The three-year CrossGov project aims to enhance knowledge on how coherence and cross-compliance of marine related policies and legislation affect the ability to realise the goals of the EU Green Deal for the protection of marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and to co-create proposals and roadmaps towards this end. A core strength of CrossGov is the close collaboration with the policymaking community that will be engaged in co-creation of knowledge and recommendations for solutions. The background for the project is the complex multi-level and multi-sector governance system created by global and regional international frameworks, the EU and the European coastal states. This policy landscape has not managed to halt the degradation of European seas and will be challenged further by the EU Green Deal’s call for transformative changes. Based on scenarios and methodological guidance for studies of coherence, cross-compliance and scientific advice, the project will analyse how policies and legislation at various levels support or impede progress towards the Green Deal in the marine domain. The practical results of attempts to implement the various requirements will be studied in three regional cases (the North Sea, the Baltic and the Mediterranean), and in five national cases (Finland, Norway, Netherlands, France, Italy). The insights gained will be discussed with CrossGov’s Stakeholder Forum to co-create recommendations for better integrated policies towards implementing the Green Deal in the marine context. The innovative, web-based and fit-for purpose roadmaps and methodological guidelines will enable policymakers to effectively foster environmentally sustainable law and governance that is fit-for-purpose for delivering the societal transformation called for.

IIn the light of the EU 2030 Climate and Energy framework, MUSTEC aims to explore and propose concrete solutions to overcome the various factors that hinder the deployment of concentrated solar power (CSP) projects in Southern Europe capable of supplying renewable electricity on demand to Central and Northern European countries. To do so, the project will analyze the drivers and barriers to CSP deployment and renewable energy (RE) cooperation in Europe, identify future CSP cooperation opportunities and will propose a set of concrete measures to unlock the existing potential. To achieve these objectives, MUSTEC will build on the experience and knowledge generated around the cooperation mechanisms and CSP industry developments building on concrete CSP case studies. Thereby we will consider the present and future European energy market design and policies as well as the value of CSP at electricity markets and related economic and environmental benefits. In this respect, MUSTEC combines a dedicated, comprehensive and multi-disciplinary analysis of past, present and future CSP cooperation opportunities with a constant engagement and consultation with policy makers and market participants. This will be achieved through an intense and continuous stakeholder dialogue and by establishing a tailor-made knowledge sharing network. The MUSTEC consortium consists of nine renowned institutions from six European countries and includes many of the most prolific researchers in the European energy policy community, with very long track records of research in European and nationally funded energy policy research projects.

The overall aim of 'Source to Seas - Zero Pollution 2030 (SOS-ZEROPOL2030)' is to develop a holistic zero pollution framework which can guide the process towards achieving zero pollution in European seas by 2030. Marine contamination (including pollution) occurs as a direct result of human activities on both; land and in the marine environment; and requires urgent attention as healthy and clean seas provide numerous ecosystem services (e.g. food, oxygen production, climate regulation), which are critical for our survival and wellbeing. Given the complex and interconnected nature of marine pollution, the integration of sustainability-focused agendas and circular economy principles and practices is essential for the development of effective actions that can address its impacts. The implementation of processes and measures to reduce marine pollution will have consequences for numerous economic sectors (e.g. agriculture, fisheries, food and beverage industry, waste management, packaging industry, tourism, offshore energy) at multiple scales (local, national, regional and international), framing marine pollution as a considerable global socio-economic challenge that requires active collaboration from multiple stakeholders, across a range of geographic areas. In this context SOS-ZEROPOL2030 aims to co-design, co-produce, and co-deliver a stakeholder lead European Seas zero-pollution framework that provides practical guidance from source to sea addressing shortcomings in marine pollution management and governance. This holistic approach is based on best practice, puts emphasis on human behaviour, socioeconomics and governance; and is underpinned in knowledge about and understanding of current barriers to effective and efficient prevention, reduction, mitigation and monitoring of marine pollution in European Seas.

The transition to a low-carbon energy system will involve a major redesign of the energy system, primarily around renewable sources. Existing energy system planning models are insufficient for guiding this transition, primarily because they do not capture enough of the technological, geographic, and societal details that are important when designing an energy system around new renewable sources of energy. Expanding such models to capture these details would make them even less comprehensible and transparent than they are now. Instead, we propose a new modelling framework, the Sustainable Energy Transitions Laboratory (SENTINEL). Extensive collaboration with stakeholders will inform the development and refinement of the SENTINEL framework, both through an initial evaluation of user needs, and then through a set of participatory case studies. The SENTINEL framework will be completely modular in structure. Many separate models will each go into a great deal of detail about specific aspects of the transition to a low-carbon energy system. The models will be able to be easily linked together to answer a wide range of different questions. Since any given user is likely to need to use only a subset of the models, the task of understanding how those models operate will be manageable. All of the models and data will be accessible via an online platform. The platform will contain a user interface, as well as making source code and data open source, supplemented by supporting documentation and guidance. This will enable other models to be added to the SENTINEL framework and online platform over time. We will disseminate the results and promote the platform to the appropriate target audiences: policy-analysts; model developers; and research scientists. We will organize an annual conference, to build a community of model users and developers to carry this work forward. We plan to continue the platform and conferences long after the project is completed.