Blue Parks - Towards a coherent European network of strictly protected areas for restoring healthy and productive marine ecosystems
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Funding Description
Overview
“Blue Parks – Towards a coherent European network of strictly protected areas for restoring healthy and productive marine ecosystems” is a single-stage Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action (RIA) under the Ocean & Waters Mission (Call ID: HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-01).
* Maximum EU contribution per project: €23.3 million (100 % of eligible direct costs + 25 % flat-rate indirect costs)
* TRL at start/end: 3-6 ➜ 5-7 (research to pilot blueprint)
* Expected project duration: 48-60 months (to deliver a ready-to-implement blueprint by 2030)
* Consortium type: minimum 3 legal entities from 3 different EU Member States/Associated Countries; trans-boundary sea-basin coverage and multi-disciplinary partners strongly expected.
* Eligible applicants: universities, public or private research organisations, SMEs & industry, NGOs, local/regional/national authorities, inter-governmental organisations; entities from non-associated third countries may participate if self-funded or if national funding is secured.
What the Grant Funds
1. Data acquisition & synthesis
* Mapping, surveying and ground-truthing Annex II habitats, fish spawning/nursery/feeding grounds, blue-carbon and coastal-protection areas.
* Integration of existing datasets (EMODnet, Copernicus, JRC, EEA, LIFE, regional sea conventions, Member State monitoring).
2. Modelling & conservation planning
* Connectivity, spill-over, carbon storage, resilience and climate-mitigation modelling.
* Systematic conservation-planning tools (e.g. Marxan, Zonation) to design basin-scale networks covering ≥10 % strictly protected area target.
3. Trade-off and compatibility analysis
* Socio-economic assessments vs fisheries, offshore renewables, shipping, tourism, coastal development.
* Integration with existing Marine Spatial Plans and Digital Twin Ocean layers.
4. Co-creation & governance
* Stakeholder engagement (fishers, offshore energy, NGOs, administrations, citizens).
* Legal/financial roadmaps for designation, enforcement and long-term management.
5. Knowledge transfer & scaling
* Open-access databases compliant with FAIR/EOSC.
* Capacity-building for Member States, Outermost Regions and third-country partners.
* Alignment with Mission Implementation Platform, Blue Parks community and earlier H2020/HE projects.
Budget Structure (indicative)
* 35 % – Field campaigns & remote sensing
* 25 % – Modelling & digital infrastructure / DTO integration
* 15 % – Socio-economic & legal analyses
* 15 % – Stakeholder engagement, co-design, capacity building
* 10 % – Project management, dissemination & exploitation
Co-funding & Synergies
Proposals should actively leverage complementary funds (EMFAF, LIFE, Interreg, ERDF, national blue-economy programmes, private philanthropy) to maximise impact and ensure post-project designation and management of Blue Parks.
🎯 Objectives
📊 At a Glance
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🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages and Opportunities for "Blue Parks – Towards a coherent European network of strictly protected areas"
1. Strategic Policy Alignment
• Direct delivery on multiple EU flagship policies (EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, Nature Restoration Law, Marine Action Plan, Climate Law, Common Fisheries Policy).
• Mission Ocean leverage: automatic visibility in the EU Mission portfolio, priority access to Mission platforms, communication channels and follow-up calls (2026-2030 deployment phase).
• Facilitated transposition by Member States (MS): scientific blueprints produced at EU scale reduce national workload for designating the 10 % strictly-protected target, accelerating compliance and avoiding infringement procedures.
2. Pan-European Scientific Excellence & Data Synergies
• One continental data lake: obligatory data sharing with EMODnet, EOSC and the Digital Twin Ocean ensures cross-border comparability, closes habitat-distribution gaps and decreases duplication costs for MS monitoring programmes under the MSFD.
• Access to EU-level assets: Copernicus Marine Service, Eurofleets+, EMBRC and JPI Oceans projects supply in-kind observations, reducing project OPEX by up to 20 %.
• Standardised protocols: EU-wide taxonomic, geomatic and socio-economic harmonisation eliminates fragmentation and enables meta-analysis at sea-basin scale (Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Outermost Regions).
3. Economies of Scale & Investment Leverage
• Bundling of diverse funds: coherent network designs become bankable projects for EMFAF, LIFE, Interreg, ERDF and InvestEU Blue Economy windows. A single EU blueprint can unlock >€500 m in cumulative co-financing up to 2030.
• Cost-effective MSP integration: centralised trade-off analyses (fisheries, offshore wind, shipping) avoid parallel consultancies in 27 MS and lower strategic environmental assessment costs for developers.
• Blue carbon market readiness: EU-wide MRV (monitoring, reporting, verification) standards enable future inclusion of blue carbon in the EU Emissions Trading System, opening new revenue streams for conservation.
4. Transboundary Coherence & Conflict Reduction
• Ecological realism: species migrations and larval connectivity ignore political borders; an EU-scale approach maximises spill-over benefits for shared fish stocks and boosts regional CFP performance indicators.
• Conflict-mitigation platform: early inclusion of cross-border stakeholders (port authorities, wind-farm clusters, fisheries advisory councils) minimises post-designation legal challenges.
• Outer-Most Region integration: common methodology brings high-biodiversity ORs (e.g. Macaronesia, Caribbean, Indian Ocean) into the core network, strengthening EU global ocean leadership.
5. Innovation & Digital Leadership
• Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) stress-testing: the project becomes a flagship user case for the DTO, accelerating EU leadership in ocean digitalisation and creating exportable tech standards.
• Interdisciplinary R&I clustering: coupling marine ecology, AI, economics and legal science positions consortia for follow-up Horizon Europe clusters (Climate, Energy, Food).
• Open-science dividends: FAIR data mandates spur SME innovation in remote sensing, habitat modelling and carbon accounting services.
6. Societal & Citizen Engagement
• EU Mission narrative: pan-European storylines ("10 % of our seas strictly protected by 2030") enhance public buy-in and facilitate citizen-science campaigns (e.g. European Beach Transect Days).
• Education and skills: shared training modules on marine conservation planning feed into the EU Blue Careers initiative, addressing skill gaps in MSP, GIS and blue-carbon finance.
7. Long-Term Resilience & Global Influence
• Climate-biodiversity nexus: protecting carbon-rich habitats (seagrasses, saltmarshes, maerl beds) supports EU carbon neutrality goals and strengthens negotiating power under UNFCCC and CBD.
• Template for international replication: an operational EU-wide strict MPA network becomes a best-practice model for regional seas conventions (OSPAR, HELCOM, Barcelona) and for candidate EU accession countries via TAIEX.
8. Key Take-Home Opportunities for Applicants
1. Position the consortium as the de facto scientific authority for strict MPAs in Europe, ensuring long-term consultancy revenue.
2. Exploit data-harmonisation funding to build marketable GIS platforms and decision-support tools.
3. Use the project to negotiate industrial co-funding from offshore-wind and fisheries sectors seeking social licence.
4. Integrate Outermost Regions partners to access dedicated OR envelopes and boost proposal excellence.
5. Embed blue-carbon MRV pilots to pre-empt emerging EU regulatory market—first-mover advantage for carbon credits.
In summary, operating at EU scale multiplies impact, funding leverage, policy relevance and innovation potential—advantages unattainable through fragmented national initiatives.
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Ready to Apply?
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See in 5 min if you're eligible for Blue Parks - Towards a coherent European network of strictly protected areas for restoring healthy and productive marine ecosystems offering max €23.3M funding