Spain-news Archives

Articles

panel on stage with speaker during the 2025 paths that last sustainable Tourism Conference in Croatia

WestMED’s Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism participates in the Interreg Tourism Conference ‘Paths that Last’

9 juillet 2025/dans Actualités /par Communication team

200 participants | 8 Programme Organisers | approx 90 Projects | 5 workshops

On 25–26 June 2025, the WestMED’s Technical Group on Sustainable Tourism through the National Hub for Malta (Stephanie Vella), participated in an event held in Split, Croatia, under the Mediterranean Multi-Programme Mechanism titled “Paths That Last – Collaborating for a Sustainable Tourism in the Mediterranean”.

Eight Interreg Programmes working together in the Mediterranean
Next to a wide range of stakeholders. this gathering brought together eight Interreg programmes working across the region including Interreg Euro-MED, Interreg Greece–Cyprus, Interreg Italy–Croatia, Interreg Italy–Slovenia, Interreg Italy–France Maritime, Interreg Italy–Malta, Interreg NEXT Italie–Tunisie, and Interreg NEXT MED.

The goal of the Mediterranean Multi Programme Mechanism is to enhance synergy, coordination, and capitalisation among projects to address common challenges such as sustainable tourism, climate change, and socio-economic development in Mediterranean territories.

The event aimed to foster cross-programme coordination, share good practices, and promote the development of joint project ideas to advance sustainable tourism across the Mediterranean. It created an opportunity for stakeholders to align efforts around shared goals while responding to regional challenges.

Five workshops
Central to the conference were 5 different interactive workshops addressing critical themes for sustainable tourism: Shared and Strategic Governance of the Tourism Offer, Tourism and Green Transition, Inclusive and Accessible Tourism and Innovative Tourism Products

Workshop ‘Shared and Strategic Governance’
The WestMED Technical Group took part in the workshop on Shared and Strategic Governance. Through interactive exercises like the “Imaginary Planet” visioning workshop, the event encouraged creative thinking about future sustainable tourism models, including cross-border governance, local engagement, and sustainable visitor management.

The workshops facilitated the early formation of ideas for joint project proposals, which were later shared during the event’s closing plenary session. Some of the project ideas which were discussed include the application of carrying capacity models particularly in congested areas of tourism, the attraction of tourism in rural areas as a means of spreading the impact of tourism as well as the importance of training to operators in the sectors as well as tourists in order to encourage both the supply and demand of sustainable tourism.

During the workshop, the objectives of the WestMED’s technical group on sustainable tourism were outlined highlighting that the group serves as a technical forum to discuss trends and opportunities towards sustainable tourism within the region and to provide support to participants to develop project ideas around the topics already set at EU level with regards to the tourism-related topics.

The importance of capitalisation was also stressed, highlighting the need to build on the results of past and ongoing projects to avoid duplication and maximise the impact of existing knowledge and tools. Also, emphasis was placed on the importance of ensuring access to region-specific funding opportunities, particularly those that include southern shore countries, to guarantee a balanced approach to sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean.

The event offered a valuable networking opportunity for a range of stakeholders. It was instrumental in reinforcing cooperation, sharing innovation, and building a more cohesive approach to sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean—one that lasts.

Check the event announcement (including agenda)

See below for the Conference recording of the 1st day of this conference.

For more information contact Stephanie Vella: malta@westmed-initiative.eu

Photo Source: ASCAME

Recording of the Concerence: Paths That Last – Collaborating for a sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean

Closing of the POWER4MED Project & Launch of GREENMEDPORT & SHARE4MED projects: A New Milestone Toward Carbon Neutrality in the Mediterranean Maritime Sector

4 juillet 2025/dans Actualités /par Communication team

Based on the press release from the Algerian Press Service

Oran, Algeria-3 July 2025

The WestMED supported POWER4MED project, designed to support the energy transition of small ports and ships in the western Mediterranean, officially came to an end on Wednesday in Oran, at an international conference attended by researchers, decision-makers and economic operators from the maritime sector.

Financed by the European EMFAF Fund, and as part of the WESTMED initiative, the POWER4MED project (Local empowerment of fuel transition for a green Mediterranean) was launched in November 2023 for a period of 20 months, said Professor Beladjine Boumedienne, a research lecturer in the maritime engineering department at the Mohamed Boudiaf University of Science and Technology in Oran (USTO-MB), a partner in the project, who oversaw the organisation of this event at its opening.

The project, that lasted 18 months (November 2023-april 2025) was carried out by a consortium of partners from six Mediterranean countries, namely Algeria, Italy, Egypt, Spain, Libya and Turkey, he added. The project aims to support the transition to clean fuels and sustainable energy technologies for small vessels, in particular fishing boats and local ferries, as well as for marinas and secondary ports, said the representative of the Italian Ministry of Transport, Piero Pineli, in his speech at the opening.

POWER4MED Support Structure: A Governance and Energy Transition Model
Professor Mohamed Smaïl, from the English University in Cairo, who presented the project’s recommendations, pointed out that a virtual support structure, was jointly set up and piloted by Italian, Algerian and Egyptian institutions as part of the project to provide technical, financial and regulatory support to maritime operators wishing to make the transition.

It provides a multidisciplinary support team and technical tools to assist fishing boat and ferry operators, as well as marina managers, in adopting low-carbon fuels in the short term and in charting pathways toward carbon neutrality by 2050

The structure relies on a multidisciplinary team of experts, as well as a set of practical capacity-building tools that have been tested with pilot players.

Core funtions of the support structure:

Analyzing needs and availability of affordable alternative fuels.
Developing toolkits to align with EU legislation and IMO decarbonization strategies.
Facilitating knowledge transfer through training workshops and field visits to marine labs and simulators

Samir Bachouche (WestMED National Hub Algeria), ended the day with an overview of the WestMED Initiative and how the Assistance Mechanism can help other projects who are looking to start or scale up – with possible additional project partners and/ or ways to look for possible funding opportunities. He also pointed to the upcoming WestMED Stakeholder Conference on November 28 in Tunis and the possibility to submit blue projects for the WestMED Project Awards 2025 for extra recognition.

Parallel Event: The Algerian-Italian Maritime Cooperation Forum

A major highlight was the Algerian-Italian Maritime Cooperation Forum, which focused on port digitalization, integrated supply chains, alternative fuels (green hydrogen, LNG, methanol), and carbon footprint tracking for fishing and cargo vessels. The forum aims to strengthen cross-border value chains and attract private investments to support the blue economy.

Transition to a New Project Generation: Launch of GREENMEDPORT & SHARE4MED

Two new strategic projects were launched the next day ,on 5 July 2025: GREENMEDPORT and SHARE4MED, funded by the INTERREG NEXT MED programme. Each initiative is expected to run until 2027 with a budget of approximately €1 million and an EU co-financing rate of 89%

The aim of these new programmes is to strengthen cross-border cooperation in port digitalisation, fleet energy conversion and green maritime regulation and logistics. Specifically:

GREENMEDPORT:

Assessing infrastructure needs for alternative fuels in western Mediterranean ports.
Developing a real-time carbon footprint monitoring platform

SHARE4MED

Sharing environmental and emissions data among ports and research institutions.
Foresight capabilities for short and medium-term adaptation technologies

For more information about this event, check the announcement page

For more information on about the POWER4MED project, visit the Power4Med webpage on the sdg4med website

meeting with people seated at table against a United Nations Ocean Conference backdrop

UNOC3 Summit ‘For a More Connected Mediterranean’

9 juin 2025/dans Actualités /par Communication team

On 9 June 2025, the Heads of State and Government and high representatives of Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Tunisia and the EU on the invitation of the President of the French Republic, gathered at the summit “For a More Connected Mediterranean”, on the sidelines of the third United Nations Ocean Conference.

The meeting also brought together representatives of international organisations, development banks and large companies.

In view of common challenges in the Mediterranean, the Heads of State and Government decided to strengthen their cooperation and work towards shared and sustainable prosperity through a greater maritime, land and digital connectivity between Europe, the Mediterranean and the Gulf.

The Mediterranean Sea accounts for 25% of global maritime traffic and is at the heart of commercial, energy and digital exchanges. In this intense traffic area, States have raised the level of protection of the sea through regulation of transport in the Gulf of Lion a well as the creation of a low-sulphur emission zone, known as SECA zone, which encompasses the entire Mediterranean Sea. The latter was established on 1 May 2025 following the approval of the International Maritime Organisation.

The European Commission recalled that, as part of the Global Gateway strategy in the Middle East and North Africa, the European Union’s support reached €5.9 billion, which is expected to mobilise up to €27.2 billion in private and public investments. Commissioner Šuica also presented the objectives of the upcoming New Pact for the Mediterranean, which aims to strengthen partnerships between the European Union and the countries in the Mediterranean region, based on mutual interests.

Extensive bilateral and regional partnerships were announced for the development of new land and sea connections, the decarbonisation of ports and the deployment of new submarine cables. The participants discussed common objectives to ensure:

1) Decarbonisation of the maritime sector and major Mediterranean ports.

As part of a joint statement, the Mediterranean ports of Algesiras, Beirut and Marseille, announced the creation of a working group contributing to the reduction of shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions by providing ships with onshore power connections in ports while developing infrastructure for supply of alternative fuels and fostering rail or river onward transport towards the hinterland, as well as studying opportunities for new green corridors in the Mediterranean. All Mediterranean ports will be welcome to join the coalition before the COP24 of the Barcelona Convention (Cairo, December 2025). Croatia also announced the launch of its new Rijeka Gateway, green and fully automated, within the port of Rijeka, the most important Croatian port situated on three EU corridors.

2) Strengthening of maritime and land routes for transport of goods and green energy.

France and the European Commission, within the framework of the Global Gateway strategy and the New Pact for the Mediterranean, reiterated their support for the implementation of the India Middle East Europe Corridor (IMEC), including the mobilisation of Global Gateway funding to launch feasibilitystudies for this corridor. France reiterated its support for Egypt’s accession to IMEC, which aims to strengthen connectivity between East and West.

On 30 May 2025, France organised the first IMEC Sherpa meeting since the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding in September 2023. During this meeting, the participants reaffirmed their strong support for the project, as well as the need to consolidate IMEC’s governance while mobilising companies in the strategic sectors concerned. This same group has been invited by the European Commission to meet again, on the sidelines of the Global Gateway Forum to be held in Brussels on 9 and 10 October.

On energy connectivity between Europe and the Gulf, ACWA Power reaffirmed its commitment to convene a private-sector working group alongside leading European energy companies (including partners from France, Germany, Italy and Greece) to explore and develop joint projects in green hydrogen, renewable energy exports and related infrastructure, such as electrical interconnections. This collaborative framework will pave the way for clearer energy flows and the necessary investments under the IMEC corridor.

The Commission also stated the importance of advancing clean energy connectivity with North Africa, notably through the emerging T-MED Initiative, which supports renewable energy investment and infrastructure development across the Mediterranean.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, Greece and Cyprus recalled the implementation of large renewable energy interconnection projects, such as the “GREGY” project, a 950-kilometre submarine cable with a capacity of 3 GW which aims to interconnect Egypt and Greece, or the “Great Sea Interconnector” (GSI), bridging Europe and Middle East with clean energy.

3) Increased digital connections between the Mediterranean and the Gulf.

The participants presented EU’s flagship “Medusa/GEANT” Submarine Cable System initiative, which will not only link the two shores of the Mediterranean, but also Southern Mediterranean countries among themselves, by manufacturing and deploying a submarine cable system based on the most recent technological advancements in fibre optics communications, fully based on European leading-edge technology. It will also contribute addressing the digital divide with partner countries. The network is led by the company AFR-IX telecom, with the support of the Orange Group and the European Union, while Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and Elettra Tlc are responsible for its deployment.

Other major initiatives are already currently contributing to the digital influence of the region, such as the Aqaba Digital Hub, which was inaugurated in 2023 and is one of the largest technological centres in the Near East.

Source: https://www.elysee.fr/en/emmanuel-macron/2025/06/09/joint-press-release-summit-for-a-more-connected-mediterranean

EU Sea Basin Strategies at the 2025 European Maritime Day (EMD) in Cork, Ireland

5 juin 2025/dans Actualités /par Communication team

EU Sea Basin Strategies at the 2025 European Maritime Day (EMD) in Cork, Ireland

The 2025 edition of European Maritime Day (EMD) — the flagship annual gathering for blue economy stakeholders across Europe — took place this year in Cork, Ireland.

The event brought together about 1.200 participants, including policymakers, experts, and practitioners from key maritime sectors, to strengthen collaboration and advance the EU’s blue economy agenda.

For the third year in a row, the EU Sea Basin Strategies was featured prominently at EMD and showcased essential frameworks for fostering regional cooperation and supporting the implementation of EU blue economy policy goals. As on previous occasions this was done with a high level panel and a technical workshop.

High level panel on Synergies between Sea Basin Strategies

Workshop Maximising Support to Blue Skills and Ocean Literacy

High level panel on Synergies between Sea Basin Strategies

The 2025 EMD in Cork hosted the second edition of the High-Level Panel on Synergies between Sea Basin Strategies, bringing together representatives from four sea basin strategies:

Philip Nugent, Director-General for Maritime Affairs at Department of the Environment Climate and Communications in Ireland, representing the Atlantic Strategy (and EMD co-host);
Pedro Gonçalves, Director for Strategy at the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs in Portugal, representing the WestMed Initiative;
Hryhorii Mozolevych, Director General at the Science Development Directorate of Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, representing the Black Sea Common Maritime Agenda;
Elsa Tudal, Project Director for European and International affairs at the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, Biodiversity, Forestry and Fisheries in France, representing the Greater North Sea Basin Initiative.

The panel was moderated by Seamus Kearney, director of Seamus Kearny Media

Kestutis Sadauskas, Deputy Director-General at DG MARE, opened the panel by stating that “cooperation and coordination lie at the heart of sea basin strategies” and considered them central in tackling the very diverse maritime challenges Europe faces today, while extending the approach to EU neighbouring countries. He also stressed how EU Sea Basin Strategies can act as essential place-based initiatives to further implement the European Ocean Pact across the EU.

Tackling shared challenges through successful cooperation across sea basins

Building on the discussions from the first edition of the High-Level Panel at EMD 2024 in Svendborg, Denmark, this year’s panel reviewed progress made in implementing the sea basin strategies’ political priorities and showcased success stories of mutual cooperation, both at the political and technical levels.

Phillip Nugent highlighted how Ireland’s involvement in the Atlantic and GNSBI strategies has been “hugely beneficial to give us a sense of how other Member States are tackling challenges that we have faced ourselves”. Successful technical cooperation examples, such as dedicated expert groups across key maritime sectors, and the articulation and cross-fertilisation across sea basins were highlighted both by the Portuguese Co-Presidency of the WestMED Initiative (Pedro Gonçalves) and Hryhorii Mozolevych (Ukraine) representing the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea. In particular, Mozolevych emphasized that cross-sea basin cooperation in the context of sea basin strategies “is not just symbolic, but has real operational value”. As a relatively new established initiative, the French Co-presidency of the GNSBI (represented by Elsa Tudal) described the initiative as a “test lab” for transfer of knowledge and experience from existing initiatives, building a more integrated and holistic approach for the blue economy in the region.

Driving innovation, connectivity and sustainable energy

Panellists also underlined the importance of maritime regional cooperation in driving innovation, connectivity, and sustainable energy across Europe and beyond.

Portugal highlighted how the WestMED initiative is acting as a “platform for innovation” and delivering on the EU Green Deal objectives, particularly on decarbonisation, green ports and blue energy. Hackathons were exemplified as drivers for new blue innovations and competitiveness, bringing together young researchers and entrepreneurs in the region.

Ukraine focused on how the CMA is contributing towards a circular economy, digital transformation and ecosystem restoration in the Black Sea. As an example, the CMA is promoting low impact aquaculture farming techniques. The Ukrainian coordination announced that strategies to tackle war-related environmental damage will constitute a major priority during their term.

Ireland described sea basins as examples of the -currently threatened- multilateralist cooperation approach, and as constituting “sandboxes of implementation (in a shared basis) of EU policy”. In fact, great potential for increased cross-sea basin synergies exists when it comes to the expansion of marine renewable energies, taking into account regional specificities and needs.

France reaffirmed that a viable blue economy today or in the future “cannot exist without regional cooperation”. It is therefore the vision of the GNSBI to ensure coordination across traditional and emerging sectors. The importance of maritime spatial planning was stressed for this purpose.

Moreover, the discussion provided insights on the role of the four Sea Basin Strategies in delivering on the objectives of future EU initiatives, such as the European Ocean Pact. And the common commitment for promoting greater synergies across EU Sea Basins in relevant economic sector and policy activities.

Ireland underlined how SBS can deepen cooperation to achieve greater integrated approaches to maritime governance guided by science. Similarly, Portugal sees the SBS as well positioned to become an “operational arm of the new Ocean Pact”, as natural platforms to translate the Pact’s ambitions into action. France pointed out the need for greater cooperation and integration of maritime policies, and called for greater investment support. Finally, Ukraine stressed the particularly important role of regional cooperation driven by SBS in a politically sensitive region such as the Black sea, contributing to increased maritime safety and security.

Moreover, all panellists agreed on the critical role of sea basin level cooperation in addressing climate change challenges whereby coastal communities are at the forefront.

“The Ocean Pact is a place-based policy making approach that needs to be brought to real life – our sea basin strategies are the perfect vehicle for testing these ideas »

Kestutis Sadauskas

Workshop Maximising Support to Blue Skills and Ocean Literacy

As a follow-up to the High Level Panel, an operational workshop was held to examine how the EU Sea Basins Assistance Mechanism can strengthen blue skills development in pivotal innovation areas while promoting greater ocean literacy across coastal communities engaged in the blue economy across the EU and its neighbouring countries. These are in fact two essential areas where sea basin presidencies and coordinators have expressed growing interest, towards a deeper policy and technical collaboration within and across each sea basin.

The workshop brought together the following speakers:

Matteo Bocci, EU Sea Basins AM, providing some policy feedback as emerging from the experience of EU Sea Basins and acting as moderator;
Alessandro Pititto, COGEA, presenting the recent study by CINEA;
Olga Mashkina, EU4Ocean, illustrating lessons learned from the actions promoted particularly in the area of ocean literacy;
Paul Hegarty, Marine Ireland Industry Network, offering some reflections from the grassroots level in relation to key innovation skill-sets

The session highlighted the current state of initiatives within the sea basin regions and identified further opportunities to leverage existing efforts.

The ‘EU Sea Basin Policy Feedback’ presented some patterns in promotion of projects related to blue skills and ocean literacy, with greater focus on innovative sectors (e.g. biotechnologies and renewable energy) emerging in the Atlantic region, a more transversal approach addressing ecosystem challenges adopted in the Black Sea and an in-between positioning of the western Mediterranean.

COGEA presented the main results of the study on Blue Skills and its proposed Competence Framework to be soon launched as a result of the study commissioned by DG MARE and CINEA.

EU4Ocean’s contributions stressed the relevance of ocean education and literacy, including towards young professionals, as well as private sectors and blue economy businesses, with a dedicated new group to be launched in this area as well as a dedicated campaign and a blue cities network acting in this area.

Finally, an overview of innovation and related skill-sets required by local practices was offered by the Marine Ireland Industry Network, with an interesting balance between transversal technical skills and the need for place and sector-based competences to adapt emerging innovations (digital, greening, etc.).

The workshop marked a step forward in aligning regional strategies with broader EU goals for sustainable ocean use and economic growth in maritime sectors. It also pointed out the relevance of sea basin specific data analysis to be collected and offered across the EU, as to compare trends, challenges and opportunities that characterise each EU region and foster greater cross sea basin cooperation and exchange of lessons learned as well as success stories.

Follow up
The EU Sea Basin Assistance Mechanism will build upon the outcomes of the session, as a way to further follow-up on the outcomes of the AMD High Level Panel and to foster greater cooperation and exchanges amongst the EU sea basins as well as EU macro regions – including as part of the upcoming EU Macro Regions and Sea Basins Days (planned for September 2025).

More information: EMD 2025 news article on the website of CINEA

High level panel on Synergies between Sea Basins Strategies at EMD 2025 | Cork, Ireland

5 mai 2025/dans Actualités /par Communication team

The EU Sea Basins Strategies are focused on strengthening the sustainable blue economy towards resilient sea basins – whether it is the Western Mediterranean, the Atlantic , the Black Sea, or the emerging one for the North Sea.

But Sea Basin Strategies can also learn from each other and identify common areas for joint action, while reflecting on how they can best support new EU priorities and challenges ahead.

For this reason, the Sea Basins Assistance Mechanism supports the EU Commission to ensure a streamlined cross sea basin dialogue.

High level panel on Synergies between Sea Basins Strategies
After last year’s inspiring discussion on this topic, the main stage at EMD 2025 will again see a high level panel discussion focused on Synergies between Sea Basins Strategies. On 23 May, policy experts will dive deeper into the results, challenges and what is needed to further capitalise on this successful approach. The panel includes:

Seamus Kearney Director of Seamus Kearny MEdia – moderator of this panel.

He is joined by:

Pedro Gonzalves Director for Strategy, Directorate General for Maritime Affairs – WestMED Co-Presidency
Hryhorii Mozolevych Director General of Science Development Directorate of Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Philip Nugent Director-General for Maritime Affairs, Department of the Environment Climate and Communications
Kestutis Sadauskas Deputy Director-General DG MARE, European Commission
Elsa Tudal Project Director for European and International affairs / FR Environment ministry. Ministry for the Ecological Transition, Biodiversity, Forestry, Fisheries and Sea – Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture (DGAMPA)

Be sure to attend and learn the latest developments!

When: 23 May 2025 | 11:15-12:15

Where: European Maritime Day 2025 | Cork-Irelend | in-person and online (live stream)

More information/ link to follow online: visit the EMD2025 website

Watch the 2024 high level panel on Sea Basin Strategies
Watch the EMD 2024 – high level panel discussion on the EU Sea Basin Strategies that was moderated Charlina Vladimirova Vitcheva. Director-General from the European Commissionc- DG MAR and learn some the main outcomes here

WestMED Success Story. Maritime Clusters – meet MedBAN, the Mediterranean Blue Acceleration Network

14 avril 2025/dans Actualités /par Communication team

A sustainable Blue Economy requires support to promote and uptake innovation, knowledge, skills as well as access to finance, which is effective and locally-grounded. This is possible through joint actions promoted by socio-economic and institutional actors at local, national and subregional level.

In this respect, maritime clusters (a network of companies, organizations, and institutions involved in the maritime industry) play a crucial role to support local stakeholders active in the Blue Economy.

They do so by supporting innovative products and services, internationalisation of micro, small and medium enterprises, dissemination of new knowledge and skills and ultimately integration of sectoral policies at local and national levels. Maritime Clusters have therefore been growingly acknowledged as essential booster for innovation and diversification of the Blue Economy.

According to a study of the Union for the Mediterranean in 2019, the large majority of Maritime Clusters across the Mediterranean is based in EU countries: Italy, Spain, France. The western Mediterranean seems to be more prone to the promotion of innovation in the Blue Economy through the set-up of clusters: in the EU (mostly regional-level clusters) but also in African countries (mostly national-level clusters).

On a European level, the European Nework of Maritime Clusters (ENMC), has been established in 2023 as a platform for exchanging information and networking between the maritime Cluster organizations of European member states.

Source: UfM Secretariat – Maritime Clusters in the Mediterranean Region (pdf)

WestMED Maritime Cluster alliance
Since its inception in 2021, the WestMED Initiative, through the WestMED Maritime Cluster Alliance, supports strong alliances between the most active Maritime Clusters in the Western Mediterranean and beyond . This has included the launch of a new Maritime Cluster in Mauritania and the recently launched Libyan Maritime Cluster.

The key objectives of the Alliance are:

Cluster dialogue: Support exchange of knowledge and practices across maritime and non-maritime clusters
South-South cooperation: Boost the development of southern maritime clusters
North-South capacity building: Upgrade cluster management skills
Provide a platform for private investments in innovative SMEs

The Maritime Cluster Alliance has succesfully supported several project proposals that strengthen maritime clusters in order to secure funding. Next to MedBAN (COSME Euroclusters), these include for example: MARMED and MAQUAM (funded through ERASMUS+), ELBE Alliance (funded through IKAT), and Women in Blue Economy – WINBIG, Maritime Clusters CALLMEBLUE, Green Marine MED, and POWER4MED (funded through EMFAF).

MedBAN
The European MedBAN project, short for Mediterranean Blue Acceleration Network, is an initiative to empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the blue economy.

It was co-funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement nº 101074763) through the Joint Cluster Initiatives (EUROCLUSTERS) for Europe’s recovery (SMP-COSME-2021-CLUSTER) under the Single Market Programme with a total budget of 1.4 Million euro. The MedBAN project is therefore closely aligned with the Euroclusters’ specific objectives regarding networks, innovation, adoption of processes and technologies for the twin (digital & sustainable) transition, training for the up and re-skilling of the workforce and internationalisation of European SMEs.

MedBAN was managed by a consortium of six maritime cluster organizations from five different Mediterranean countries: Portugal, Italy, France, Greece and Spain. Its common mission: to drive innovation, accelerate sustainability and internationalise blue SMEs, to support the transition towards a thriving, resilient and sustainable blue economy.

Stage 1: laying the foundation
The initiative consisted of two stages. First, the Mediterranean blue economy ecosystem was mapped to identify key players, challenges, and opportunities. This ensured that the actions by MedBAN would generate maximum impact on sustainable blue economy growth in the region. It resulted in identifying the five most critical sectors that MedBAN would focus on: aquaculture, fisheries, tourism, ports and renewable energies. SMEs in these sectors were specifically targeted in the 2^nd phase of the project.

Next to this,the coherence between the challenges found in each of the the abovementioned sectors and the national and regional policies of each partner country of the consortium (national Resilience Plans) was analysed to ensure alignment from that perspective as well.

This first stage also consisted of 2 short online training sessions for the cluster staff members of the participating cluster organisations, with an emphasis on challenges and needs for succesful projects and sharing best practices – which proved not only useful in the context of this project but also for dealing with members of each individual cluster organisation beyond the scope of this project.

Stage 2: support SMEs with technical assistance/ services
The second stage consisted of offering selected SMEs and startups a large set of services to boost their business, ranging from market research to international matchmaking. These services were offered by a pool of (mostly)pre-selected third parties that were funded by MedBAN in line with the awarded budget.

SMEs could apply for these services by submitting a specific project proposal via ‘cascade funding’ calls in two categories: 1) Innovation, training and twin transformation to allow for modernisation of the business processes and 2) ‘internationalisation’ to allow for growing their business across borders. Both the call texts and the subsequent selection of proposals was based on the findings generated during the first phase.

Results
57 proposals from 49 SMEs were awarded support, with eight SMEs being awarded support for 2 proposals (one in each category). This support totalled little over 1 Million Euro and consisted of organisations from 8 countries – mainly situated around the Mediterranean.

During MedBAN’s final conference in March 2025, some of these selected SMEs shared the impact of this project on their respective businesses:

Hydrotwin : a start-up specialised in underwater noise monitoring received MedBAN support regarding market and market penetration analysis to better explain its potential to investors and decision makers. It led a.o. to the identification of marine offshore renewables as a priority market.

Seaentia : a sustainable aquaculture startup. MedBAN allowed them to develop their export strategy to export their fish to other EU countries, keeping in mind that the long term strategy is to produce locally. One of the elements they focused on was EU regulatory compliance regarding hygiene and food safety in the transport of fresh fish

Cyclefi : an SME that develops software and hardware solutions to tackle, waste, energy and water challenges. MedBAN allowed them to expand the market from focusing primarly on municipalities to ports . This involved a.o. a comprehensive mapping of waste management within EU ports and Greece in specific, including the definition of an international matchmaking plan. They have now been able to start with Piraeus port, to tackle waste generated by its millions of (tourist) visitors.

Maritime world : a startup specialised in short conferences, workshops, B2B meetings and technical tours across Europe, dedicated to the maritime industry. MedBAN support allowed for significant (international) growth, especially by getting better connected to high quality organisations across the Mediterranean, including the North African countries. One of the actions was a thorough Market Analysis that provided a database with contacts of more than 130 organisations. Maritime World is now on the way to create one of the biggest maritime conferences in Malta by the end of the year.

PesCo : a start-up with an online platform focused on sustainable fishing tourism, matching local fishermen with tourists. Through the MedBAN support they managed boost their network with hotels, tour- and travel agencies. They also received support to develop toolkits for two key target groups: guides (captains) to help improve the sustainability viewpoint and clients (exploreres) to help prepare for the fishing experience.

The common denominator was that MedBAN allowed them to take steps that would’ve otherwise taken much longer to develop.

Watch the full panel discussion

Moving forward
The consortium partners committed themselves to further build on MedBAN’s success. This was underlined by signing the MedBAN Statutes (charter of principles); in which partners pledge to explore new opportunities of collaboration, foster stronger collaboration among clusters, commit to ongoing exploration of funding opportunities, and ensure long-term sustainability.

It was also underlined by signing a Memorandum Of Understanding for with CALLMEBLUE (Cluster Alliance Med Blue) to strengthen strategic collaboration.

WestMED connection
The initial idea for MedBAN was born in September 2021 at Seafuture in La Spezia and evolved through WestMED’s Maritime Clusters Alliance Technical Group into a successful submission for COSME funding. Next to this, Stephanie Vella (WestMED National Hub Malta) was an official ‘MedBAN ambassador’ and Lorella Ciutti (WestMED National Hub Portugal), MedBAN’s project coordinator. MedBAN has, in this respect, been supported by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism from start to finish.

At the end of the MedBAN conference, project leader Ruben Eiras summed it all up: « Here we are, celebrating Europe. When we look at the numbers, of course, [the project] is just a drop in the ocean—but it is an important drop. Today, the Blue Economy represents innovation, defence, and sustainability—connecting, aggregating, and linking. What we aim for in a few year’s time, when we have MedBAN 2.0, is that we have investment funds and private actors with more capital to invest in these SMEs to make them grow. Let’s triple these numbers and make the Blue Economy happen! »

More info about MedBAN
Budget	Total: € 1.399.384,00 EU Contribution: €1.364.446,00
Partners/ Countries	Coordinator/ lead: Forum Oceano (Portugal) Federazione del Mare (Italy) Cluster BIG – Blue Italian Growth (Italy) CMIB Cluster Marítimo Illes Balears (Spain) Strategis – Maritime ICT Cluster (Greece) Pôle Mer Méditerranée (France) Affiliated: Magellan (Portugal)
Follow	Website
Duration	1 September 2022 – 31 March 2025

Subscribe to the WestMED newsletter

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 avril 2025/dans Actualités /par 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.

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 regarding sustainable tourism within Spain. Two projects (one funded by the EU and a 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 mars 2025/dans Actualités /par 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 février 2025/dans Actualités /par 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

Mises à jour régulières des activités des groupes thématiques de parties prenantes de WestMED (technique)

10 février 2025/dans Actualités /par Communication team

Le mécanisme d’assistance WestMED (WM-AM) a lancé plusieurs plates-formes de discussion thématiques. Les développements maritimes actuels et futurs sont discutés avec les principales parties prenantes des pays participants sous la direction des facilitateurs du MMAM, en mettant l’accent sur des actions concrètes – souvent sous la forme de développement de projets conjoints.

Afin de donner un aperçu des objectifs et des activités de ces groupes de parties prenantes, des mises à jour régulières seront fournies sous la forme de courtes présentations. Ces présentations sont disponibles sous forme de fichier pdf sur les pages des groupes de parties prenantes thématiques respectifs :

Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus ou envisager de vous inscrire, il vous suffit de prendre contact avec les centres nationaux WestMED mentionnés sur chacune de ces pages.