The third Technical Group (TG) on Sustainable Tourism (SustTourism) was held on 29 October 2025, following the Black Sea Annual Conference and during the Black Sea Week. This in-person session provided participants with the opportunity to review progress achieved and discuss the Action Plan for initiatives aimed at enhancing cooperation on sustainable tourism and underwater cultural heritage.
Representatives from METU-IMS provided a comprehensive overview of funding mechanisms, including Horizon Europe 2026–2027 calls, the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, the Eco-Innovation Challenge under the Blueing the Black Sea initiative, TÜBİTAK and the Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme. METU-IMS emphasised the importance of focusing on tangible actions and fostering cooperation for policy development and regional competitiveness.
Next, representatives from the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) introduced the Danube Region Strategy Priority Area 03 on culture and tourism, outlining how its promotion complements CMA activities. Opportunities were highlighted in digitalisation, skills development, and cross-regional cultural initiatives, as well as the role SustTourism can play in strengthening communication, engagement, and partnership building for future collaboration.
UNOPS representatives presented the Blueing the Black Sea Programme, focusing on eco-innovation, pollution reduction, and strengthened regional cooperation, alongside the Eco-Innovation Challenge, a funding scheme supporting key areas of the SustTourism.
The representatives of the Romanian Ministry of Tourism provided an overview of the city’s sustainable tourism action plan, national projects, upcoming initiatives, policy directions, and the integration of cultural and coastal actions, while improving sustainability standards.
During the meeting, two thematic working sub-groups were proposed: 1) Sustainable Tourism: active involvement of tourism authorities, municipalities, and regional partners, and 2) Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH): drawing on strong expert engagement and existing UCH networks in the Black Sea region. In the Sustainable Tourism sub-group, participants stressed the need to better connect cultural, coastal, and community-based tourism to build coherent and resilient tourism products across the region, while ensuring environmental sustainability through monitoring and careful infrastructure planning. Next, during the UCH sub-group, participants highlighted the importance of strengthening a regional expert network to consolidate knowledge and technical capacity, particularly in datasets and country-level inventories, and surveys for improving the assets. They also underscored the relevance of developing digital products such as virtual museums, 3D reconstructions, and interactive heritage routes.
Both sub-groups reaffirmed that these areas are interlinked and should avoid fragmentation, working together towards the shared goal of sustainable tourism. The SustTourism meeting concluded with expectations for further updates on thematic group activities, including the involvement of specialists and experts to broaden technical capacity and ensure balanced regional representation. SustTourim participants agreed to continue shaping project ideas for upcoming national and EU funding opportunities.