CPMR seminar titled "Navigating the Future of Energy and Transport: The Potential of Hydrogen & Maritime Ports for Peripheral Maritime Regions" which will take place in Heraklion on 5 and 6 November 2024. The event is kindly hosted by the Crete Region and is organised in collaboration with the Crete Valley project. High-level speakers and regional stakeholders from e.g. EU Institutions, transport and energy stakeholders, as well as industry, science and our member regions will intervene and be present. The seminar will also engage with local and regional stakeholders, project holders to exchange information and best practices in the energy and transport sectors.

On 5-7 November 2024, in Batumi, Ajara Autonomous Republic (Georgia), the CPMR will organize, in the framework of the project PREP4BLUE, and in partnership with the CNR, a pilot stakeholder assembly to showcase the role of research and innovation for the preservation and restoration of marine ecosystems and biodiversity in the Danube Delta and the Black Sea. This Mission Ocean event is organised in collaboration with the Danube and Black Sea lighthouse and notably the EcoDaLLi project. Through a world café format, stakeholders will co-create a specific roadmap fixing the priorities in terms of research and innovation for the preservation and restoration of the Black Sea and its connection to the Danube and the EU Mission Ocean & Waters. The roadmap will be incorporated into the Danube Innovation Strategic Action Plan, the main outcome of the project EcoDaLLi. Kindly hosted by the Batumi State Maritime Academy, this major event will gather relevant quadruple helix actors from the Black Sea and the Danube, and will help to connect Black Sea actors with the EU Mission Danube & Black Sea lighthouse.

The EU Blue Parks Community under the EU Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030" brings together EU Member States national and regional authorities, European marine networks, stakeholders, and research and innovation projects to collaborate on marine protection and restoration in EU sea-basins. The Community aims to help identify and address challenges, share tools, solutions and good practices for marine protected areas (MPAs), contributing to the protection of 30% and strict protection of 10% of EU sea areas by 2030. This online event is the 3rd workshop in the series of EU Blue Parks Community workshops. More than 80 organisations active on marine protection are already members in this growing Community. This third workshop, themed 'Strengthening the Community,' aims to enhance our collaborative capabilities, share good practices and tools, and explore synergies both within the Community and across the EU. Why attend? • Engage in interactive discussions with the Community on challenges and means to meet the European and International marine protection targets. • Learn from expert presentations on good practices for marine protection and get updated on the most recent results from leading European projects and on other tools/services for MPA design and monitoring. • Exchange on opportunities to enhance cooperation.

MISSION ATLANTIC (www.missionatlantic.eu) invites applications from any country applying natural and social science research to Atlantic IEA (Integrated Ecosystem Assessments). Throughout 2024 you can join one of our partners for approx. 6 weeks and cooperate on research, stakeholder engagement, or policy recommendations that directly concern IEA implementation.

The high-level sessions will build on expertise and inputs on pollution from nutrients, chemicals, litter and physical alteration of watershed to sea, with content from Mission Ocean & Waters projects such as EcoDaLLi , as well as other Horizon 2020 or Horizon Europe projects and European Partnerships, such as Water4All and Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership. The Conference will also include other key actors from the wider Black Sea communities including an Operational Network of Funders, existing networks in the Danube area, like ICPDR (International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River), and the BioEast initiative to bring together all regional actors from the Danube and Black Sea region (including Ukraine).

The Faculty of Technology, Natural and Maritime Sciences at the University of South-Eastern Norway has an open position for a PhD Research Fellow in a decision-support system for disruptions in port systems. The main place of work is at Vestfold Campus in Horten. The focus of the doctoral project is the application and development of a model for decision-making in extreme weather events in a port system. Data analytics tools, analytical modules and techniques supporting decision-making may also be relevant. The PhD fellow will be working on topics related to the SAFARI project. The goal of the SAFARI's project is to develop a generic digital platform for resilient port infrastructure, connected to large port communities facing extreme weather events with emergency management modules fed by operational, maintenance and analytical modules. The doctoral project focuses on the development of a model where the problem is to decide whether a ship should call a port where it should load and/or unload based on the disruption to the port and the sea.

The Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Harmonisation study consists of two parts. The first part focused on collecting and analysing information on monitoring methods and data pathways (online workshop held on 4–6 June, 2024). The second part of the study focuses on analysing marine biodiversity data pathways in detail and providing recommendations to guide the future of marine biodiversity monitoring in Europe. These recommendations will be discussed during an in-person workshop in Sitges, Spain, on 5–7 November 2024. The workshop aims to establish a collective direction for the Future of Marine Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe through dedicated discussions on recommendations for improving monitoring strategies and optimising marine biodiversity data pathways.

The successful candidate will join a consortium of Aquaculture Industry partners from UK, Norway and Sweden and work towards developing tools that will boost the sustainability of the sector. The Research Assistant will undertake laboratory analyses such as plankton microscopy, image analysis and eDNA metabarcoding, and will contribute to experimental mesocosm trials involving seaweed and salmon across sites on Scotland’s beautiful west coast. Daily interactions with diverse industry and academic colleagues alongside skills development and training will provide a perfect platform to launch a career in marine biology and aquaculture. Project partners are world leaders in coastal ecology, marine biodiversity and eDNA metabarcoding. The candidate will join an exciting, friendly and experienced research team to drive forward our understanding of factors affecting seaweed biofouling and fish gill health. The post will involve a mix of field work, wet-lab and dry work with opportunities for secondment across UK, Norway and Sweden.

The successful candidate will join a consortium of Aquaculture Industry partners from UK, Norway and Sweden to work towards developing quantitative tools that will boost the sustainability of salmon and seaweed sectors. Salmon and seaweed marine aquaculture are facing existential challenges that originate from the plankton. Specifically, salmon gill pathology and seaweed biofouling are driving important financial losses to the industry, both mainly caused by species originating from the zooplankton and phytoplankton. The research associate will contribute to the generation and compilation of diverse data streams from this project (eDNA, biotic, abiotic, transcriptomic) and undertake quantitative analyses using Machine Learning approaches to drive forward our understanding of factors affecting fish gill health and seaweed biofouling. Daily interactions with diverse industry and academic colleagues alongside skills development and training will provide a perfect platform to launch a career in data-driven marine biology and aquaculture. Project partners are world leaders in coastal ecology, marine biodiversity and eDNA metabarcoding. The post will involve a mix of dry and wet-lab work and the candidate will join an exciting, friendly and experienced research team with opportunities for secondment across UK, Norway and Sweden.

The primary objective of the Summer School is to equip participants with the skills necessary to analyse and interpret numerical model results effectively. By the end of the course, participants will have a solid understanding of: – Ocean and climate computational modelling – Downscaling and data assimilation techniques – Practical applications of data analysis in environmental studies, renewable energy, and climate change Moreover, the programme offers a unique platform to connect with ocean professionals from across the Atlantic, fostering collaboration and networking within the AAORIA framework. The Summer School is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 101158065, ensuring that there are no costs or fees associated with participation.