Blueprint demonstration for co-created effective, efficient and resilient networks of MPAs

• Forschungsstelle: SBFI
• Projektnummer: 22.00566

Abstract (Englisch)

BLUE4ALL will align top-down regulatory demands about European (networks of) MPAs with bottom-up societal expectations asa guarantee for achieving effective, efficient and resilient MPAs and networks of MPAs which meet EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030objectives. By mobilizing stakeholders from BLUE4ALL’s 25 information sites and Living Labs, i.e. locations across the MediterraneanSea, the Baltic Sea and the North-East Atlantic regions where (networks of) MPAs have been established and from which lessons learnedcan be drawn about success and failure relative to how challenges were tackled, we will co-create robust and replicable social, governance,ecological and environmental tools to meet conservation and/or restoration objectives in socially sustainable and acceptable ways. Thesescience-based tools will be tested in Living Labs, i.e. locations where (networks of) MPAs are in the process of establishment and wherethese tools can be fed into the ongoing MPA process. The operationalized and tested frameworks will ultimately be generalized into aBlueprint Platform for the co-creation of effective, efficient and resilient (networks of) MPAs. This scheme will separate genericallyencountered challenges and applied solutions from MPA (network)-specific challenges and solutions and develop guidance in a userfriendlymanner to end-users (i.e. MPA (network) managers and authorities). This guidance will take the shape of an interactive webbasedBlueprint Platform directing the end-users to those challenges and solutions most applicable to their site(s). User-friendliness andapplicability will be maximized by cross-checking the Blueprint Platform development with the actors and stakeholders of the LivingLabs throughout the whole process of its development. Knowledge transfer and interaction with stakeholders and society-at-large at localto regional scales will lead to the development of a platform for MPA networking to interact with communities of practice boosting theBLUE4ALL legacy to its ultimate goal to restore our oceans and waters.