Brussels, January 26, 2022. During the Hackathon organised by the WestMED Assistance Mechanism in Malta on June 30th 2022 and a couple of meetings under MSPMED project, the relevant stakeholders discussed about the creation of an open Community of Practice for exchange on MSP in the framework of the WestMED Initiative and supported by CINEA and DG MARE.

In the Mediterranean, there are many policy drivers for the implementation of Maritime/Marine Spatial Planning at regional, sub-regional and national levels. These include the MSP Directive implementation for the European Union Member States, the Ministerial declaration on Blue Economy of the Union for the Mediterranean and the Conceptual Framework for MSP developed by UNEP/MAP promoting a common approach to MSP as a key process for planning and managing the marine space in line with the provisions of the ICZM Protocol. Still, the MSPglobal pilot project in the Western Mediterranean Sea promoted by UNESCO-IOC and the European Commission allowed the creation of a network of experts and the publication of specific technical reports and recommendations.

Given the existing policy framework and the broader political will to commonly work on MSP, there is a shared interest to set an MSP Community of Practice in the Mediterranean, in the framework of the WestMED Initiative. The MED-MSP-CoP will be initially focused on the Western Mediterranean, being however open to experts and observers from the whole Mediterranean..

The main objective of the MED-MSP-CoP is to establish a permanent communication and dialogue across borders between experts on MSP (i.e. planners, technical experts, researchers), and to exchange knowledge and relevant experiences in the region, so as to reach a shared perspective on topics of common interest on MSP and enhance the cooperation between the north and the south of the Mediterranean.

On January 26, 2023, CINEA and DG MARE officially launched the Community of Practice during the kick-off meeting in Brussels where the experts discussed the structure and the action plan for the next year.

Thanos Smanis, WestMED expert and member of the MSP Assistance Mechanism, highlights “the instant willingness by MSP experts to mobilise and establish a Community of Practice on MSP for the MED, for joint dialogue and cooperation, demonstrates the shared perception that this will significantly support the creation of a regional framework and vision whereby all stakeholders will be needed.”

Next to the the Community of Practice on MSP, three technical-/ work groups have been formed under the WestMED Initiative;  Sustainable Transport-Green Shipping, the AquaWEST technical group on aquaculture and the Maritime Clusters Alliance.

More information on the Community of Practice on Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) for the Mediterranean : https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/two-days-key-developments-maritime-spatial-planning-2023-01-25_en

The European Commission has been supporting the establishment and implementation of three sea basin strategies in the Atlantic, the Black Sea and the Western Mediterranean.

In May 2021, the European Commission adopted a new approach for a sustainable blue economy in the EU that sets out a detailed agenda for the blue economy to play a major role in achieving the European Green Deal objectives.

The European Commission recognises the benefit of sea basins and indicates that the EU will continue supporting cooperation, and developing tailored strategies for each European sea basin.

There are specific conditions, opportunities and challenges for each sea basin, which require a targeted approach.

The optimal development of all sea-related activities in a sustainable manner calls for a coherent policy framework based on the involvement of all stakeholders. Seas are shared among different countries.

Therefore, regional cooperation, including with non-EU countries, is important in achieving the objectives of the sustainable blue economy strategy. Sea basin strategies require joint policy agendas among EU and non-EU countries sharing the same sea, while defining joint priorities and concretely involving stakeholders in the process of identification and implementation of blue economy bankable projects.

A unique Assistance Mechanism has been formed to help support the implementation of the three EU Sea Basin Strategies, namely  Atlantic Strategy, the WestMED Initiative and the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea.

It means that the WestMED Assistance Mechanism has now become part of a larger consortium to better identify and build on the synergies between all three sea basins. It will do so by exchanging best practices and organizing national and regional events with themes that have a clear cross sea basin relevance such as blue skills, blue investments, green shipping, and sustainable aquaculture. This new approach will ensure the specific needs of each sea basin while facilitating synergies and increasing outreach and visibility.

As has been done in the previous years, this new joint Assistance Mechanism will continue its networking expertise to initiate project partnerships and help gain access to funding with proposal development support. However, this time drawing from a much larger database of stakeholders and pool of experts.

The EASME/ CINEA Maritime datahub will be further developed to contain even more projects that contribute to the different sea basin strategies, and cooperation will be intensified with projects like BlueInvest and the Maritime Spatial Planning Assistance Mechanism.

The teams that ran the three previous Assistance Mechanisms, will largely remain in place in this new joint Assistance Mechanism to ensure smooth continuation and consistency.

The National Hubs in Spain, Portugal and France will be at the forefront of this new synergies approach as they will now focus simultaneously on both the WestMED and the Atlantic

This joint sea basin programme is funded by the European Commission and will run from 2022-2024.

The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) is hosting the First Coordination Meeting on the Mediterranean Strategy for the Prevention of, Preparedness, and Response to Marine Pollution from Ships (2022-2031), in its premises in Malta between 29 November and 1 December 2022.

Gathering representatives from Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, as well as representatives from relevant regional and international organisations, this Meeting will mark the beginning of a new era of cooperation for the implementation of the Mediterranean Strategy (2022-2031) by defining the priority actions for the 2024-2025 and beyond.

Addressing the current environmental challenges at sea, the Mediterranean Strategy is based on months of collective coordinated work to present an effective joint Action Plan and a vision for the whole Mediterranean “A clean and healthy Mediterranean marine and coastal environment with a sustainable and pollution free maritime sector, supported by a rigorous enforcement system and strengthened multi-sectoral cooperation, for the benefit of present and future generations”.

The Mediterranean Strategy (2022-2031), at the heart of the meeting, aims to provide guidance to the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention at the horizon 2031, to cooperate on the prevention, preparedness and response to marine pollution from ships.

It sets seven Common Strategic Objectives (CSOs) detailed below apply to the Mediterranean region as a whole, and Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, alongside the various organisations and institutions of the Mediterranean, each having a role to play in achieving these objectives. As a a matter of fact, meeting these objectives required a collective and coordinated effort, which is in the centre of the discussions.

• CSO 1 – Prevent, prepare for, and respond to operational, illegal and accidental oil and HNS pollution from ships
• CSO 2 – Promote and support the development and implementation of innovative global solutions to mitigate and respond to climate change
• CSO 3 – Reduce and monitor air emissions from ships to a level that is not harmful to the marine environment, or the health of the coastal population of the Mediterranean
• CSO 4 – Prevent and reduce litter (in particular plastic) entering the marine environment from ships, in order to limit the environmental, health, and socio-economic impact of marine litter in the Mediterranean
• CSO 5 – Eliminate the introduction of non-indigenous species by shipping activities
• CSO 6 – Achieve a well-managed safe and pollution free Mediterranean, with integrated marine spatial planning and designation of special areas, where shipping activity has a limited impact upon the marine environment
• CSO 7 – Identify and understand collectively emerging issues related to pollution from ships in the Mediterranean, and define required actions to address issues identified

This Meeting also aims to report and assess the progress made in the  implementation of the Mediterranean Strategy (2022-2031), to define priority actions and propose related activities for 2024-2025, to define roles and responsibilities for the implementation of the proposed activities and  establish operational and strategic synergies, through specific partnership agreements.

This Meeting is the first of a series of five (5) meeting to be organised every two years over the next ten years. In 2027, The Mediterranean Strategy (2022-2031) and its Action Plan will be reviewed in 2027, based on an analysis of the progress of its implementation and on the outcome of discussions on emerging issues.

This mid-term review and evaluation will be supported by a Study on trends and outlook of marine pollution from ships in the Mediterranean compiling knowledge about maritime traffic and its impact on the marine environment focusing on the seven CSOs. Such a Study will becompared to the study published in 2020 to support the elaboration of the Mediterranean Strategy (2022-2031).

Full press release

More information visit the REMPEC website or contact Marie Helderle (communication and media officer) vis@rempec.org | +356 21 337 296/7/8

At its flagship internationalisation workshop in Malta on 13/14th September 2022, the MED programme SHAREMED strategic project presented the framework guidelines and proposed actions to organize and synergize the cross-sectoral and cross-border articulation of a marine observation system of systems to assess and address environmental threats in the Mediterranean Sea, connecting marine research to society, and serving the wider interlinked contexts of security and control, monitoring and sustainability, including economic benefits.

Prof. Aldo Drago presented the document and led a dedicated roundtable discussion with expert panelists which included high profile participants from the southern Mediterranean countries.

The discussions dealt with the next steps to engage in collaborative and enduring efforts leading to the co-design and implementation of a regional system for marine observations supported by national endeavours, serving society and seeking a joint and coordinated action plan to address existing challenges and the sustainable use of marine resources in the Mediterranean within the context of the UN Ocean Decade.

SHAREMED is led by Prof. Cosimo Solidoro from the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS, Trieste).

For more info on the workshop and the Framework Document, you can visit the workshop webpages

On June 30 2022, more than 60 representatives from the WestMED Maritime community gathered in Salina Bay on Malta. It was an occasion to develop and discuss project ideas and learn the outcomes of the ‘WestMED in my country’ events.

Each WestMED National Hub presented the key takeaways from their ‘in-my-country’ event that had been organised in the previous eight weeks. The events covered a wide range of maritime topics; ranging from  diversification for fishers in Spain, cluster formation in Mauritania and Blue Economy opportunities for accelerators in Italy to bridging the Blue Skills gap in Malta.

The hackathons themselves consisted of targeted theme-based discussions focused on some of the  main issues that are currently at the top of the WestMED Initiative agenda: aquaculture, tourism, transport and ports, maritime clusters, blue skills and Maritime Spatial planning.

Each hackathon resulted in a number of concrete ideas with suggestions on how to take these ideas forward – also in light of current and upcoming funding opportunities

These ideas will be carefully studied for feasibility and followed-up by the respective National Hubs

You can already download the slides (pdf) used, containing both the main takeaways from the in-my-country events  as well as the main hackathon ideas.

You can also watch the recordings on the hackathon 22 page

For further information, please contact communications@westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu, or your nearest National Hub