The Horizon 2020-funded BRIDGE-BS (Advancing Black Sea Research and Innovation to Co-Develop Blue Growth within Resilient Ecosystems) aims to
advance the Black Sea’s marine research and innovation to co-develop Blue Economy pathways under multiple stressors for the sustainable utilization of the ecosystem services. The 4.5-year project will end in November 2025.

Clustering around three main nodes, including Service Dynamics, Blue Growth Incubators, and Empowered Citizens, BRIDGE-BS used pilot study sites at the local level, with findings contributing to interconnected work packages addressing the four pillars of the Black Sea Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (Black Sea SRIA). This way, BRIDGE-BS strives to achieve “a healthy, resilient and productive Black Sea by 2030” with awareness of the seriousness of the threat posed by the increasing human-induced pressures on the Black Sea.

The BRIDGE-BS project generated a new breakthrough in the understanding of the healthy planetary boundaries of a marine ecosystem. The project successfully demonstrated cutting-edge smart monitoring technologies, marine modelling simulating climate scenarios, and first-time resilience and cumulative impact assessments. Co-developed with communities through living labs, BRIDGE-BS paved a new way forward that secures a safe operating environmental space for a sustainable Blue Economy.

In the Final Conference of BRIDGE-BS, we will showcase the project’s key achievements, highlight its legacy for the Black Sea region, showcase the Black Sea DTO-demonstrator, and bring together policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to discuss the future of sustainable blue economy cooperation.