Tourism Institute published two articles in famous Georgian media outlets.

The one, “Batumelebi”, is the prominent online media in Adjara region and the another, BM.GE, is one of the best business oriented media in Georgia. The published content aimed at raising the awareness of the project T4BS in Georgia.

Articles explained the digital tools and reasoning behind the T4BS. It showed that the project aimed at assessing coastal tourism not only from the angle of economic indicators, but also analyzing environmental, social and cultural aspects of life by employing digital tools and big data. It depicted that normal practice of tourism assessment from the economic point of view prevents holistic evaluation of tourism sustainable development in Georgia. That is why the TIM - Slovenian model of tourism impact evaluation is in the process of implementation in the country. This will help Georgia to know where the destination stands on sustainability point of view and where is the right path to go in the future.

At the end articles promoted the high level forum on “Tourism, Digitalisation and Sustainable development for the Black Sea” which took place on the 18th of November 2021 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The European Commission has approved an investment package of more than €290 million for 132 new projects under the LIFE programme for the Environment and Climate Action.

This EU funding under LIFE will mobilise a total investment of €562 million, with actions happening in almost all EU Member States. The new LIFE projects will help Europe become  a climate-neutral continent by 2050, put Europe’s biodiversity on the path of recovery by 2030, and contribute to the EU green recovery post-Covid-19.

Find out more in the press release and in the descriptions of all the new LIFE projects.

On 11 November, #worldfisheriesDay, The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean launched a campaign that will run throughout 2022 aiming at illustrating the Mediterranean and the Black Sea fishers and fish workers involved in making small-scale fisheries more sustainable.

Called 9 topics , 9 features, the series will explore what each topic of the Regional Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (RPOA-SSF) means in practice to small-scale fishers across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and proposes to readers a deep dive into the human context of sustainability.

In 9 chapters, the plan of action details a set of specific, prescriptive and concrete actions: it’s a vehicle to the future which will set small-scale fisheries on a path to long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. 

With inspiring examples from the ground, 9 topics, 9 features brings to life fishers, fish workers and projects.

Two topics were already launched : Breaking free of traditional value chain and Redressing the gender balance.

Stay tuned for more in 2022, declared International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022) by the United Nations.

The first “CulTourE4Youth” Workshop was held successfully in Mersin, organized by the Middle East Technical University Institute of Marine Sciences (METU-IMS) on 30 November 2021. The Workshop gathered together young entrepreneurs of ages 18 to 30 in the field of maritime and cultural tourism, representatives of international institutions, academicians, regional authorities, business operators and training institutions.

Preliminary Analysis has been conducted to assess challenges and priorities for youth entrepreneurship in cultural tourism, available here. Additionally, an online questionnaire has been launched to gather input from stakeholders and young people from the Black Sea Region, available here.

The Project’s Final Conference will be held in Batumi, on 17 February 2022, organized by the project partner CPMR Balkan and Black Sea Commission (BSC).

EMD 2022, the annual EU meeting point on maritime affairs and sustainable blue growth, and the place where ‘Ocean Leaders Meet’, will take place in Ravenna, Italy on 19 & 20 May 2022. As every year, this will not be the only action to celebrate our seas and oceans. EMD In My Country 2022 events will also take place all over Europe from 1 April till 31 October 2022.

Are you ready to submit your event(s) for 2022? Fill in the application form before 31 January 2022 and bring European Maritime Day 2022 to your country!!

Read more details in European Commission website

Today, the European Commission completed its proposal for the 2022 fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, adopted on 17 September 2021. 

With this non-paper, the Commission has completed the elements missing from the initial proposal, in particular, fishing opportunities stemming from the decisions taken at the 44th annual session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)Search for available translations of the preceding and elements for the implementation of the Western Mediterranean Multi-annual Management Plan (West Med MAP).

The elements complementing the Commission’s initial proposal are based on the latest scientific advice and reflect the Commission's ambition for achieving sustainable fisheries and thriving ecosystems in these two sea basins, in line with the legal obligations under the common fisheries policy (CFP) and the commitments taken at international level, reflected in the recently adopted GFCM 2030 Strategy.

You can find more details in European Commission's website and in the Commission Services non-paper .

Dear participants,

Thank you very much for your involvement in the national event dedicated to the Common Maritime Agenda "Unlocking the development potential for the Black Sea".

It was a pleasure to have you with us and we hope to collaborate as well as possible on other occasions.
 

For those who wanted, but couldn't get to the event, we inform you that the registration and other useful materials will be published on the site, at THIS LINK.
We are now working on the report of the event, so you will be able to read soon about the results obtained.

If we missed something, you can write to CMA / Romanian National Hub - romania-nh@blackseablueconomy.eu - and they will get back to you with the requested information.

On behalf of the CMA / Romanian National Hub

SAVE THE DATE - 2021's Regional Stakeholder Conference for the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea will take place on 22 November from 14:00 to 17:30 EET.

The Conference will be structured around 4 main sessions:

1. Taking stock of the achievements and looking ahead, towards projects supporting sustainable blue economy in the Black Sea;
2. Cross fertilisation across sea basins;
3. Project hackathon (with parallel sessions covering each of the CMA goals);
4. Financing project opportunities for CMA implementation.

Additional information, including the draft agenda and registration and all relevant links and documents are now available on the dedicated conference website: Click here. 

But you can also stay up to date via the BSAM's social media channels and the hashtag #BlackSeaAgenda2021.

The event presented to 25 on-site and over 57 on-line participants the findings of the T4BS project, running since 2019, which explores European pathway towards a resilient and competitive tourism ecosystem, sustainable tourism destinations and services, and digitalisation of tourism.

The Forum discussed opportunities and challenges of co-creating a vision of a sustainable, digital transition towards a resilient tourism ecosystem, with respect to the EU Green Deal and the Digital Decade.

A key success factor is digitalisation. Digitalisation is a driver for resilient, sustainable tourism in Europe. The Forum primarily focused on data and how data can be leveraged towards this goal, including Big data good practices.

The following key challenges were addressed in highly interactive panel sessions:
● Lack of data-sharing among players to support data-enabled solutions.
● Low level of digitalisation of tourism destinations.
● Insufficient knowledge base of the tourism ecosystem (monitoring, identification of data sources, data leveraging).

For further info clik here!

The research process Adaptation and Social Learning (ASL), led by PD Dr. Jochen Hinkel, at the Global Climate Forum (GCF) in Berlin, is seeking candidates for the following four positions (see also https://globalclimateforum.org/about/join/):

·        Postdoc position on marine biodiversity governance (full-time; three years)

·        PhD position on the governance of marine ammunition risk in the German Sea (65% position; three years)

·        PhD position on funding & financing coastal nature-based solutions in Europe (65% position; three years)

·        PhD position on the global economics of coastal wetlands and sea-level rise (65% position; three years)

The Global Climate Forum is a non-profit transdisciplinary research institute founded by noble laureate Klaus Hasselmann in order to co-develop effective climate and environmental policies among representatives of the public, private, civil society and research sectors

The European Investment Fund (EIF), Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, Builders Initiative and Minderoo Foundation have approved commitments to become cornerstone investors in Ocean 14 Capital’s inaugural fund, the first large investment fund to focus exclusively on the blue economy. EIF has approved a commitment of €35 million to the fund, while Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker is allocating €15 million. Builders Initiative and Minderoo Foundation will commit €10 million together, bringing the total to €60 million.

The fund is a unique combination of marine industry and nature conservation knowledge that comes from Ocean 14 Capital, a private equity firm focused on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14), which aims to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

1. First large investment fund fully dedicated to the Blue economy under BlueInvest, a joint initiative by the European Commission and the European Investment Fund
2. EIF’s investment is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe
3. The announcement takes place on the sidelines of the World Biodiversity Summit in the context of the UN Conference on Climate COP26 in Glasgow

Read more information about the European Investment Fund (EIF) and Ocean 14 Capital in EIF's site!

The General Fisheries Commission for the MediterraneanSearch for available translations of the preceding (GFCM) has adopted its new 2030 Strategy for the Mediterranean and Black Sea at the end of the 44th annual session on 6 November 2021. An agreement was also reached on an ambitious package of measures translating strategy into concrete actions.

In parallel to the adoption of the new strategy, the implementation process was launched immediately. 35 GFCM recommendations and resolutions translating the objectives and targets of the strategy into concrete actions were adopted at the meeting, with 33 of those tabled by the EU. The recommendations include important measures to improve fisheries management and control in the Adriatic and Black Seas, better protect sensitive species and habitats, and consolidate the monitoring and control framework, including combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) activities in both the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

The new strategy builds on recent achievements, with its five targets, it takes an integrated approach to the complex challenges in the region and the “green transition’’. It addresses issues such as the condition of the marine environment and preserving biodiversity in order to provide maximum sustainably yields (MSY). The strategy will also help to consolidate GFCM members’ ability to take strong action against IUU fishing and create a level playing field around both sea basins.

Read more in European Commission's site.