SURIMI’s overall objective is to develop social-ecological models and user-friendly solutions that will be integrated in an interoperable and standardized manner within the DTO to generate policy analysis rooted in management strategy evaluation (MSE) principles. The project will develop the SURIMI toolbox which will 1) provide open-source interchangeable socio-ecological, assessment and policy models including protocols and standards for model and data interoperability, 2) ensure the collection and harmonization of data informing these models across EU waters as well as ensuring long-term accessibility of the data and 3) package models, data and a visualization interface with a set of accessible and informative user-centric decision support tools, including the use of natural language processing (NLP) artificial intelligence for policy analysis and implementing a MSE framework to thoroughly account for benefits and costs of policy implementations. The project will integrate every element of the SURIMI toolbox (models, data, interoperability layer, graphical user interfaces) as core elements of the DTO infrastructure and model lab. SURIMI will cover and generalize broadly across the EU waters while providing input interfaces for users to tailor scenarios to their specific use-cases and local twins by inputting their own data and assumptions. Throughout the entire project lifetime, SURIMI will engage a wide community of stakeholders from research, industry, advocacy, policy and society, to co-create, co-design and co-assess the SURIMI toolbox in a demand-driven and responsive development cycle. All this, 1) expanding the DTO to covering ecology, economy and society and thus complementing its capacities and uses, 2) enabling better management of human activities, 3) facilitating what-if scenario analysis, decision support, and policy implementation both at European and regional/local scales, and 4) contributing to the EU Mission Ocean Restore our Ocean and.

A Growing body of evidence indicates that the marine environment and human health are inextricably linked. These linkages encompass both risks to health and wellbeing, and a range of potential benefits and opportunities. However, much of this early evidence has been established in the US, under the rubric of the integrative meta-discipline of “Oceans and Human Health” (OHH). Far less is known about these issues in other parts of the world, including the European context which faces its own set of unique challenges and opportunities. Building on the early leadership shown by members of the consortium mapping these issues in Europe, the Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe (SOPHIE) consortium brings together an international multidisciplinary European team of marine, health, social and economic science experts and practitioners to explore these relationships in the European context. By including a broad range of interdisciplinary partners from both marine and health sectors, SOPHIE can demonstrate reach across disciplines and communities in Europe and internationally. Responding directly to the BG-06-2017 call, SOPHIE’s primary aims are to: a) deliver a clear, evidence-informed Oceans and Human Health Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) within the European context, based on extensive involvement by diverse stakeholders; and b) ensure that the structures needed to develop and implement this SRA are in place and will exist as a legacy beyond the life of the project. These aims will be achieved by: (i) systematic synthesis of the current evidence base; (ii) developing and coordinating a European community of OHH stakeholders; (iii) identification of innovative solutions to sustainably reduce risks and promote benefits; (iv) scenario modelling and horizon scanning; (v) knowledge exchange through bespoke training and skills programmes; and (vi) a global OHH Conference to present SOPHIE’s findings and enhance European leadership and global cooperation in OHH research

The RHE-MEDiation lighthouse aims at establishing a responsive hub deploying long-term governance centred on the mission to destress the Mediterranean Sea from chemical pollution, including peak concentrations in known HOT SPOTs. In particular, the most impacting components that currently affect Mediterranean resources and threaten its survival in the short term if no action is taken, like heavy metals, pesticides and PFAS & "forever chemicals", should be stopped and removed from the fresh and waste waters before they enter the sea. The RHE-MEDiation hub governance at the base of this transformation will a) deploy chemical pollution remediation technologies based on micro-algae solutions to enhance relevant TRL when integrated in existing water / wastewater treatment systems practises and assessed in their benefits with the involvement of the local communities; b) set-up a combined fixed and mobile cooperative monitoring system based on smart drifters to provide surface and depth water detection and measurement of pollutants; c) demonstrate through 3 piloting sites efficiency of scaled prototype solutions and quantify capacity in the longer term for the full scale configuration; d) assess and validate the responsiveness of the local community to manage this transformation; e) replicate the evaluation of the expected benefits by RHE-MEDiation approach potential over additional 5 “associated regions” demo cases, selected to maximise the validated technology basket exploitation; f) quantify the achieved technology and governance efficiency transfer from the lighthouse to the citizens, stakeholders, and policy makers, as main recipients of the RHE-MEDiation action stream for bridging benefits to next generations; g) test the “RHE-MEDiation Local Communities approach as primary driver for a critical mass mobilisation to free the Mediterranean Sea from chemical pollution, thus increasing the overall human health as a consequence of healthier seafood and products.

BAMBOO tackles the barriers for the implementation of a sustainable, large-scale offshore Floating PhotoVoltaics (FPV) system of 1 km2/150 MW, that will act as a blueprint for rollout of offshore FPV projects in Europe, and that is to be implemented in conjunction with the offshore wind leading EU utility-partner. Offshore FPV extends PV potential at enormous scales to make Europe meet its climate targets for 2030 and 2050. It makes use of space at sea, large-scale economies of scale, complementary energy yield with wind farms, and it isa solution with potentially low impact on aquatic eco-systems. However, developing offshore FPV systems is technically challenging due to the harsh conditions of waves &corrosive environments, and economically not feasible yet. Project BAMBOO addresses these challenges through four breakthrough innovations, including: 1. Large floating surface understanding through world’s first basin scale tests and hydrodynamic modelling of 1 km2 blanket-type arrays, 2. A 5 MW demonstrator in the North Sea with hybrid design encompassing the benefits of larger array protection in floaters, 3. The offshore world’s first dynamic floating substation for offshore FPV, and 4. The development of 6 world’s first standard offshore testing methodologies for key FPV-components Through assessments of energy yield, circularity of materials, environmental impact, LCA and end-of-life strategies, BAMBOO paves the way to scale offshore FPV systems to commercial and sustainable applications, significantly reducing emissions, while having a net-positive impact on the marine ecosystem. The consortium covers what is necessary to make BAMBOO a success: companies including Oceans of Energy will provide the technologies, RTOs including MARIN and Fraunhofer the assessment of the system and its environmental impact, ABS expertise on certifications and the industry-leading utility the capacity to implement the large-scale integration of offshore wind with FPV farms.

Forward Looking at the Offshore Renewables will promote the core activity of the Large-scale partnership launching the Pact for Skills in the Offshore Renewable Energies (ORE) sector.FLORES will support the most committed stakeholders in the ORE, underpinning the success of the offshore renewable energy strategy with the stimulation of dedicated training offers. The partnership will promote the skilling process for the new jobs expected in the sector, estimated to account for between 20,000 and 54,000 new workers in the following five years and contribute to improve upskilling opportunities in the field of the actual ORE workforce.Skills intelligence activities will identify and prioritise the most relevant actions in the capacity-building process, covering not only the rapid and complex changes occurring in this industrial ecosystem but also capable of forecasting those changes yet to occur, especially regarding new and emerging technologies. Building on industry insights, the occupational profiles of the offshore renewable energy value chain will be reviewed, contributing to the continuous updating of the ESCO database.The necessary re-skilling and upskilling processes will be stimulated by the FLORES innovative approaches to lifelong learning with the development of specific tools to support existing ORE training offers and smooth access to existing training materials.A set of multilingual educational materials will be developed to promote Ocean Literacy and awareness- raising in career and job opportunities in the European ORE sector, making those more attractive, especially for young people and women.In addition, the bottom-up approach selected by FLORES will feature regional pilot actions adapted to the differing needs of Europe’s sea basins in the Atlantic, the Baltic and the Mediterranean. These pilot actions will form the seed source for future mirror working groups in the large-scale partnership launching the Pact for Skills in the ORE.