On May 10 2023, under the leadership of Romania, implementers of the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea held a regional workshop, Building Black Sea Blue Economy: Partnership and Funding Opportunities.
The workshop was designed to map funding opportunities and support stakeholder engagement to generate project ideas in line with Common Maritime Agenda, raise awareness on EU funding available for Black Sea stakeholders, and promote successful partnerships in accessing funds at regional level.
Over 200 participants from more than 10 countries – representing government and non-government organisations, think-tanks, local communities, networks and foundations, academia, and business sector – joined to learn about existing funding opportunities, tips and tricks for producing successful project proposals, and hear success stories from a regional perspective.
The workshop was opened by Romania, CMA Coordinator, while different sessions were moderated by the team of the Black Sea Assistance Mechanism and National Hubs of CMA participant countries The event was sponsored and supported by the European Commission (DG MARE, CINEA).
For more in-depth discussion and understanding, workshop participants engaged in three interactive sessions: (1) Blue competitivity for business and innovation; (2) Digitalisation and decarbonisation of maritime transport and ports, and (3) Sustainable development of fisheries and aquaculture. Needs and opportunities raised per topic will be addressed in the upcoming developments under the Common Maritime Agenda, not least at the annual stakeholder conference in November, in Bucharest.