Launch of the Black Sea SRIA Implementation Plan What is next for the Black Sea research and innovation cooperation?

Launch of the Black Sea SRIA Implementation Plan

What is next for the Black Sea research and innovation cooperation?

Hosted by MEP Marian-Jean MARINESCU, SEArica member

Co-organised by the Black Sea CONNECT Project and the European Commission DG RTD,  with the support of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and its Balkan and Black Sea Commission (BBSC)

4 May 2023, 14:00 - 16:00 CEST

 Please find HERE the videos of the meeting

Despite all the setbacks, scientists, innovators and research stakeholders have continued to develop their shared vision and plans for a healthy, resilient and productive Black Sea. In this context, a working group of experts from countries bordering the Black Sea came together in 2017 with the support of the European Commission, to develop a shared agenda for research and innovation for the Black Sea and provide guidance to national and EU policy-makers. The group collaborated with marine experts from top European marine institutes and organizations and produced the Burgas Vision Paper, the key framework document for a shared vision of a productive, healthy, resilient, sustainable, and better-valued Black Sea by 2030. The Ministerial Declaration towards a Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea (2018), endorsed by the Black Sea countries, provides more backing for this approach with the Black Sea Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) Implementation Plan being its scientific pillar.

Furthermore, the H2020-funded Black Sea CONNECT CSA (2019) project is directed at creating a responsible and effective SRIA Implementation Plan based on the essential framework requirements to translate SRIA outputs into actions in collaboration with national research funders and key stakeholders. To do so, rounds of SRIA consultations and a range of activities were held for the last four years in the Black Sea and internationally, targeting national, regional and international actors, initiatives, projects and policies during the lifetime of the project.

This event, hosted and chaired by MEP Marian-Jean Marinescu in the framework of the SEArica Intergroup, will be the occasion to launch the Final SRIA Implementation Plan to set the foundational work for protecting unique habitats of the Black Sea while supporting the development of sea-based sectors, which will then boost the blue economy and help create more jobs. The SRIA and its Implementation Plan will direct participants from academia, funding organizations, industry, policy, and society to address the fundamental challenges of the Black Sea, to promote the blue economy, to build vital support systems and innovative research infrastructure, to enhance education, and to build capacity.

The BSEC PERMIS press release, as partner of the “Black Sea CONNECT: Coordination of Marine and Maritime Research and Innovation in the Black Sea”, project consortium, is available here.

Read the Connect To Black Sea press release on the launch of the Black Sea SRIA Implementation Plan here.

The Black Sea Strategic Research and Innovation (SRIA) Implementation Plan can be accessed here.