BLUEMED Initiative: Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda for Blue Growth in the Mediterranean

1. BLUEMED & JPI-Oceans Predstavnik RH u BLUEMED inicijativi: Ivica Vilibić (IOR), Marina Jurjević (AMPEU) Predstavnik RH u JPI-Oceans: Ivica Vilibić (IOR), Sandi Orlić (IRB)

2. May 2014 >> Set up of the initiative and roadmap; • June-August 2014 >> National mapping of R&I projects (about 900!) via public/private stakeholders consultations; merging of information and identification of R&I gaps & needs, opportunities and boundary conditions for their implementation. BLUEMED Strategic R&I Agenda: the process Needs & Gaps • September - December 2014 >> Sharing of the findings with relevant scientific communities and industrial associations at national and EU level. Set up of the Vision Document which was endorsed by the Italian Presidency of the EU Council and presented at the Competitiveness Council of 04-05 December 2014. Vision • February 2015 >> Identification of the Key challenges and goals & actions according to the drivers boosting blue jobs & growth, knowledge transfer and SMEs participation • April 2015 >> drafting of BLUEMED Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). • May-September 2015: Sharing of SRIA with regional, national, EU and international public/private stakeholders; • October 2015: Publication of SRIA. Updates will be made regularly every 6 months SRIA BLUEMED Vision & SRIA available at: goo.gl/ZbJTWH

3. Key enabling knowledge for the Mediterranean Key sectorial enablers in the Mediterranean Enabling technology and capacity creation for the Mediterranean BLUEMED Strategic R&I Agenda: 12 Key Challenges • Mediterranean Sea ecosystems: services, resources, vulnerability and resilience to natural and anthropogenic pressures • Mediterranean Sea dynamics: developing services in the filed of sustainable adaptation and to climate change and plans for mitigation; • Hazards and protection of coastal areas in the Mediterranean • Innovative business based on marine bio-resources in the Mediterranean • Ecosystem-based management of Mediterranean aquaculture and fisheries • Sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean • Maritime clusters in the Mediterranean • Maritime Spatial Planning & Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean • Smart, greener maritime transport and facilities in the Mediterranean • Observing systems and operational oceanography capacities in the Mediterranean • Multi-purpose off-shore platforms in the Mediterranean • Marine and costal cultural heritage in the Mediterranean: discovering, protecting and valuing

4. Expected impacts of the BLUEMED initiative: • The implementation of the BLUEMED initiative will result in: • New multidisciplinary R&I and cooperation MS joint activities and programmes addressing the relevant Mediterranean challenges; • Innovative marine-based technologies, methodologies and approaches for the local and European maritime sectors and the conservation and upgrading of the marine environment, resources and cultural heritage; • Improved knowledge-based EU policies and directives on marine and maritime issues in the Mediterranean; • Public awareness and understanding of relevance of a sustainably prosperousMediterranean Sea for the surrounding countries and for Europe as a whole; • New and qualified ‘sea-based’ scientists, professionals, technicians and entrepreneurs able to tackle complex ecological, economic and societal challenges in a holistic way.

5. Venice Declaration, 16 October 2015: • The Representatives of the Governments of the following EU Member States: Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Slovenia, meeting in Venice on October 16, 2015 on the occasion of the high level event “The BLUEMED Initiative for Blue Growth and Jobs in the Mediterranean” at the Aquae Venice 2015 Pavillion, • Agreed to coordinate and integrate efforts to implement the BLUEMED SRIA by actively promoting synergies and complementarities among all the involved stakeholders at local, regional and national level, as well as among Member States at European level, in order to provide added value to regional, national and EU investments by removing barriers, avoiding duplication and reducing fragmentation, • Decided to advance the strategic marine and maritime research and innovation Agenda for Blue Growth in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, aiming in particular at: • Promoting cooperation in research and innovation between all Mediterranean countries; • Engaging with both public and private stakeholders, including small and medium enterprises, in research and innovation actions of cooperation; • Supporting knowledge-based policy making; • Prioritising the implementation of cross-cutting actions with high societal impact; • Ensuring the effective and efficient use of resources and infrastructures by Member States cooperation and joint actions; • Developing innovative sea-related competences, particularly at technical, doctoral and first stage researchers level.

6. BLUEMED CSA project, H2020: • 11 partners, 4 MEuro over 4 years • IOR (HR), 160 kEuro • 10 October 2016 – 30 September 2020

7. JPI-Oceans, http://www.jpi-oceans.eu

10. PROPOSAL FOR ERANET COFUND ON THE BLUE BIOECONOMY – "UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF AQUATIC BIORESOURCES" Objective: To secure an ERA-NET Cofund in the 2018-2020 Work Programme of Horizon 2020, in line with the JPI Oceans Member States' agreed priorities, and in collaboration with the ERA-NETs COFASP and ERA-MBT. The proposal reiterates the blue bioeconomy section of the proposal for an ERA-NET Cofund based on the experience of collaboration in the three networks The scope of the ERA-NET Cofund will range from basic to applied research. Significant involvement of industry and policy stakeholders in the activities is expected to ensure market and policy related relevance. In order to foster interactions with industry, focus will be given to the generation of Blue knowledge to promote sustainable and economically optimized exploitation and management of captivated/harvested and cultivated aquatic food and non-food biomass including waste streams. In particular, activities will examine new value chains within the Circular Economy, novel uses, as well as developing and refining existing methods and technologies. Additional activities will build on the activities of the previous ERA-NETs address human capacity building, foresight/case and pilot studies, and sharing of infrastructures for research and innovation.

11. EXPECTED IMPACTS • Better aligned current EU, regional and national initiatives with the goals of fostering the development of European blue bioeconomy strategies. • By significant member state financial commitment, achieve substantial new knowledge generation for unlocking the economic potential of aquatic biomass through establishment of new, integrated value chains. • -Contributing to the European Commission’s objective in the Bioeconomy Strategy, under Horizon 2020, to generate about 130 000 jobs and € 45 billions in value added in the blue biotechnology sectors by 2025.

12. INDICATIVE COMMITMENTS The ambition is to raise 20M Euro towards the Cofund on Aquatic Bioresources. At this stage, 15 partners have provided an indicative commitment of 14.4M Euro, with a number of other partners interest and consulting at a national level. It will also be important to promote this Cofund outside of the existing networks of JPI Oceans, COFASP and MBT, e.g. to the central and eastern European countries, to widen the participation and create more interdisciplinarity. Croatia ????