In the framework of the H2020 DigiPrime project (Digital Platform for Circular Economy in Cross-sectoral Sustainable Value Networks) –  a new digital platform is under development, to accelerate the process of identifying cross-regional and cross-sectoral circular value chains, monitoring material flow and analysing the legislative landscape and barriers to addressing for the implementation of a more resilient economic system.

With the long-term view to offering Regions a comprehensive and fruitful service experience, Veltha, in partnership with DigiPrime and REPLACE, are hosting an EU Circular Economy Summer School.  

This one-week intensive training will guide participants through a 360° journey into the methodologies, strategies and tools that will enable everyone to set up a circular economy strategy for different Regions.

This Summer School is targeted only at regional officers, regional development agencies, or representatives of regions acting on behalf of them.

It will be delivered in lectures and workshops to understand the current circular economy landscape and the right expertise to master supportive tools to streamline the shift towards a more resilient economy.

This first edition of the Summer School will be held in Rome from Monday 11th to Friday 15th of July 2022 and will be completely free, with daily lunch and coffee break included. Accommodation, travel costs and other meals will not be part of the package and will have to be provided at your own expense.
 

You will find more insightful information in the following REGISTRATION FORM: https://tinyurl.com/velthasummerschool.

BRIDGE-BS aims to advance the Black Sea’s marine research and innovation to co-develop Blue Growth pathways under multi-stressors for the sustainable utilization of the ecosystem services. To do so it will develop an ecosystem-based management framework to enable policy uptake and foster citizen engagement. To this end BRIDGE-BS will try to establish an Ocean Literature Network that:

1. It will be built to develop ownership and stewardship for the protection of the Black Sea. 
2. This Network will bring together marine scientists, educators, and ocean professionals.
3. It will serve a knowledge base for anyone who is enthusiastic and curious about the Black Sea. 

The Ocean Literacy concept was introduced in Europe a decade ago. However, many organizations and individuals in the Black Sea countries have a longer history of teaching about their sea and engaging communities. Information about such teaching and engagement activities, which we collectively refer to as the Ocean Literacy Initiatives, is sporadic and hardly obtainable because it has never been inventoried consistently. Lack of information on Ocean Literacy Initiatives at the Black Sea Basin precludess effective collaboration and sharing of best practices among educators. To address this issue, EMSEA is working, as part of the BRIDGE-BS project, on inventorying, documenting and mapping ongoing and recent Ocean Literacy projects and initiatives in the Black Sea Basin that began in 2012 or later. Based on identified Ocean Literacy projects and initiatives we will build the Black Sea Literacy Network, through various team-building and stakeholder engagement strategies. 

You can find more inforamtion here!

Virtual Blue Career Center is a digital platform designed to attract young people but also experienced workers to fill existing skill gaps by supporting activities that will increase awareness of the workforce and employability in key Blue Growth services.

It promotes the blue economy as an opportunity for professional development and education for young future professionals and people already working in one of the blue economy sectors.

Please follow BRIDG-BS VBCC web page to keep you ud to date!

Dear stakeholders,

Please find a number of interesting open PhD and postdoctoral fellows on the maritime sector with prestigious regional institutions:

· BRIDGE-BS Blue Growth Ph.D. program, METU, IO-BAS, Georgia (4 different positions) http://bridgeblacksea.org/index.php/2022/01/10/call-for-ph-d-position-within-bridge-bs-project/

· Postdoctoral fellow on chemical oceanography, METU-IMS, https://ims.metu.edu.tr/postdoctoral-fellow-chemical-oceanography

· Postdoctoral Fellow on Marine Ecosystem and Biogeochemical Modelling, METU-IMS, https://ims.metu.edu.tr/postdoctoral-fellow-marine-ecosystem-and-biogeochemical-modelling

· Community and Stakeholder Engagement Expert, METU-IMS, https://ims.metu.edu.tr/community-and-stakeholder-engagement-expert 

Kind regards,

The Global Climate Forum (GCF) in Berlin is a non-profit transdisciplinary research institute founded by noble laureate Klaus Hasselmann in order to bring together different public, private and civil society parties concerned with climate change and carry out joint studies that support environmental policies. The Research Process Adaptation and Social Learning (ASL) at GCF conducts internationally leading work on the economics and governance of coastal adaptation to sea-level rise from local to global scales. The process is led by Dr. Jochen Hinkel, who co-leads work on coastal adaptation in the United Nations World Climate Research Programme and has been Lead Author on coastal/marine governance in the last two Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In the context of two new large-scale collaborative European Research projects on coastal nature-based solutions (REST-COAST) and the economics of climate change and biodiversity (DECIPHER), ASL is seeking a PhD student to work on a global economic assessment of coastal nature-based solutions (NBS) such as maintaining and restoring coastal wetlands (e.g., salt marshes and mangrove forest). Coastal wetlands are hotspots of marine biodiversity, sequester large amounts of carbon, and protect hundreds of million people­ globally from coastal flooding. At the same time, they are being converted into agricultural or industrial land at alarming rates of 1-3% annually, releasing large amounts of carbon. Sea-level rise is expected to exacerbate this situation, if the inland migration of wetlands continues to be hindered by human infrastructure, settlements and dikes. The PhD student will advance an existing global model of sea-level rise, coastal flooding and wetland dynamics (Schuerch et al. 2018 and Hinkel et al. 2014) to investigate the economic trade-offs between coastal development, coastal protection through hard infrastructure (e.g. dikes) and wetland conservation and restoration. The work entails close collaboration with other PhD students modelling the biophysical response of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise and scholars working on the economics of biodiversity and climate change. The PhD would be obtained from the Division of Resource Economics at the Thaer Institute of Humboldt University in Berlin, where Hinkel is an external professor (Privatdozent). A salary will be paid following German university standards (65 % position) for three years in which the PhD thesis should be completed, with the possibility of extension.

The successful candidate is expected to have:

1. An excellent Master degree in economics, environmental economics or related fields (e.g., ecological economics, resource economics)
2. Excellent command (oral and written) of English (the language of the PhD thesis)
3. A good command of a major programming language (e.g. Java, Python, R, Julia)
4. Familiarity with cost-benefit a­nalysis, econometric and optimisation methods

We offer the opportunity to work in a high-profile, internationally recognized research institute within a global network of leading researchers on social and economic aspects of climate change and environmental issues. The successful candidate will join a friendly and highly motivated team in central Berlin (within the Mercator Center) and will benefit from a flexible, dynamic working environment, close cooperation within our team, attentive PhD supervision and flat hierarchies. The Global Climate Forum is an equal opportunity employer. We thrive for diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all qualified applicants.

The deadline for applications is 24 April. Please send your application including a motivation letter, a copy of transcripts and certificates, a complete CV, your Master thesis, as well as names, email addresses and telephone numbers of two possible referees as a single PDF file with the subject “PhD economics of wetlands” to Dr. Daniel Lincke (daniel.lincke@globalclimateforum.org). For further information please also contact Dr. Lincke.

In view of the latest developments in the Black Sea region, and following the request of the Donor (European Commission), the Final Conference on "Strengthening the project implementation capacity, dialogue and cooperation in the Black Sea Region", in the framework of the Black Sea React!, Black Sea Cruise and CulTourE4Youth projects, scheduled for 15 March 2022, in a hybrid way, in Istanbul-Turkey, has been postponed.

The event will be rescheduled and the new date will be announced in due course.

Thank you for the understanding.

Are you a scientist working in the Black Sea?

Are you interested in understanding more about the Black Sea ecosystems?

Are you a policymaker delivering for Black Sea communities?

Do you want to start a ‘Blue Business’ in the Black Sea?

Then this questionnaire is for you!

WP3 of DOORS team have just produced a first stakeholder survey on designing a System of Systems (SoS) for the Black Sea. This will be a harmonised data platform for the entire region that we hope will transform the fortunes of damaged ecosystems and stimulate the blue economy. 

We are looking for Scientists, policymakers and business people who work with Black Sea data to complete the survey to help us tailor the SoS to their needs.

Webpage for more info: https://www.doorsblacksea.eu/sos_survey

Survey Link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/DOORS_Survey2022

Please check out a recent publication on supporting multi-use of the sea with maritime spatial planning in Bulgaria. Multi-use is becoming a big opportunity for sustainable blue economy considering the expanding human uses of sea space!

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to bring to your attention:

• The EU Missions Info Days (18-19 January) (link below) and
• The EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters Horizon Europe open calls (Deadline : 12 April, 2022)

EU Missions Info Days (18-19 January):

The upcoming EU Missions Info Days (18-19 January) will be streamed via the following link (no registration is needed):

https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/events/upcoming-events/horizon-europe-info-days/eu-missions_en

*Kindly note that Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters will be presented on 18 January between 09.45 and 12.45 CET. On the same day, between 15.40 and 17.35 CET an interesting session on “preparing and submitting a successful proposal” is also foreseen.

OPEN CALLS >> EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters Horizon Europe :

Kindly find below relevant information regarding 12 open Horizon Europe calls related to the EU Mission Restore Our Ocean and Waters, launched under the EU’s programming period 2021-2027 :

Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters will pursue ambitious objectives to tackle the most pressing issues faced by our Oceans and Seas:

1. Protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 ;
2. Prevent and eliminate pollution of our ocean, seas, and waters, in line with the EU Action Plan Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil ;
3. Make the sustainable blue economy carbon-neutral and circular, in line with the proposed European Climate Law and the holistic vision enshrined in the Sustainable Blue Economy Strategy.

The Mission will constitute a joint effort between the EU, its Member States and its partner countries, including funding provided by EU funds and national contributions. For the upscaling and replication in the second phase, additional national, regional and private funding will be mobilised.

Kindly find key details on the 12 open calls via the link below :

https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-search;callCode=null;freeTextSearchKeyword=;matchWholeText=true;typeCodes=1;statusCodes=31094501,31094502;programmePeriod=2021%20-%202027;programCcm2Id=43108390;programDivisionCode=null;focusAreaCode=null;destination=null;mission=43650612;geographicalZonesCode=null;programmeDivisionProspect=null;startDateLte=null;startDateGte=null;crossCuttingPriorityCode=null;cpvCode=null;performanceOfDelivery=null;sortQuery=sortStatus;orderBy=asc;onlyTenders=false;topicListKey=topicSearchTablePageState

The deadline for applications is 12 April, 2022.

*The following open calls may be of particular interest to Black Sea stakeholders :

1. Danube river basin lighthouse – restoration of fresh and transitional water ecosystems
2. European Blue Parks
3. Underlying models for the European Digital Twin Ocean
4. Danube river basin lighthouse – coordination activities
5. The relation of young generations with the sea and water: values, expectations, and engagement
6. Piloting citizen science in marine and freshwater domains

Eligibility criteria regarding the calls are described here in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Finally, kindly find via this link the Implementation Plan of Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters.

Best regards, and we remain at your disposal.

GreenComp is a reference framework for sustainability competences. It provides a common ground to learners and guidance to educators, advancing a consensual definition of what sustainability as a competence entails.

It responds to the growing need for people to improve and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to live, work and act in a sustainable manner. It is designed to support education and training programmes for lifelong learning. It is written for all learners, irrespective of their age and their education level and in any learning setting – formal, non-formal and informal.

Take your time and read the full report here!

We hereby invite you to participate at the Online Questionnaire for the Project CulTourE4Youth - Supporting youth entrepreneurship in cultural tourism for coastal communities. 

If you are a citizen of or live/work in Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Republic of Turkey or Ukraine, your feedback is critical, as we strive to gather inputs about the priorities, opportunities and challenges from culture and tourism sectors in your countries.

Building on the notion that cultural tourism with maritime dimension is an up-and-coming blue growth generator, the project will provide background information and analysis on how youth entrepreneurship is promoted by existing policies and initiatives, and how can it be better supported to address local and regional challenges, such as youth unemployment and brain drain. 

The Questionnaire aims to gather direct input about the priorities, opportunities and challenges from all involved stakeholders in the sectors of culture and tourism.