Green, circular and resilient harbours

The goal of this topic is to accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions to achieve Mission objectives and targets in ports in line with existing legislation like the Industrial Emissions Directive[[ Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control)]], the Water Framework Directive[[ Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy]], the Marine Strategy Framework Directive[[ Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive)]], the Waste Framework Directive[[ Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives]], the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive[[ Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning]] , the Nature Restoration Regulation [[ Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2024 on nature restoration and amending Regulation (EU) 2022/869]] ,the upcoming EU Port Strategy, Industrial Maritime Strategy and the European Ocean Pact [[ COM/2025/281 final C(2022) 4747 final]].

Proposals under this topic should test, deploy, and upscale systemic innovative solutions to improve sustainability and resilience in ports to reduce pollution and environmental degradation, reverse biodiversity loss, and improve natural resource management in port areas. This covers both coastal and inland cities and areas with a port regardless of their activities (e.g. fishing, commercial, marinas, recreational) and size. The proposals should encourage cooperation within and between ports across Europe using existing activities in some ports as pilots/leaders and engaging other ports in a development and learning process (e.g. using formats like summer schools and twinning, living labs concept).

For each project, demonstration activities are expected to take place in at least 4 ports, 1 in each of the four sea and river basins: 1. Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin, 2. Mediterranean Sea basin, 3. Baltic and North Sea basin, 4. Danube River basin, including Black Sea, with strong and meaningful involvement of public administrations and port managing authorities. The basins / Mission “lighthouses” include the river basins flowing into the respective sea basins.

The project should:

• Support the testing, deployment, and upscaling of innovative solutions to restore harbour/ports ecosystems, mitigate pollution by addressing one or several of the specific Mission objectives and targets and monitor the effectiveness of the proposed solutions;
• Bring together harbours, local stakeholders, relevant authorities, scientific and industry partners to drive collaborative action towards the development of specific local Implementation Strategies such as transitioning to renewable energy, alternative fuels or circular economy initiatives, biodiversity restoration and Nature-based Solutions, or adaptation measures to address sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and other climate-related risks;
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing initiatives and partnerships within and between ports to leverage best practices and lessons learned by demonstrating their transferability and scalability potential;
• Provide targeted assistance and capacity-building programmes to help smaller size ports to overcome barriers and adopt sustainable practices; This could include for example developing comprehensive waste management systems to recycle and reduce port-generated waste and involving local communities in sustainability initiatives or the deployment of nature-based solutions such as vegetated buffers to protect port infrastructure from coastal risks and enhance biodiversity;
• Facilitate synergies with other R&I-relevant EU, national or regional programmes and leverage of funds through interactions with regional/local authorities and where relevant with the private sector and investors to accelerate the innovation cycles of marine technologies.

Projects are expected to work with and engage at least 4 ‘associated regions’ (represented by local/regional port authorities/public bodies) to show the effectiveness of solutions to increase resilience and develop a replication plan for its uptake in an ‘associated region’ and build capacity at local level. Beneficiaries may therefore provide Financial Support to Third Parties (see the Specific Conditions table for this topic). Projects should (1) proactively reach out to the 'associated regions' to enable them to follow closely the project’s activities, (2) continuously share their outcomes and knowledge with those ‘associated regions’ and (3) provide them with technical assistance to build capacity and to implement in their territory the approach they developed.

Projects should build on the best available actionable knowledge, methods and innovations notably from the results of previous national and EU projects.

Competent authorities and other stakeholders participating in the project are encouraged to pool and enhance synergies[[ COM/2025/281 final C(2022) 4747 final]] with other sources of funding (e.g. structural, cohesion funds such as ERDF, or LIFE) for implementing and deploying innovative solutions.

This action supports the follow-up to the July 2023 Communication on EU Missions assessment.