BlueMissionBANOS – supporting the Mission Ocean Lighthouse in the Baltic and North Sea basins

Project Information

BlueMissionBANOS

Grant agreement ID: 101093845

DOI

10.3030/101093845

Project closed

EC signature date 7 December 2022

Start date 1 December 2022

End date 30 November 2025

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 2 999 993,75

EU contribution

€ 2 999 993,50

Coordinated by

SUBMARINER NETWORK FOR BLUE GROWTH EWIV
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BlueMissionBANOS (BlueMissionBANOS – supporting the Mission Ocean Lighthouse in the Baltic and North Sea basins)

Reporting period: 2022-12-01 to 2024-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The EU-Mission ‘Restore our Ocean, Seas and Waters by 2030’ is a new EU wide broad mobilization initiative, expected to bring
concrete solutions to protect its ecosystems and biodiversity, prevent and eliminate pollution and turning the blue economy both carbonneutral and circular. Substantial resources are made available to establish lighthouse projects, BlueParks and improved digital knowledge
systems. These need to be matched with corresponding efforts by all stakeholders at national and regional scale. BlueMissionBANOS,
BMB, hasthe ambition to act as an efficient facilitator and knowledge broker asto inspire, engage, and supportstakeholdersfrom politics,
industry,science and the public acrossthe BANOS area to channel resources effectively towardsthe Mission Ocean objectives. The BMB
consortium gathers some of the most active research institutes, networks/clusters and funding agencies from the Baltic and North Sea
sea-basin. Capitalizing on their past and ongoing activities, BMB partners will work with existing governance structures from regional
up to transnational level within the BANOS area to design an effective, transparent, mutually-reinforcing interplay between them (WP2);
support citizen engagement initiatives to align with the Mission’s objectives (WP3); accelerate the deployment of solutions through
five innovation and demonstration cycles (WP4); develop a consistent monitoring framework to assess Mission performance including
definition of baselines; key performance indicators and sources/methods to capture and analyse the relevant data (WP5); supported
by a digital, interactive portal showcasing projects and services relevant to Mission deployment (WP6). To maximize effectiveness of
available public and private funding opportunities and achieve critical mass for action, activities will be coordinated and communicated
within BMB; including Lighthouse demonstrators, as well as with EU structures and EU wide projects (WP1).

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first reporting period, BlueMissionBANOS engaged in significant stakeholder mapping and outreach, helping to contribute to strengthening the blue economy network in the BANOS region. In addition, during the first reporting period BlueMissionBANOS hosted the first two of five Mission Arenas, bringing local and regional stakeholders to the table to discuss the most pressing blue economy issues in their areas. The first Mission Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden was focused on the region of South Norway, West Sweden, East Denmark and the Baltic part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and gathered around 500 participants. The second Mission Arena in Riga, Latvia was focused on the Baltic Proper region of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and East Sweden and gathered around 250 participants. In addition to the Mission Arenas, the first reporting period has seen significant successes in the areas of citizen engagement, stakeholder mapping and Mission monitoring.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

As the CSA responsible for the Baltic and North Sea region, BlueMissionBANOS has had the unique opportunity to shape and strengthen the regional blue economy. During the first reporting period, solutions have been identified, regional cooperation channels have been built and strengthened, and communication between actors has increased significantly. In the next reporting period, work in BlueMissionBANOS will focus on uptake of solutions, further growth and strengthening of cooperative models in the BANOS region, and the development of improved methods to monitor, improve, and expand progress toward Mission Ocean goals.