The H2020 co-funded project REST-COAST – Large scale RESToration of COASTal ecosystems through rivers to sea connectivity will provide the tools to address some of the key challenges to coastal ecosystems today, all consequences of a long history of environmental degradation of rivers and coasts. As part of the project’s inclusive approach, nine Pilot Sites have been selected as focus areas, representing coastal vulnerability hotspots across the main EU sea-basins, i.e. the Baltic Sea, the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea.

The new booklet “The Route to Coastal Restoration: From the REST-COAST project to the Black Sea region” builds on the results of the project to propose knowledge transfer pathways as a preliminary tool to better support coastal restoration in the Black Sea basin.

Following the COLUMBUS project methodology, the analysis identified twenty-four existing and forthcoming REST-COAST knowledge outputs that contribute to six Knowledge Transfer Pathways with the aim to address the needs of the Black Sea coastal ecosystems, in the following areas:

• Governance and Policy Frameworks;
• Financing and Funding;
• Environmental Impact Assessments;
• Data Access and Sharing;
• Public Awareness and Engagement;
• Multistakeholder Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange.

The booklet was prepared by the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) in cooperation with the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS) and the Catalonia University of Technology UPC BarcelonaTech, and was published by the BSEC PERMIS.

It was first presented at the international scientific workshop “Bridging Gaps in Coastal Restoration. Synergies and Knowledge Transfer from REST-COAST project to the Black Sea region”, successfully organised by the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS), in the framework of the REST-COAST project, in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 8-10 October 2024.

The full booklet is available HERE.

More information about the REST-COAST project HERE

POLICY COORDINATION

Consider utilising the opportunity the EU National Restoration Plans present to align processes across policy domains and governance levels (local, regional, national, union-wide), to promote local collaboration among stakeholders, and to ensure a common understanding of priorities and clear responsibilities at each governance level. 

CONNECTIVITY 

Consider restoration interventions that enhance the connectivity between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats and the natural dynamics between these ecosystems. This will also provide co-benefits, such as increased coastal resilience, blue carbon and socioeconomic benefits. The EU Nature Restoration Law can also promote harmonised metrics to measure biodiversity and ecosystem services for restoration measures. 

INTEGRATION AND ADAPTATION

Consider developing adaptation pathways to align biodiversity restoration with climate change action (mitigation & adaptation), supporting long–term restoration efforts and preventing ecosystem deterioration. This could be done by integrating future climate scenarios and changing socio-economic conditions into the planning of coastal restoration activities and future National Restoration Plans. Research done by REST-COAST can provide valuable context-specific information to do so.

STAKEHOLDERS ENGAGEMENT

Consider leveraging existing pathways to enhance stakeholder engagement and strengthen the scientific foundation for the National Restoration Plans. Platforms such as the REST-COAST Coastal Restoration Platforms (CORE-Plats) can be used to engage stakeholders, demonstrate restoration benefits, and attract funding. 

FINANCING 

Consider exploring innovative financial solutions and business opportunities to sustain and advance coastal restoration efforts, such as co-financing options and long-term investment pathways. It can help to identify ecosystem services with significant economic value to find funding for coastal restoration initiatives.

Please check the attached file for further details.

Dear Black Sea friends,

In order to upskill and ensure the understanding of the challenges and opportunities to be addressed for a sustainable Blue Economy across the Black Sea, the EU H2020-funded BRIDGE-BS R&I project conducts a range of educational and capacity-building activities.

With this aim, the 2nd Summer School is organized by the BRIDGE-BS project by targeting graduate students from Black Sea riparian countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Moldova, Türkiye, and Ukraine) and will be hosted by one of the facilities of the Tbilisi State University (TSU) on 15-17 September 2024.

The 2nd Summer School will mainly focus on supporting tools for strengthening the Sustainable Blue Economy in the Black Sea region.

The lectures will address fundamental topics related to Blue Biotechnology.

The Summer School will involve interactive lectures and group work.

On the last day, a hackathon will take place where participants will work in a small team setting to develop a viable solution to boost the sustainable development of the Blue Economy with a particular focus on the emerging sector of biotechnologies.

Date: 15-16-17 September 2024 (14 September, Arrival Day)
Location: Tbilisi State University in Tbilisi, Georgia

Fees, Costs, and Visa

All selected participants will attend the summer school free of charge and in person.

Selected participants’ accommodation (up to 4 nights, depending on the flight schedule) in shared dormitories: 2 people of the same gender; Istanbul University will cover lunches and some dinners.

Subsistence costs in Tbilisi for the duration of the training, are borne by the participants.

All participants are responsible for complying with the entry requirements to Georgia. Participants who need to have a visa should organize their visa procedure and cover the costs of granting it. İstanbul University and BRIDGE-BS Project support the accepted candidates with an invitation letter. İstanbul University will organize accommodation and travel arrangements for the selected students.

Requirements

Only graduate students of any discipline related to the Blue Economy (economy, research, and/or policy) will be considered;

Candidates should be graduate students from Black Sea riparian countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Moldova, Türkiye and Ukraine);

Candidates should have a good working knowledge of English (level B2 or higher)

As partner of the “BRIDGE-BS: Advancing Black Sea Research and Innovation to Co-Develop Blue Growth within Resilient Ecosystems", a H2020-funded project, BSEC PERMIS is looking for individual experts for the implementation of the 2nd Call for the BRIDGE-BS Black Sea Accelerator (BSA) targeting Black Sea business opportunities.

The BRIDGES-BS accelerator covers the support listed below:

1) Expert support > support market analysis, or other strengthening services are offered via ad hoc consulting (individual applicants) for techs/services still needing improvement;
2) Start-up support > in case of valuable business mentoring support can be provided (directly or combined with other initiatives);
3) Facilitate financing/investments > “investors pitching” training sessions (in groups) are offered and support for access to finance.

IMPORTANT: Ad-hoc and one-to-one activities are foreseen in supporting across those areas the most advanced applicants (in terms of TRL), for which the contribution and direct experience of the selected expert(s) will be pivotal – i.e. both in designing and implementing the support offered by the BSA under BRIDGS-BS supervision.

The selected experts (in principle one or two) will support the implementation of Task 7.3 and potentially other action tasks across other WPs of the BRIDGE-BS project. They will not work on action tasks. The language of such services will be English.  

This call for experts is open for international senior experts with a proven expertise in terms of:

• Support SMEs and solution providers in assessing and developing business strategies, as well as increasing their ability to successfully pitch towards international impact investors;

• Understanding of the blue economy, preferably in the context of the Black Sea and other EU sea basins, across the different sectors and activities covered by the Accelerator .

Specifically, the candidates would offer relevant direct experience in the following areas:

• Support to innovative ideas, start-ups and SMEs in engaging with international investors;

• First hand understanding of the blue economy sector and relevant investors in this area;

• Direct long-term experience in the EU and/or across the Black Sea is considered a plus.

The candidates shall provide a detailed list of references to demonstrate their expertise on both above topics and indicative cost for day fees. The work is considered in expert office, as the support needed will be provided online, with in principle no travel planned or to be covered.

Several experts could be acquired as part of this call, based on the needs identified by the BRIDGE-BS Accelerator:

- delivering the actual support to the new applicants and possibly some selected ones from the previous call (about 12 following us up more thoroughly);

- leading some (limited) group discussions and the bilateral follow-up exchanges needed to support business models, market assessment, pitching ability and identification of interested/interesting investors;

- leading and proactively supporting the design of such support actions, based on the specifications offered in this document and further exchanges with the BSA team of BRIDGES-BS.

The experts will start offering their services from September 2024 till March 2025, with the peak of the work intended until December 2024, supporting BRIDGE-BS Accelerator team in the services to the selected applicant from the BSA 2nd call.

The total amount allocated for service acquisition (for maximum 2 experts) is expected to be up to 10.000 EUR. The overall amount allocated to each expert will be discussed depending on specific needs, duration of the contract, range of expertise demonstrated by each expert and etc.  

Specific services required as well as agreements in the interaction of the experts with BRIDGE-BS partners in charge of the BRIDGE-BS Accelerator will be specified as part of the contractual agreements.  

Interested applicants must send a CV and detailed demonstration (one page max) of their relevance for this position, according to the requests of this document, to the following email: bsvkc@bsec-organization.org  

Deadline for application: 20 July 2024, 06:00 PM Turkish time (GMT+3).

Dear stakeholders,

As most of you already know, under Subtask 9.1.3 Establish a Science-Technology-Policy English language MOOC on Blue Growth, we will design and develop a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) related to be created in line with the BRIDGE-BS objectives and expected outcomes. 

Here in this stage will need your input and support to better design the BRIDGE-BS MOOC. So as a first step, I will kindly ask you to fill the following survey until June 23, 2024 and share the survey with your colleagues who have similar experience and help us with reaching the right tools / platforms.

MOOC Survey Link:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15JxzriV4qzzSEEyHBXlhTphj5AgmvewXbn156kTbPz4/edit

While filling out the survey please keep in mind that the main goals of the MOOC are to equip Early Career Ocean Professionals with the necessary theoretical and practical skills in marine research as well as inform a range of stakeholders about the research conducted for developing a sustainable Blue Economy in the Black Sea region.

The Black Sea Accelerator is supporting sustainable blue economy solutions across the Black Sea region, to foster sustainable and circular innovation in the Black Sea area. 

The first call promoted in the context of the BRIDGE-BS and DOORS Black Sea R&I projects, funded under H2020, a total of 30 applications proposing innovative services, products, or technologies have been received, covering all sectors of the Blue Economy (aquaculture, fisheries, boating, and yachting, blue biotechnologies, maritime transport and its greening and digitalization, plastic pollution and waste management, etc.). 10 applicants have been accompanied by BRIDGE-BS and DOORS via dedicated training sessions in plenary or in dedicated sessions to support the development of the targeted market ideas for the blue economy of the Black Sea. Such training sessions aim to develop skills in various domains such as pitching, analyzing business models, structuring business plans, leads for business development, etc.

The second call is now open for Black Sea-based applicants (individuals/organizations). More applications are foreseen as the support provided will be offered through online training and advisory services. In principle, the language of such services will be English. Note that, for this 2nd call, more established (market-ready) solutions are eligible (Technology Readiness Level 6 and above).

The deadline for applying for the second and final call of the BSA is 20 July 2024 and the support will be provided from mid-September until the end of 2024.

The 2nd High Tech Summit for the Black Sea will take place on 16 October and will serve as a key step in the BSA and the most successful participants of both calls will be featured either as relevant technologies or during pitching sessions.

To address any questions or comments you may have, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at acceleratorblacksea@gmail.com

The UfM EU and Jordan CoPresidency and Secretariat are pleased to announce that the MED GREEN WEEK will take place from 14-16 May 2024 in Istanbul, Türkiye.

 The Med Green Week will include the UfM Regional Platform and Working Groups on Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water, and will aim at sparking discussions, boosting participation and fostering collaboration. 

 Impactful and dynamic cross-thematic workshops will also be organised, ensuring the contribution/s of a wide range of key actors committed to collaborate for a sustainable and inclusive future in the Mediterranean region.

 Kindly save the date in your calendar. More detailed information will be shared in the coming weeks.

Don’t forget to sign up for Connecting Europe Days 2024!

Spaces are filling-up quickly for Connecting Europe Days 2024, Europe’s mobility flagship event, on 2-5 April in Brussels, Belgium. Register now to secure your spot. 

The Connecting Europe by Air side event at Brussels Airport will delve into how aviation can help ensure the connectivity and multimodality of the EU transport network. The role of collaboration, research, and financing as a catalyst for the aviation sector’s decarbonisation will also be discussed. Participants can explore innovative EU funded aviation projects at the on-site exhibition. Full programme here.

The conference will host a Marketplace for innovative companies, project promoters and initiatives from the public and private sector across Europe to pitch their transport projects. Interested to share your ideas? Apply here before 18 March.

Connecting Europe Days will bring together more than 2,500 participants from all EU Member States and neighbouring third countries, in particular the Western Balkan partners as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. Participants include Ministers, politicians, financial institutions, industry representatives, transport stakeholders and the European Commission and related agencies. 

The Connecting Europe Days 2024 will be the place to discuss concrete measures and exchange good practices on creating a sustainable, smart and resilient, transport and mobility network in Europe. It will take stock of the ambitious goals set out in the EU Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy. 

The event is being organised together with the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. 

Visit our website for the programme and speakers. Don’t forget to take a look at the different side events and networking opportunities taking place throughout the Connecting Europe Days, including a cocktail hosted for all participants by Infrabel on 3 April. 

European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg) is a key European Union (EU) instrument, that strengthens cooperation between regions and countries within the EU and beyond. As part of the EU’s Cohesion Policy, Interreg plays a vital role in promoting regional development and reducing economic disparities. 

The purpose of the current survey is to foster an open and meaningful debate about Interreg's future, by collecting your thoughts, as Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme* stakeholders, or citizens living in the Black Sea Basin, about what currently works, what needs improvement, what is missing and how a brighter future for Interreg can be envisaged. 

Completing the survey will take about 10 minutes, depending on the variety of your insights in the different aspects of Interreg. The survey is split in two parts, independently accessible, depending if you are an organization, or a citizen. The consultation is available in English and we would appreciate your comments also in English.

We would also appreciate your support by forwarding this email to your team, partners or member organizations, in order to collect as many responses as possible and to cover as many relevant examples from all over the Black Sea Basin region.

Answer the survey, at the latest by 15th of April, 2024, by accessing the following link, and you stand a chance to win a backpack full of TECH promotional items🎁*:

The survey is opened until the 15th of April, 2024 and available at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxrFwgCBbEYaU4X_OCegxYBNilxcNOXNKHGZt6_PQtkiFJog/viewform

If you have any queries concerning the survey, please contact us at blacksea-cbc@mdlpa.gov.ro.

Read more:

https://mailchi.mp/0b455c8dd6ca/welcome-to-the-first-bridge-bs-newsletter-9359075