED Initiative is and will keep doing with regards to advancing on sustainable tourism opportunities within the blue economy in Spain.

Main next steps

Encourage an interministerial communication within all Ministries dealing with sustainable tourism topics within Spain (MAUC, MAPA, Hacienda, MITECO, etc.)
Encourage communication and connections between sustainable tourism stakeholders within Spain.

Click here for the full agenda and event annnouncement page (in Spanish)

Links to media coverage

https://x.com/WestMedStrat/status/1896953392075026552

https://www.turismomarinero.com/evento-westmed-oportunidades-y-futuro-del-turismo-azul/

https://winbigproject.eu/events/28/national-event-westmed-opportunities-and-future-of-blue-tourism-in-spain

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sun-blue-congress_sunandbluecongress-turismo-turismoazul-ugcPost-7305540744797159424-Msv-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAhRFRwB4YBy4noC0QYjbj0Fkc0NLtEmRK4

https://regp.pesca.mapama.es/visibilidad/eventos/evento-nacional-iniciativa-westmed-oportunidades-y-futuro-del-turismo-azul-en

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marta-pascual-51088b3a_evento-nacional-iniciativa-westmed-oportunidades-activity-7303707516566138884-MApq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAhRFRwB4YBy4noC0QYjbj0Fkc0NLtEmRK4

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marta-pascual-51088b3a_evento-nacional-iniciativa-westmed-oportunidades-activity-7302361086945583105-Ke8E?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAhRFRwB4YBy4noC0QYjbj0Fkc0NLtEmRK4

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sun-blue-congress_agenda-eventos-nacional-westmed-12-de-marzo-activity-7302967512361558016-dt_5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAhRFRwB4YBy4noC0QYjbj0Fkc0NLtEmRK4

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fundacion-fundamar_fisatur-turismoazul-westmed-activity-7305594957380173824-RgYI?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAhRFRwB4YBy4noC0QYjbj0Fkc0NLtEmRK4

Ufm Mediterranean pavillion stand with people passing by at an exhibition

UfM and Interreg NEXT MED renew commitment to tackle regional challenges together

13 March 2025/in News /by Communication team

12 March 2025, Barcelona – The Union for the Mediterranean and Interreg NEXT MED, the largest EU-funded transnational cooperation programme promoting socioeconomic development and environmental initiatives in the Mediterranean Basin, have reached an agreement formally extending collaboration between both parties for at least another three years.

The Memorandum of Understanding, which highlights how both Euro-Mediterranean institutions strive to reinforce political, socioeconomic, and cultural ties in the region, was signed by UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel and Director General of the Interreg NEXT MED Programme Giovanna Medde. The agreement, significantly, foresees mutual participation in events and conferences and, when relevant, extends invitations to participate in internal meetings as observers. It will also see the organisations continue to exchange information on projects of common interest, identify joint coordination actions and raise awareness of regional challenges together.

“The UfM and Interreg NEXT MED are united by the common goal of enhanced dialogue and cooperation between Mediterranean countries. The indisputable success of our partnership over the years is a positive sign for the future,” said UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel. “The UfM remains convinced of the long-term constructive influence of this alliance and looks forward to three more years of shared accomplishments.”

The long-standing partnership between these Euro-Mediterranean institutions has resulted in a multitude of impactful actions including Interreg NEXT MED’s participation in the UfM-sponsored Mediterranean Pavilion at the latest three United Nations Climate Change Conferences, its commemoration of the anniversary of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, and involvement in thematic UfM forums on youth empowerment or the blue economy, among others.

“The UfM-Interreg NEXT MED agreement has been instrumental in enhancing coordination between both institutions,” said Giovanna Medde, Director General of the Interreg NEXT MED Programme. “It is essential for developing and implementing jointly-owned solutions to the complex challenges our region faces. I am confident that renewing it will help us move closer to achieving our common goal of a more integrated, peaceful and prosperous Mediterranean.”

Source UfM website

group pucture decarbonisation conference Valencia port February 2025

WestMED participates in the Fundación Valenciaport conference “Innovation initiatives for decarbonising the Mediterranean”

15 February 2025/in News /by National Hub Spain

On 11 February 2025, Fundación Valenciaport organised the conference “Innovation initiatives for decarbonising the Mediterranean” in Valencia. The main objective was to present the many initiatives in which it participates, related to energy transition and decarbonization.

The event brought together more than fifty representatives of the port community with national and international speakers specialised in port sustainability.

During the opening, Antonio Torregrosa, general director of Fundación Valenciaport, welcomed the attendees and Leonardo Manzari, representative of the WestMED Initiative in Italy. Mr Manzari presented the main challenges of decarbonization in the Mediterranean port logistics sector.

Alternative fuel for maritime transport
The first block of the day was focused on alternative fuels for maritime transport.

Manolis Annetis, research engineer at the Maritime Risk Group of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), presented the objectives and progress of the GREENMED project; an initiative that aims to promote green shipping in the Mediterranean basin by analyzing the energy demand of the currently operating fleet and evaluating transition scenarios towards a sustainable future. He also presented a techno-economic analysis of the current bunkering system in the region and the actions needed to promote decarbonization in port logistics.

Next, Aurelio Lázaro, Senior Project Manager of Fundación Valenciaport, presented the progress and first results of the POWER4MED project. This project aims to develop tools to facilitate the path towards carbon neutrality of three sectors; fishing vessels, commercial vessels and marinas.

This session was concluded with a roundtable discussion focused on new fuels in the maritime industry. This roundtable was moderated by Francisco Tinaut, Professor of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in the CMT- Clean Mobility&Thermofluids. Daniel García (POSEIDON), Jan Octavio Wilske (SEAFAIRER), Marta Pascual (WestMED), Manolis Annetis (GREENMED) and Aurelio Lázaro (POWER4MED) participated in this roundtable.

Decarbonising Ports
Marina Arroyo, Project Manager of Fundación Valenciaport, began the second block of the day with the presentation of the SEANERGY project. SEANERGY seeks to move towards “Zero Emissions” ports. During his speech, he highlighted the Catalogue of Technologies for Port Decarbonization, one of the main tools of the project to facilitate the energy transition.

Next, Ignacio Benítez, Senior Project Manager of Fundación Valenciaport, presented the BLUEBARGE project, whose main objective is to develop a barge designed to supply electric power to docked and anchored ships, through the use of batteries of different technologies, contributing to the reduction of emissions and the promotion of more sustainable infrastructures in the port logistics sector.

Subsequently, the SEANERGY workshop was held by Marina Arroyo and Sandra Roselló, deputy director of Fundación Valenciaport, where they explained the main resources developed by the project to help port organizations to develop their energy transition strategies.

Adaptation to Climate Change in Spanish Ports
The last block of the day focused on the adaptation of ports to climate change, which began with the intervention of Begoña Pérez, from the Department of Climate Change and Prediction of Puertos del Estado, who presented the strategies to improve the resilience of Spanish ports against the environmental impacts of climate change.

The conference concluded in the afternoon with the presentation of the ARSINOE project, an initiative that studies the impact of climate change on ports with the aim of developing strategies to mitigate its effects.

Noemí Monterde, Senior Project Manager of Fundación Valenciaport, shared the functioning of the Climate Change Observatory of the Port Authority of Valencia, created within the framework of this initiative, with the aim of analyzing the effect of climate phenomena on port infrastructures and operations.

For his part, José María García-Valdecasas, head of Coastal Services at NOW Systems, presented Clevertool, a tool designed to evaluate these impacts and support the definition of adaptation measures.

For more information about this event, contact Marta Pascual (National Hub Spain)

slider poster with vector of project people holding puzzle pieces

Regular updates on WestMED (Technical) thematic stakeholder group activities

10 February 2025/in News /by Communication team

The WestMED Assistance Mechanism (WM-AM) has initiated several thematic discussion platforms. Current and future maritime developments are being discussed with lead stakeholders from the participating countries under the guidance of WM-AM facilitators, with a focus on concrete actions – often in the form of joint project development.

To provide insights in the objectives and activities of these stakeholder groups, regular updates will be provided in the form of short presentations. These presentations can be found as a pdf file on the respective thematic stakeholder group pages:

If you are interested to know more or consider joining, just get in touch with the respective WestMED National Hubs that are mentioned on each of these pages

Launch of S3 Thematic partnership “Shipbuilding Propulsion Systems Alliance” with 26 partners from 3 EU sea basins

30 November 2024/in News /by Communication team

Maritime transport and Ports probably represent the core sector, to win the challenge of sustainability of the Blue Economy, considering its impact in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) and jobs creation across the EU and its neighbouriung regions.

Greening the EU maritime transport is therefore pivotal to ‘green’ the EU blue economy at large (including tourism, aquaculture, biotechs, marine renewable energy).

But a green transition for the EU maritime transport sectors requires a common vision to equip ports and fleets in a coherent way, within a network capable to ensure their operativity.

Therefore, within the work of the WestMED Technical Group on Green Shipping,the strong need emerged to re-configurate the shipbuilding supply chain and create the production capacity to equip the fleets with propulsion systems, using alternative fuels.

Shipbuilding Propulsion Systems Alliance
For this reason the WestMED Technical Group on Green Shipping, the EU Seabasin Assistance Mechanism, promoted by CINEA and DG Mare, have supported a dedicated Smart Specialisation (S3) Thematic Partnership in this area, encountering the interest of the impacted territories where shipbuilding operations are mostly located, and involving different stakeholders – authorities, research and innovation centres, businesses and investors.

The newly launched S3 Thematic partnership “Shipbuilding Propulsion Systems Alliance”, led by Region Liguria, Região capital de Portugal, Region Attica, brings together 26 partners – including Regional Bodies, Businesses, Cluster Organisations, Research & Innovation Centres and Civil Society Organisations – from 5 EU Member states and 4 non EU partner countries spread across 3 EU Sea basins (Mediterranean Atlantic, Black Sea).

The initiative, more specifically, aims at:

Speeding up the modernisation and renewal of the supply chains related to the production/refitting of propulsion systems, as well as to the delivery of the fuel, for each type of alternative fuel.
Accelerating the replacement/refitting of traditionally propelled fleets to diversify, renew, revitalise the sector across Europe and its neighbourhoods;
Fostering the adoption of innovative fiscal and financial schemes, to allow shipowners, shipbuilders and related stakeholders to achieve greater impact and sustainability for their investments.

For more information on this Partnership, visit the S3 Community of Practice page of the European Commission

group picture with all participants from the WestMED Hackathon 2024

WestMED Hackathon 2024: Crafting Sustainable Blue Economy Projects

9 October 2024/in News /by Communication team

On 3 October 2024, 87 practioners and policymakers from 15 countries met in Vilamoura, Portugal to discuss project ideas and possible funding sources. This was the 3rd WestMED hackathon after previous succesful sessions in Palermo (2019) and Malta (2022).

This year’s Hackathon with the title ‘Crafting Sustainable Blue Economy Projects’ was hosted and co-organised by Portugal, Mauritania and DG MARE/ European Commission.

After the opening remarks by the Sea Basins Assistance Mechanism Team Leader from Ecorys (Javier Fernández), the Portuguese and Mauritanian co-presidencies (Lídia Bulcão and Demba Diawara) and a welcome word by the European Commission (Christos Economou), WestMED’s project coordinator (Celia Murcia) took the floor to explain the proceedings for the day and introduced the speakers that each detailed different EU financial instruments with current and upcoming funding opportunities such as Interreg NEXT MED, EMFAF, BlueInvest and Erasmus+.

These instruments have proven to be a vital part to support the implementation of ideas, projects and creation of partnerships that promote co-operation, collaboration and co-ordination between the economic agents of the countries that are part of the WestMed Initiative. This funding part was completed by a presentation detailing 2 practical Portuguese examples that have been supported by the WestMED National Hub and can be replicated: MEDBAN (Mediterranean Blue Acceleration Network) and HUBAZUL.

After the funding part, six blue projects took the stage to tell their story, five of whom have received EMFAF funding. These projects (CALLMEBLUE, WeMED NA_TOUR, WINBIG, GREEN MARINE MED , BlueAquaEdu and Blue Skills) served as an inspiration for the five Project Development Labs that followed shortly after.

Each lab consisted of approximately 15-20 stakeholders with two moderators and were focused on some of the main themes that have been prioritised within the WestMED Initiative: Aquaculture, Blue Skills and careers, Maritime clusters, Green shipping and ports, and Sustainable tourism.

The outcomes of these discussions were presented in a plenary session and the next steps briefly outlined with enough ideas to be further explored.

The day was concluded by Marisa Lameiras da Silva, Director General for Maritime Policy in Portugal who shared her reflections and conclusions noting the remarkable amount of energy that she had found with the participants engaging in the different Labs. Manuel Pleguezuelo Alonso from DG MARE brought this event to an end by highlighting how some of the ideas from the hackathon 2 years ago have now come to fruition, emphasising the importance of “policies through projects,” and thanking all participants who have made this possible.

Download the hackathon report

Download the agenda

Watch all WestMED Hackathon ’24 presentations: dedicated playlist on WestMED’s YouTube channel

WestMED Steering Committee members sitting around a larfge conference table in Portugal, October 1, 2024

WestMED Stakeholders gather in Portugal for a 3-day agenda on the Blue Economy

6 October 2024/in News /by Communication team

Three full days have been dedicated to enhancing synergies among key actors in the Mediterranean basin: The WestMED Steering Comittee (SC) on October 1, The UfM Regional Platform on the Blue Economy on October 2, and the WestMED Hackathon on October 3, 2024.

WestMED Steering Committee
The WestMED Steering Committee (SC) was hosted by the Region of Algarve and the Portuguese Co-Presidency.

The meeting gathered representatives from the WestMED countries, as well as the Observers, DG MARE, CINEA, UfM and the team of the Assistance Mechanism.

A key milestone was presented at the SC meeting in terms of cooperation and clustering within the Mediterranean region. On 29 September 2024, the first maritime cluster has been officially established in Libya with the support of the WestMED Initiative. This maritime cluster will be rolled out in the coming months. (see article on this announcement).

Updates on the WestMED Technical Groups (TGs) were presented by the Assistance Mechanism, in particular to the recently approved TG on Sustainable Tourism. There has been a call for Tourism experts to join, and there has already been a stakeholder group meeting on September 6 and an advisory group meeting on September 18 to prepare for the official launch at the Sun&Blue Conference on November 21.

The WestMED countries are fully committed towards a more sustainable and resilience tourism section in the Mediterranean. Some countries are working to promote more environmental-friendly tourism alternatives such as pesca-tourism and sustainable scuba diving at artificial reefs.

In view of the willingness of the WestMED Initiative towards enhancing more synergies and cooperative dialogue with the African countries, DG MARE presented the Strategic Dialogue on the Africa-Europe Ocean Economy. A scoping report has been produced outlining way to strengthen cooperation between Africa and Europe on ocean governance and blue economy, from which to forge a mutually beneficial roadmap for the two continents in line with the 2030 UN Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

UfM Regional Platform on Sustainable Blue Economy

Back-to-back to the WestMED Steering Committee, the UfM Regional Platform took place on 2 October 2024

The UfM Secretariat introduced the most recent advancements on the update of the Roadmap for the implementation of the 2021 UfM Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Blue Economy. On the monitoring, reporting and evaluation mechanism, an exhaustive exercise is being done based on 657 actions, activities and projects of regional cooperation in the Mediterranean.

The UfM is going to shortly launch the new edition of the UfM Sustainable Blue Economy Publication, which provides an update on the status of the key blue economy sectors in the Mediterranean, including transversal aspects such as blue skills, marine research and funding frameworks. The previous edition of this 2021 publication can be found here.

On this occasion, the UfM Regional Plan for Transport was presented by Francesc Carbonell. Further synergies are being sought between the WestMED Technical Group on Green Shipping and Ports and the UfM Regional Plan for Transport, to address the common challenges of the sector in the Mediterranean.

Further updates were presented in terms of the Community of Practice on MSP (Smart Specialization Strategies – S3, Mission Restore Our Oceans by 2030 and BlueMissionMed, Interreg Euro-Med and strategy dialogue on the Africa-Europe Ocean Economy.

On the funding opportunities, updates were presented in the Blue Mediterranean Partnership, Interreg Next-MED and the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership.

WestMED Hackaton 2024

On 3 October 2024, 85 stakeholders from more than 20 countries met in Vilamoura, Portugal to discuss project ideas and possible funding sources. This was already the 3rd hackathon after previous sessions in Palermo (2019) and Malta (2022).

Read the full article

Download the agenda

Watch all WestMED Hackathon ’24 presentations: dedicated playlist on WestMED’s YouTube channel

Marisa Lameiras da Silva (Portugal) and Demba Diawara (Mauritania) co-chairing the WestMED Steering Committee | Copyright photos: DGPM

WestMED Steering Committee meeting in Brussels with representatives sitting at a round table on June 26 2024

Members and observers of the WestMED Steering Committee gather in Brussels to discuss latest developments

12 July 2024/in News, Uncategorized /by Communication team

The primary objective of this WestMED Steering Committee meeting that took place on June 26 in Brussels, was to assemble the representatives of the 10 WestMED countries and observers in-person to provide them with an overview of the latest advancements on the implementation of the WestMED Initiative, the latest funding opportunities, and to approve the establishment of the new Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Portuguese and Mauritanian Co-Presidencies, with the support from DG MARE and the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean).

Significant visibility of the Initiative
In recent months, the WestMED Initiative has achieved significant visibility and dissemination, as highlighted by Iglika Yakova (DG MARE). The WestMED Initiative has actively participated in various events, including the UfM Stakeholders Conference (19-20 February), the WestMED side event at the Our Ocean Conference (15-17 April), Deportibus (11 May) the European Maritime Day (30-31 May), Posidonia (7 June), the Macro-Region and Sea Basins Strategies Days (12-13 June).

National events, such as the national Dialogue in Morocco, the involvement of Libyan representatives in various Technical Groups (TGs), and the consolidation of the Mauritanian maritime cluster, further underscore the Initiative’s visiblity and success.

Another significant step to establish synergies was the participation of WestMED as Observers in the MedLab Annual event organized by Interact, held back-to-back with the WestMED Steering Committee meeting. The MedLab Annual event focused on the Post-2027 debate and regional cooperation.

Establishment of a new WestMED Technical Group on Tourism
Tourism in the Mediterranean region is expanding, making the industry a crucial employment sector. The WestMED Initiative aims to enhance the coastal tourism sector’s competitiveness and sustainability while protecting the environment through eco-tourism, digitalization, and cross-border cooperation.

The establishment of a new Technical Group (TG) by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism addresses a priority identified by the WestMED Initiative and will serve as an informal forum for discussing sustainable tourism needs, focusing on green transition, digitalization, governance, and skills. The TG will comprise a core group, an advisory body, and a technical group. The Steering Committee is currently in the process of approving the Terms of Reference for this new Technical Group

Overview of Funding opportunities
Several funding opportunities were highlighted:

EU Mission Ocean, Seas, and Waters: The Work Programme 2024 includes two call topics. Call 1 covers thematic topics aligned with Mission objectives such as restoration and a sustainable blue economy, while Call 2 targets support for actor communities like waterfront cities and islands. The overview also includes several Horizon calls within these Mission calls, focusing on topics like Blue Parks and MPAs, reducing fisheries’ impact in EU sea basins, and community-led ocean and water restoration. Additionally, it highlights opportunities for third parties to join ongoing projects, particularly Calls for Associated Regions, aiming to enhance capacity for implementing innovative solutions in neighboring regions.
Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership: Four priority areas have been identified for the transnational call launched in February 2024: regional sea-use management, multi-use marine infrastructures, blue bioresources, and regional-scale Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs). To enhance global visibility and foster new collaborations, the call is co-branded by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, coordinated by UNESCO. All Mediterranean countries are eligible for EU contributions, whether they are EU Member States, Associated countries, or low-to-medium-income countries.
Interreg NEXTMED: The first call for proposals, closed in May 2024, was divided into nine Specific Objectives. Among 631 proposals, most projects targeted “Growth and competitiveness of SMEs,” “Education and training,” and “Climate Change adaptation.” Projects were categorized into three clusters: Thematic, Youth-oriented, and Governance, with 90% falling under the Thematic cluster. Most participating organizations were from Italy, Greece, and Spain within the EU, and from Turkey and Tunisia outside the EU. Participants included public legal bodies (30%), NGOs (27%), private companies (13%), and regional/local public administrations (10%). A second call for proposals, focusing on Green Transition, is set to launch in November 2024.
Interreg EURO-MED: The 1st and 3rd calls focused on Governance projects, selecting 8 projects that began in January 2023. The 2nd call targeted Thematic projects, resulting in 56 projects that started in January 2024. The 4th call, which closed in June 2024, will see 20 Thematic projects begin in spring 2025, addressing the four main thematic areas: sustainable economy, environmental protection, green living, and sustainable tourism. The upcoming 5th call will focus on Thematic Strategic Territorial projects for rural, mountain areas, and islands, emphasizing innovative solutions for waste reduction and water scarcity. The presentation concludes with an overview of the 1st call’s Governance projects in the field of the Sustainable Blue Economy.

Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Platform meeting on Blue Economy
Back-to-back to the WestMED Steering committee this UfM Regional Platform Meeting on Blue Economy took place on June 27, with many of the key players from the day before.

The UfM Secretariat introduced the most recent advancements on the update of the Blue Economy Roadmap and the activation of the SBE (Sustainable Blue Economy) Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation Mechanism; highlighted progress on the multi-partner and multi-donor investment fund ‘Blue Mediterranean Partnership’; and recalled the series of two webinars held during the first semester of 2024 on blue food and sustainable tourism, as well as the third webinar (July 1 2024) on MRE (Marine Renewable Energy)/licensing/MSP (Maritime Spatial Planning).

The UfM shared an update on the harmonization exercise of UfM Regional Platforms. The UfM operates under a consolidated action-driven methodology creating links between political mandate, multi-stakeholder dialogue, and tangible projects and initiatives. This methodology comprises three pillars: Policies, Platforms, and Projects – the so-called ‘3 Ps’. As part of the ongoing UfM reform efforts to enhance efficiency and in an effort to harmonize the relevant terminology, the ‘UfM Working Group on Blue Economy’ is henceforth renamed as the ‘UfM Regional Platform on Sustainable Blue Economy’.

Visit the UfM website for more information on the UfM Regional Platform on Blue Economy

Next meeting
The 16th meeting of the UfM Regional Platform on Sustainable Blue Economy will take place in Algarve, Portugal, in October 2024, back-to-back with the next WestMED Steering Committee and the 3rd WestMED Hackathon.

e-FishMed engaged in the Blue Economy and the fight against IUU fishing

11 July 2024/in News /by Communication team

The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) supports and implements the project “Mediterranean virtual regional training academy on fisheries control and inspection (e-FishMed)“, initiated by the European Commission and financed by the European Union under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

This project was launched in 2022 and is a follow-up to the “FIUUFRA” project which was supported by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism

Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia are beneficiary countries of the project, and the initiative is supported by France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain.

The virtual academy is pivotal to harmonise fisheries control and inspection activities and foster cooperation and exchange of best practices between northern and southern Mediterranean countries.

Since February 2022, EFCA and the participating countries worked hard together to make the project successful.

Common Curriculum
As a first tangible result, a common training curriculum for fisheries inspectors and Fisheries Monitoring Centres (FMCs) operators was defined by EFCA and agreed by participants countries. The goal is to improve monitoring, control, and surveillance activities in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic through a better common understanding of the rules to be applied to fisheries control and inspection activities.

E-learning platform
In parallel, to achieve the second result, EFCA designed an e-learning platform (registration required), targeted to officials involved in fisheries control and inspection from e-FishMed beneficiary countries. The platform hosts e-learning modules and other training materials such as video tutorials, manuals, and international, regional, and national legislation. Through this tool, fisheries inspectors and FMC operators can train themselves anytime from anywhere! Currently, 159 officials from beneficiary countries are already using the platform and the ambition is to continue to grow.

In-person training
Starting from September 2023, the project complemented the online learning experience with presential training sessions. A regional “train-the-trainers” course was organised by EFCA, with the support of Malta and France. The course aimed to reinforce capacities, skills and competences of fishery inspectors involved in training activities for their peers.

Two national training sessions on risk management methodology were also organised: one in Morocco jointly with the Moroccan Maritime Fisheries Department and another one in Tunisia together with the General Directorate of Fishery and Aquaculture. This latter counted with France support.

In July 2024 another regional training for FMC operators took place in EFCA premises in Vigo. During this training, participants had the opportunity to share experiences and best practices and to visit the EFCA Coordination Centre.

Exchange programme for fisheries officials
As a third result, the project achieved to set up an exchange programme for fisheries officials, sharing of expertise, and networking between northern and southern Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic countries. A first edition of the exchange programme, counting with Spain support, took place in Madrid and Malaga in April 2024 and the second edition, supported by France, will take place in Etel and Lorient in September 2024.

Regardless of the outcomes required and achieved by the project, the added value of the e-FishMed project lies in its capacity to further promote stronger cooperation on fisheries control in the Mediterranean Sea basin, creating networks, reinforcing trust, and being a forum for the exchange of experiences and best practices.

The added value of e-FishMed was also recently recognised in the WestMed Ministerial Declaration dated 23 June 2023 that welcomed the share of expertise and best practices within the e-FishMed project.

Furthermore, until its end, foreseen in January 2025, the project will continue to deliver and achieve results contributing to a sustainable blue economy and the fight against IUU fishing.

For more information you can contact efishmed@efca.europa.eu

e-FishMed regional train-the-trainer workshop in Malta | 26-28 September 2023

e-FishMed national training in Morocco | 12-14 December 2023

e-FishMed exchange programme in Spain | 15-19 April 2024

e-FishMed national training in Tunisia | 7-9 May 2024

Matteo Bocci moderating discussion panel on synergies at macro-regional and sea basin strategies days 2024

Synergies between the 7 EU regional cooperation strategies highlighted during joint DG Regio and DG Mare event

2 July 2024/in News /by Communication team

There are four macro-regional strategies in the EU, fostering cooperation in approx 75% of all EU member states. In addition, there are three EU sea basin strategies, which are cooperation structures for protecting the sea basins. These strategies come from different origins but share similar goals and the view that some challenges cannot be solved on the national level alone.

From 12-14 June 2024, all seven EU territorial strategies came together for the first time, to exchange information, thoughts and ideas on regional cooperation in Europe under the slogan ‘Strategies4Cooperation.’

Five parallel interactive workshops were organised to discuss the following themes: Enlargement, Climate Change, Clusters and Innovation, Embedding and Civil Societies engagement.

Amongst the many events, a panel discussion was organised by the EU Sea Basin Assistance Mechanism titled ‘Synergies amongst the strategies; taking stock and looking ahead’ .

This panel was moderated by Matteo Bocci (EU Assistance Mechanism) and consisted of Ms Andra Kuzmina (Latvian Presidency for the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region), Ms Mathilde Konstantopoulou (Greek Presidency for the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region), Mr Markku Markkula (Vice Presidente of the Committee of the Regions) and Ms Isabelle Perret (French Presidency of the EU Sea Basin Strategy for the Atlantic)

Some key conclusions from this session:

There are as many shared commonalities as well as specificities amongst the strategies as relevant enablers of cooperation (e.g. same targeted stakeholders, different governance models and levels)
There are clear ways to foster more synergies between the strategies (e.g. observer roles in each other’s governance structures)
Shared actions should be explored across key topics/sectors (e.g. skills, pollution, decarbonisation & Marine Renewable Energies, smaller islands)
Stakeholder cooperation could be promoted more across mutual events
Information could be shared and duplication avoided through a better exchange beween the strategies (e.g. build on best practices and good examples)
Good to maximise use of (limited) financial resources – e.g. by making them more impact-oriented

You can find a complete summary of all 29 conclusions in this pdf

The 5th Macro-Regional and Sea Basin Strategies Days 2024, was co-organised by DG REGIO and DG MARE.

For more information on the Macro-regional & Sea Basin Strategies Days 2024 including speeches and outcomes, visit the the event page.

Photo-exhibition
During this event, a photo-exhibition was organised showcasing the two most relevant projects per strategy.

For the WestMED Initiative, photos were displayed from award winners Starfish 4.0/ NEMO (winner 2021) and ‘We are Blue Schools‘ (winner 2023)

We Are Blue Schools | Ocean literacy | Group of children displaying their ocean related artwork on the Balearic Islands | Photo (c) We are blue schools

StarFish 2.0 | Small Scale Fisheries | The Nemo tracking and monitoring device by CLS being tested by local fishermen | Photo (c) George Galanos

Overview of the photo-exhibition with examples of projects from the seven EU cooperation strategies

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