EU Sea Basin Strategies at the 2025 European Maritime Day (EMD) in Cork, Ireland
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
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: 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 More information: EMD 2025 news article on the website of CINEA
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).
High level panel on Synergies between Sea Basins Strategies at EMD 2025 | Cork, Ireland
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:
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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
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Philip Nugent Director-General for Maritime Affairs, Department of the Environment Climate and Communications
- Kestutis Sadauskas Deputy Director-General DG MARE, European Commission
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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
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 2nd 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 |
Spanish WestMED National event 2025: Opportunities and Future of Blue Tourism in 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 2nd 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/
UfM and Interreg NEXT MED renew commitment to tackle regional challenges together
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
WestMED participates in the Fundación Valenciaport conference « Innovation initiatives for decarbonising the Mediterranean”
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)
Mises à jour régulières des activités des groupes thématiques de parties prenantes de WestMED (technique)
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 :
- AquaWest/ Sustainable Aquaculture
- Maritime Clusters Alliance
- Green Shipping
- Sustainable Tourism
- Maritime Spatial Planning
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.
Launch of S3 Thematic partnership “Shipbuilding Propulsion Systems Alliance” with 26 partners from 3 EU sea basins
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
WestMED Stakeholders gather in Portugal for a 3-day agenda on the Blue Economy
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).
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
Members and observers of the WestMED Steering Committee gather in Brussels to discuss latest developments
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.