Workshop on enabling blue and green sustainable growth within the EUSAIR region

With the opening speeches by TSG3 and TSG1 EUSAIR pillars coordinators (Mitja Bricelj, Senad Oprašić, Konstantina Bitchava, and Milena Krasić) the workshop titled “What can EUSAIR do to enable the blue and green sustainable growth in EUSAIR: MSP in EUSAIR state of the art” began in the online format. The joint TSG3 and TSG1 workshop was dedicated to the further enhancement and recognition of marine protected areas and spatial planning at sea and river basins in the EUSAIR region. The workshop allowed each country to present the state of the art of work done and challenges in establishing the blue and green corridors, and marine and water spatial planning. In addition, to further elaborate on the possibilities of establishing the MPAs in EUSAIR, a part of the workshop was dedicated to the presentation of good practices and analysis already done in the EUSAIR area that was further reinforced with the analysis of the legal basis in establishing MPAs.

Within the first part of the workshop, the representatives of the EUSAIR member countries presented the state of the art projects of including and enhancing MPAs in their countries. Klodiana Marika from the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, and Elsa Bozhaj from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Albania described an entire MSP situation in Albania, and, more specifically, the MSP process within the Karaburun Sazan Marine National Park. Josip Njavro from Bosna and Herzegovina presented the Coastal Area Management Programme (CAMP), while Christina Pavloudi from the Greek Hellenic Centre for Marine Research described the actual situation within the marine environment activities in Greece. The speakers went on with the utmost interesting topics about maritime spatial planning – Francesco Musco from the IUAV University of Venice in Italy shared a decision-making procedures, cognitive data, and planning methodology in the Tyrrhenian Western Mediterranean regions, and Ivana Stojanović from the Directorate for Integrated Management of Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems in Montenegro presented results of the GEF Project and further steps in national marine/coastal spatial planning. The first part of the workshop was concluded by Nataša Bratina from the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning in Slovenia – she focused on the interrelationship between environment and Sustainable Blue Economy and, in particular, on how they are interdependent and how they can strengthen each other.

Presentations of good practices followed the first part of the workshop. Renowned lecturer and author Andrej Sovinc presented the analysis of marine (water) protected areas in the EUSAIR region and also proposals for corrective measures, while Mitja Grbec, Tullio Scovazzi and Ilaria Tani presented their analysis of the legal basis for the establishment and further development of marine (water) protected areas in that same region. Within the same topic, Dragan Zeljko from Croatia highlighted achievements of the Sava Commission – river basin management, and Stella Kyvelou the European MSP Platform with a special focus on the Eastern Mediterranean sea basin. Last but not least, presentations of the approach of the river basin management were shown to the interested public by Ljupka Dimoska Zajkov from North Macedonia and Dobrila Kujundžić from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in Serbia.

The discussion at the end of the workshop aimed toward finding a common agreement on where the transboundary MPAs and river basin protected areas could be established and of how can EUSAIR support those processes.