BLUE4ALL will align top-down regulatory demands about European (networks of) MPAs with bottom-up societal expectations as a guarantee for achieving effective, efficient and resilient MPAs and networks of MPAs which meet EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 objectives. By mobilizing stakeholders from BLUE4ALL’s 25 information sites and Living Labs, i.e. locations across the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the North-East Atlantic regions where (networks of) MPAs have been established and from which lessons learned can be drawn about success and failure relative to how challenges were tackled, we will co-create robust and replicable social, governance, ecological and environmental tools to meet conservation and/or restoration objectives in socially sustainable and acceptable ways. These science-based tools will be tested in Living Labs, i.e. locations where (networks of) MPAs are in the process of establishment and where these tools can be fed into the ongoing MPA process. The operationalized and tested frameworks will ultimately be generalized into a Blueprint Platform for the co-creation of effective, efficient and resilient (networks of) MPAs. This scheme will separate generically encountered challenges and applied solutions from MPA (network)-specific challenges and solutions and develop guidance in a user-friendly manner to end-users (i.e. MPA (network) managers and authorities). This guidance will take the shape of an interactive web-based Blueprint Platform directing the end-users to those challenges and solutions most applicable to their site(s). User-friendliness and applicability will be maximized by cross-checking the Blueprint Platform development with the actors and stakeholders of the Living Labs throughout the whole process of its development. Knowledge transfer and interaction with stakeholders and society-at-large at local to regional scales will lead to the development of a platform for MPA networking to interact with communities of practice boosting the BLUE4ALL legacy to its ultimate goal to restore our oceans and waters.

CEE2ACT will empower countries in Central Eastern Europe and beyond (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia) - CEE2ACT target countries - to develop circular bioeconomy strategies and action plans through knowledge transfer and innovative governance models enabling sustainability and resilience to achieve better informed decision-making processes, societal engagement and innovation, building on the practice of experienced countries serving as role models in this context (Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Sweden). Knowledge transfer and inspiration in creative formats that address the motivations, needs and knowledge gaps of each CEE2ACT target country will be realized through the CEE2ACT National Bioeconomy Hubs. A participatory, non-political, bottom-up approach will be applied throughout the project activities, tackling specific knowledge gaps and shortcomings of the top-down conventional approach, building closer interconnections between actors across public institutions, private sector, industry, energy, SMEs, feedstock providers (e.g., waste, side streams, farmers, foresters, fishermen), academia and research, NGOs, CSOs in the target countries. To achieve this, a baseline assessment will be carried out (socio-economic and environmental aspects), stakeholder engagement activities will be implemented ensuring the proper involvement and active participation of all relevant stakeholders. Digital solutions for sustainable governance will be created, exchange of know-how and best practices on technology transfer, building the capacities of the stakeholders to develop bioeconomy strategies. The findings will be synthetized, in an analytical framework, which will result in National-level Roadmaps for the Bioeconomy Strategies in Targeted CEE2ACT countries, boosting societal engagement in the countries’ transition towards circular bioeconomy.

The project will deliver urban food system transformation via Bauhaus Bites (BB) Food Environments, co-created and demonstrated in 7 cities at different levels of societal readiness, their transferability discussed with sister projects and European/global networks, and the results summarised in a Playbook for broad adoption. Bauhaus Bites Food Environments are urban and peri-urban ecosystems that commit to implementing sustainable healthy diets, amplified by the New European Bauhaus, and fortified with Nature-Based Solutions, ensuring that the transformed food environments of tomorrow are sustainable, inclusive and beautiful. By merging the key perspectives of European and global strategies such as the Farm to Fork and FOOD 2030 strategies, the Planetary Health Diet and the Planetary Health Diets with the New European Bauhaus values and principles, Bauhaus Bites offers a unique approach not yet seen in food system transformation projects, that will reimagine these food environments together with local, culturally diverse communities, customised to meet their needs, and anchored in social meeting spaces that carry meaning for them. The project will co-create BB Food environments in 3 Trailblazers (Birmingham, Fundão, Zagreb) and 4 Twins (Murska Sobota, Ostend, Palermo, Sarajevo) with different geographies, sizes, demographic challenges and societal readiness, boost mutual learning through a Community of Practice, document their added value with science-based indicators to inform high-level policy-making, test them for transferability with European/global networks, and summarise the learnings, guidelines, methods and examples in a Playbook. The BB approach will be based on inclusive participation and co-creation, including city and regional authorities, community- and business-driven initiatives, and inhabitants and end users of the food environments.

The aim of INSULAE is to foster the deployment of innovative solutions for the EU islands decarbonization by developing and demonstrating at three Lighthouse Islands (located in Croatia, in Denmark and in Portugal) a set of interventions linked to seven replicable use cases, whose results will validate an Investment Planning Tool that will be then demonstrated at four Follower Islands (located in Spain, in Germany, in The Netherlands Antilles and in Greece) for the development of four associated Action Plans. The chosen islands are complementary in many aspects: location, size, connection with the mainland, economic development, renewable share and carbon intensity. INSULAE contributes to the Clean Energy for EU Islands Initiative by providing an Investment Planning Tool (IPT) able to create Actions Plans for the islands to generate their own sustainable, low-cost energy. The interventions will prove the ability of the use cases to develop RES-based systems 40-70% cheaper than diesel generation, thus, enabling an average reduction of the fossil fuel consumption of 11% after a large deployment of the use cases in the INSULAE islands. The INSULAE IPT will support the decision maker on the selection and design of cost effective Action Plans looking for the island decarbonization. It will be mainly composed by two modules: the Island modeling assistant and the Scenarisation module. The project team is carefully balanced along all the value chain counting with five public authorities, six energy and water utilities, four technology providers, two energy software developers, six RTOs, one environment NGO, one business models expert, one engineering company and one entity for social aspects and replication. The legal and regulatory framework of 57% of the total population living in EU islands will be directly considered within the project.

Europe's environment is in an alarming state, with climate change effects aggravating. To secure economic prosperity, human wellbeing and social peace, systemic transformative change of our society is imperative. Ecosystem restoration using nature-based solutions (NbS) is key to this change, in which freshwaters hold a pivotal role. MERLIN will demonstrate freshwater restoration best-practice; implement innovative NbS at landscape-scale; upscale systemic restoration seizing green growth and private investment opportunities; mainstream restoration by co-development with local communities and economic sectors; multiply solutions for transformative restoration to key players of systemic change. MERLIN will capitalise on successful freshwater restoration projects across Europe. Success factors of 17 flagship projects will be scrutinized, generating a blueprint for proficient NbS implementation. With investments of 10 mio Euro in hands-on upscaling measures along scalability plans, MERLIN will transform these projects into beacons of innovation for systemic change. Upscaling to the European level, MERLIN will identify landscapes with high potential for transformative restoration and will analyse cost-benefits of restoration scenarios. Economic analyses of European regions will seize green growth opportunities arising from restoration. MERLIN will delineate models for private investment into restoration alongside public funding. MERLIN's initiatives will co-design win-win solutions with economic sectors (agriculture, water supply, insurance, navigation) and local communities, spearheading systemic economic, social and environmental change. The MERLIN Academy and virtual marketplace will multiply innovations to the community of practice, investors and policy makers across Europe and beyond. MERLIN is committed to a sustainable, climate-neutral and -resilient, inclusive and transformative path, mainstreaming restoration as a cornerstone for systemic change.