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.

We are pleased to inform you that the Book of abstracts of the International Scientific Conference: “Marine Ecosystems: research and innovations” is published online.

More and more, international organisations, central governments and private companies learn to embrace the power of the local. Deconcentration of political power and economic activity is deemed crucial to unleash hidden economic and social potential, mitigate inequalities and strengthen social and territorial cohesion. At the same time, citizens demand a more tangible level of accountability as centralized structures of power, either national or supranational, are considered distant and faceless.

In this spirit, the Delphi Economic Forum and Patris newspaper are organising the 2nd Olympia Forum, the largest conference in Greece dedicated to local and regional governance and cohesion policy. It will take place on October 20-23, 2021 at Zappeio Megaron in Athens and the International Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia.

View more information and the topics here

Are you between 16 and 30 years old and do you represent the Black Sea Region? Do you organise conservation activities with children, other young people or a local community? Or maybe you have a project in mind to raise awareness of consumers on sustainable seafood or to use marine resources in the Black Sea sustainably? Or something completely different that you think has the potential to change things in the area?

Then we are looking for you!

The #Youth4Ocean Forum has launched a new call for project proposals, designed to promote the ideas of young change-makers in the Black Sea Region! All across the Black Sea Region, we are looking for young people that either are or would like to develop an ocean-related project and that are keen to become Black Sea ‘Young Ocean Advocates’.

What do you get out of it?

As a Black Sea Young Ocean Advocate, you will have access to exclusive benefits and resources to make a positive change for the Ocean:

• Your project and personal profile will be showcased in the Youth4Ocean Forum section on the Maritime Forum website of the European Commission, and promoted on social media by the EU4Ocean Coalition;
• You will get support and guidance from members of the EU4Ocean Coalition, to help you carry out your activities;
• You will have access to the coaching/mentoring programme of the EU4Ocean Coalition to develop your project and skills;
• You will be invited to participate in the EU4Ocean sea basin events on an equal footing with the EU4Ocean Coalition other members and get the chance to pitch your project and ideas in front of a broad audience;
• You will be able to attend events and network with leading experts, likeminded young people and professionals from all over Europe.
• You will get access to tools and networks to promote ocean literacy in Europe.
• You will be able to participate in EU4Ocean Coalition discussion groups on topics: Food from the Ocean, Climate & Ocean, Healthy & Clean Ocean;
• And last but not least, you will have the possibility to participate in the EU4Ocean final event (to be held in one the EU Member States in 2021/2022), and to win an award for your project.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for all kinds of projects or project ideas that take place in the Black Sea Region or that are somehow linked to the region. You can find more information in the Guidelines which include a handy FAQ section:
• 16–30-year-olds
• From the Black Sea Region / or a project (idea) focusing on the Black Sea Region
• Project (ideas) relevant to Food from the Ocean; Ocean and Climate; Healthy and Clean Ocean
• Project (ideas) relevant to the ocean: focusing on marine education; conservation; research, performing or visual arts; Blue Economy and entrepreneurship; fisheries and aquaculture; maritime transport; coastal tourism; sports; etc.
• Project (ideas) bringing a solution to a marine and/or social challenge, promoting sustainable development, community engagement, good practice and behaviour; etc.

All kinds of ideas to create the Black Sea we want are welcome and there’s no limit to imagination!

Will we see you online on the 5th of November for our Black Sea basin event?

Supported by the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, the #Youth4Ocean and the #EU4Ocean Coalition are organizing the first Black Sea Ocean Literacy Event taking place on the 29th,30th and on the 5th of November 2021.

The event will discuss ongoing activities of the EU4Ocean coalition and its communities in the Black Sea, with a specific focus on marine litter. It will give specific space to the interactions between Black Sea youth ambassadors and Young Ocean advocates, and discussions on bringing the education on the Black Sea into the classrooms with the relevant stakeholders. Kicking off at the Black Sea Action Day with the Ocean Literacy festival activities, launching the projects of the Young Ocean advocates, and finishing with the panel discussions on how to move forward concrete initiatives in the Black Sea (in particular in the topics of marine litter and citizen science) with marine experts, policy makers, youth, educators, and general public and make a movement to make pledges for the MakeEUBlue campaign for making and keeping the Black Sea Blue!

Now what?

Brainstorm – submit your application until the 25th of October 2021!

CLICK HERE TO APPLY