Step into the heart of TOURAL’s activities and gain exclusive insights into the progress and breakthroughs that have defined our journey so far. This edition brings you closer to the activities shaping our mission, highlighting key developments and future plans.

On 1 January 2025, Ukraine took over the coordination of the Common Maritime Agenda (CMA) for the Black Sea, following Moldova’s CMA coordinating role in 2024. Ukraine aims to build on Moldova’s success by addressing the CMA goals and priorities in the Black Sea region.   

Strategic Priorities for 2025

Ukraine’s leadership will focus on enhancing awareness of the Black Sea CMA and broadening its engagement with stakeholders in the Black Sea region and blue economy. A key priority focuses on the exchange of best practices, particularly on the need  for joint environmental monitoring, including the impact of the current war (e.g. sea mines and pollution) on the sea basin , which is a shared concern for Black Sea countries. Other key objectives include discussing the latest advancements in green ports, innovative transportation systems, and modern maritime infrastructure.

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The CMA Steering Group has launched a new Technical Group to address challenges, opportunities and cooperation in Black Sea coastal and maritime tourism. Key objectives include evaluating priorities in sustainable tourism, consolidating knowledge of the Black Sea underwater cultural heritage and developing collaborative projects. 

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The main outcomes of the Black Sea CMA Stakeholder Conference are published. The conference, hosted by the Moldovan chairmanship of the CMA in Chisinau, on 11 September 2024, attracted over 200 stakeholders from all over the region and beyond to exchange and discuss joint action on a sustainable blue economy in the Black Sea.

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The Black Sea CMA Implementation report is now available, detailing the progress made by Black Sea stakeholders, supported by the European Commission and the Black Sea Assistance Mechanism (BSAM), under the CMA for the Black Sea (CMA) in the past two years (2023 and 2024). It highlights achievements, events, communications, lessons learned, and future priorities, focusing on economic development, ecosystem protection, and regional cooperation.

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The summary paper compiles the main outcomes of three co-creation workshop sessions organised during the Black Sea CMA Stakeholder Conference on 11th of September 2024. This informative document aims to provide expert insights into existing and emerging trends in the sea basin, identify key research priorities and funding needs, and suggest new courses of action to EU, national, and regional policymakers.

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You can find the whole newsletter by following the link. 

Kicking off the new year on a high note, we present you the 4th REST-COAST newsletter. In the current edition, you will find information on our most recent achievements, along with plans for the upcoming months, all contributing to the advancement of coastal restoration across the project's nine Pilot Sites.

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The Commission will host a week-long event to address the pressing issues facing the world's ocean. From 3 to 7 March 2025, the European Ocean Days will bring together experts, policymakers, and stakeholders from various fields to discuss sustainable blue economy, fisheries science, and innovative solutions to ocean-related challenges.

Read more: https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/news/register-european-ocean-days-march-2025-2025-01-13_en?pk_source=ec_newsroom&pk_medium=email&pk_campaign=MARE+Newsletter

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