BioProtect will provide innovative, replicable and scalable ecosystem-based solutions that will accelerate the protection and restoration of biodiversity in European seas, in line with the EU´s 2030 targets and the European Green Deal. Pressures from multiple human activities and climate change are driving ecosystems degradation and biodiversity loss, threatening goods and services that are essential for human life and society. BioProtect aims to reduce these pressures by implementing an innovative area-based management decision support framework (ABM-DSF). The framework will include methods and capacity building to engage local stakeholders, to monitor and forecast changes in marine biodiversity, to map human pressures, to prioritise areas for protection and restoration, and to measure ecological and socio-economic impacts of conservation actions. These will be demonstrated in five sites from the Arctic to the Azores in the Atlantic. In the past, non-systemic approaches, focused on siloed sector-based management and single-spatial scales have failed to halt the loss of biodiversity. BioProtect’s novel and flexible framework will integrate different spatial scales and data sources. It will incorporate perspectives and knowledge from a wide range of stakeholders, to support the implementation and exploitation of its solutions by relevant end-users. BioProtect will consider “what-if” scenarios, including climate change, protection and exploitation strategies, and evaluate their ecological and socio-economic impacts. The BioProtect’s consortium holds cross-cutting knowledge and expertise, with the capacity to build on existing research and innovation within the Atlantic and Arctic basins. BioProtect will deliver impact-driven solutions to address biodiversity loss and climate change, with the aim to reach relevant EU Biodiversity Strategy targets for 2030, including a substantial contribution to reaching the EU nature restoration targets.

The Black Sea’s unique ecosystem services are degrading and need to be better managed for the benefit of citizens dependent upon their sustainability. As a critical contribution to the science-based policy needed to preserve the Black Sea ecosystems, BRIDGE-BS proposes a multidisciplinary, multisectoral program building on regional and international initiatives. The project will develop predictive tools and capabilities necessary to understand and predict the impacts of climate-driven and anthropogenic multi-stressors on the services stemming from Black Sea ecosystems. These services and their responses to stressors will be mapped, monitored and modeled in order to identify a safe operating space within which a sustainable blue economy can flourish. To this end, BRIDGE-BS is structured around “three” interconnected nodes: Service Dynamics, Blue Growth Incubators and Empowered Citizens. Node1 will, using time series and new data, simulations and machine learning tools assess, predict and determine ecosystem resilience to deliver adaptive management tools. Node1 outputs will be used in Node2 to identify services that can support sustainable Blue Growth in the Black Sea by strengthening of resource management, developing and applying innovative technologies as well as supporting innovative start-ups and business models to create added value and jobs. Node3 will support policy uptake of BRIDGE-BS science and innovation results. It will train and strengthen collaborations between scientists and stakeholders, as well as policy makers, industry representatives and societal interest groups. It will educate, train and stimulate interactions between the public, future generations of marine scientists and entrepreneurs as well as motivate and engage policy-makers. Most importantly, through Node3 BRIDGE-BS will create a connected Black Sea community, strengthened by a new generation of researchers and innovators to address emerging Black Sea challenges.

There is no doubt as to the relevance of maritime activities for the European economy, nor that the response of the sector to the 2008 economic crisis has been increasingly focused on innovation-driven processes. These, along with the profound changes on a global scale confronted by its industries, by socio-economic and environmental drivers, pose significant challenges to the labour market. The digitization of industrial processes (automation, robotics, Internet of Things, big-data), the rising demand for more sustainable practices, a move to low-carbon energy sources, demographic and geopolitical changes, the exponential increase in accessible knowledge and data, are crucial factors in the present and future context of the maritime sector. Our proposal’s overall aim is to cover this evolution in maritime technologies and produce a strategic plan to tackle the ensuing skill shortages and contribute to a more resilient labour market, capable of adapting to new scenarios, and aiming to safeguard the well-being of present and future maritime-dependent communities and the competitiveness of the industry.Our European strategy will be based on a series of pilot case studies chosen to demonstrate the viability of the solutions identified, thus creating a platform for a long-term action plan to harness the strategy sustainability. Dissemination and awareness-raising will multiply the impact of results and increase the sectors’ attractiveness for talent and investment. Though work will focus on the shipbuilding and off-shore energy value chains, the many different traditional and emerging activities and stakeholders involved, demand a broad approach. Ocean Literacy (OL) will complement the sectoral approach as the transversal area of action. Combined efforts from education and science communities with industry, society and administration will widen the perspective of relevant knowledge and skills and increase opportunities for the labour force in an industry-led strategy.