Expected Outcome:
This topic aims at directly engaging and supporting waterfront cities[1] and their ports in demonstrating and accelerating the transitions needed for achieving one or several objectives of the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”. The participation of relevant public bodies managing waterfront cities and port authorities as full partners of the consortium is strongly encouraged.
The project should work with public bodies managing waterfront cities, and port authorities in carrying out activities which will contribute to achieving the Mission objectives in the coastal zones[2] and riparian zones[3] of any city as well as in their surface waters (rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters). This covers both coastal and inland cities.
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Measurable, quantifiable, verifiable and ambitious progress towards reaching one or several interlinked objectives and targets of the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”, as set out in the Mission Implementation Plan[4] through implementation of effective and well-managed place-based and people-centred actions.
- Involvement and increased readiness cities and port authorities for testing, deploying and upscaling systemic innovative solutions for restoring their urban waterfront ecosystems and preventing their degradation, incl. by strengthening synergies with their own programmes and resources.
- Increased number cities and port authorities taking concrete measures to protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, prevent and eliminate pollution of our ocean, seas and waters, and make the blue economy carbon-neutral and circular.
- Increased resilience of waterfront communities to extreme climate events and sea-level rise.
- Public and private investment is encouraged and leveraged at urban level to protect and restore degraded ecosystems, to prevent and eliminate pollution, and make the blue economy carbon-neutral and circular, and mitigate the impact of climate change on urban communities.
Scope:
The goal of this topic is to accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions to achieve Mission objectives and targets in waterfront cities and ports.
Demonstration activities are expected to take place in at least [8] waterfront cities or ports with at least [2] 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 bodies managing waterfront cities and port authorities.
Projects under this topic would be place-based and people-centred, with their activities implementing a systemic transition across all Mission objectives and enablers, in all lighthouses. Special emphasis should be placed on nature-based solutions, land-sea interactions, and transboundary actions. The projects should support the blue economy by integrating sustainable and environmentally friendly methods that are both ecologically and economically beneficial. Resilience of waterfront communities to climate related extreme events, sea-level rise and water resilience should also be addressed.
The project should:
- Assess the economic, social and ecological impacts as well as the societal acceptance of the proposed measures to achieve the Mission objectives and targets in waterfront cities and ports;
- Identify, test and adapt innovative solutions to restore cities and ports by addressing one or several of the specific Mission objectives and targets;
- Facilitate citizen and stakeholder involvement and uptake through active participation in the restoration initiatives of coastal regions and riparian zones (e.g. through living labs), and through the follow-up of the restoration process with citizen science initiatives;
- Develop new innovative funding approaches to implement innovative solutions for the restoration of the ocean and waters in cities which are all operating in different jurisdictions and governance contexts;
- Monitor the effectiveness of the proposed solutions in relation to the Mission objectives and targets;
- Facilitate synergies with other R&I-relevant EU, national or regional programmes and leverage of funds through interactions with regional/local authorities and the private sector where relevant.