Most of the Innovation Actions funded by the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters” are expected to work and engage with the so called ‘associated regions’ to showcase the feasibility, replicability and scalability of the solutions developed within the projects in other areas.
What are associated regions in the Ocean and Waters Mission?
Associated regions are areas with ecosystems that can benefit from the demonstration activities undertaken in Mission projects, such as neighboring regions or regions in a different sea basin. They could also be less-developed regions, with the need to build capacity to implement the innovative solutions to improve management of sediments in a river basin. Associated regions should be located in EU Member States and Associated Countries other than those that are already part of a project consortium.
An Information session on Associated Regions, organised by Mission Ocean and Water on November 28th, 2024, gathered representatives from DG MARE and CINEA Executive Agency to familiarize attendees with the goals of the associated regions mechanism, guidelines, criteria and best practices related to this engagement as well as reaching local and regional authorities. Three projects, DANUBE4all, A-AAGORA and SeaClear 2.0, which have already completed this funding process shared their experiences and lessons learned.
The online event was attended by EUROLakes Project Manager who gained useful information that will enable partners to better prepare for the launch of a Call for replication sites in September 2025.