How to promote a sustainable future for fish production in Europe? This is the question at the heart of ActFast (Actions for Climate Transition by Developing Future Aquaculture Strategies and Technologies), a Horizon Europe project coordinated by the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences at the University of Bologna. The project addresses the challenge by combining sustainable farming practices, environmental monitoring and Artificial Intelligence. A multidisciplinary team of 28 partners from 10 EU countries, plus Norway, Tunisia and Egypt, will collaborate to develop innovative strategies for future aquaculture. In this context, the Regional Ocean Forecasting Systems (ROFS) division will play a key role as work package leader, contributing substantially to the development of high-resolution climate projections and forecasting systems specifically for the aquaculture sector.

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AdriaClimPlus project aims at developing a shared framework for advancing knowledge and proposing optimal solutions for climate change adaptation in the Adriatic basin and its coastal areas.  

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Non-indigenous species (NIS) pose a significant threat to biodiversity and ecosystems globally, ranking as the second most common cause of species extinctions. Particularly in the Adriatic Sea, a hub for fishing, tourism and maritime traffic, the introduction of NIS has the potential to exacerbate ecological and economic impacts. ALIENA aims at creating a shared knowledge base and collaborative monitoring system to protect biodiversity from NIS in the Adriatic Sea. Through joint monitoring and modeling efforts focused on these species, the project seeks to develop early warning solutions essential for effective marine management, biodiversity conservation, and public health protection. Additionally, it aims to improve shared protocols for NIS detection, monitoring, and management, while also increasing stakeholders’ awareness of NIS issues.

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The AQUA project, aimed at enhancing resilience to climate change in the Adriatic-Ionian region, has the goal of reaching significant strides in addressing the common challenge of water management in the face of a changing climate. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events have led to significant shifts in water availability, quality, and distribution. These challenges transcend borders and require collaborative efforts to ensure effective solutions. The AQUA project has set its sights on the overall objective of enhancing resilience to climate change of water utility companies in the Adriatic-Ionian area. By developing an joint action plan and strategy and user-tailored tools, the project aims to improve water resource management, increase capacities for climate change adaptation, and mitigate the impact of natural and man-made disasters. By adopting an integrated approach that considers both droughts and floods and the interconnections between water quantity and quality, the project aims to provide holistic solutions. The project also prioritizes data-driven solutions, co-design, and co-development, ensuring that the outputs are tailored to the specific needs of the participating regions.

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BlueAdapt brings together an interdisciplinary team of biologists, climate scientists, economists, epidemiologists and public health experts to investigate and quantify the future health risks associated with selected coastal pathogens. 

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Black Sea – Monitoring and Forecasting Centre (BLK MFC) provides regular and systematic information about the physical state of the ocean and marine ecosystems for the Black Sea. The system is based on a numerical ocean model assimilating in-situ and satellite data. BLK MFC gathers expertise in the field of ocean analysis and forecast in the Black Sea, brings together knowledge of the regional Black Sea dynamics, and enhances technical links with other CMEMS components and strong connection with the MED MFC. Moreover, BLK MFC’s objectives include the planning and efficient implementation of system upgrades, product quality, and support to the production of the Ocean State Report (OSR) and Ocean Monitoring Indicators (OMI).

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The Mediterranean Monitoring and Forecasting Center (MED MFC) of the Copernicus Marine Service provides regular and systematic reference information on the physical and biogeochemical state for the Mediterranean Sea. MED MFC develops, implements and operationally delivers analysis, forecast as well as reanalysis reconstructions of the essential ocean variables in the Mediterranean Sea. It enables marine policy implementation, supports Blue Growth and scientific innovation. Copernicus Marine Service is an open and free of charge service, compliant with EU regulations such as INSPIRE and the Delegated Regulation on Copernicus data and information policy.

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The HE project CS-MACH1 (Marine Citizen Science data Horizon), coordinated by CMCC, aims at developing a Marine Citizen Science (MSC) data network and associated online hub to support MCS initiatives in the acquisition and integration of data by users. This will be implemented by supporting continuous interaction between CS communities, technology providers, data management experts and researchers, and by providing the necessary low-cost technology, data management best practices and standards, training and support needed to produce FAIR data streams

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The project fits into a broad system of observation, monitoring, and analysis of the marine environment that addresses the need to harmonize the protection of marine ecosystems with the proper management and development of coastal area uses. The response of natural systems to variations generated by specific coastal interventions overlaps with the variations induced by climate trends and territorial changes (land use, riverbed interventions, industries) occurring in the relevant basins, generating an overlap of effects that modulate the evolution of the receiving sea area and coasts on different spatial and temporal scales. The study area is dominated by the presence of the Tiber River, which, being the main watercourse of central Italy, significantly influences the sediment balance in the area and the distribution of biocoenoses. The same area will be affected by a series of activities related to the construction of new port infrastructures. To analyze such a complex system and to separate as accurately as possible the variations induced by a project from the evolution of the system itself, it is therefore essential to know the physical and dynamic characteristics of the study area and the current environmental state, through an in-depth analysis of the main impacts and pressures affecting the entire area and its habitats. This project aims to study the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the area between Capo Linaro and Capo d’Anzio through a multidisciplinary study that involves the integration of observational data and numerical modeling and to support the development of the works and

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FOCCUS enhances CMEMS (Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service), for effective uptakes from the EU Member states to ensure a more sustainable Blue Economy and coastal resilience to climate change

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IDEATION (InlanD watErs in the digitAl Twin OceaN) is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme. IDEATION is based on a cross-border cooperation, involvement, and commitment of stakeholders at European level by following the Water-oriented Living Labs (WoLLs) approach. Stakeholders will be engaged via Multi-Stakeholder Forums (MSF), using a range of different engagement methodologies (e.g., focus groups, workshops, interviews, questionnaires) depending on goals of the engagement and specificities of the context. A comprehensive review will be performed to make an open knowledge inventory for inland water systems (OpenKIWAS). IDEATION will co-design the IDEATION reference architecture defining a set of building blocks, interfaces and standards to make data, models and technologies interoperable and integrable with the Digital Twin Ocean (DTO). Putting together all the results from the MSF, OpenKIWAS, and the IDEATION reference architecture, a roadmap for the integration of inland waters in the Digital Twin Ocean will be created providing a preliminary breakdown of the work, with priorities of implementation, into a stepped approach.

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The IRIDE program is an innovative project undertaken by the Italian government in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) to leverage resources from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Phase 2 of IRIDE Lot 1 started in October 2024 following the successful implementation of the IRIDE Precursor Phase. The main purpose of the project is to deliver an operational portfolio of geospatial services and develop digital tools for End and Pilot users within the Thematic Services S1-Coastal and Marine Monitoring, S2- Air Quality, S5- Hydro-Meteorological-Climate, S6- WaterManagement. The operational services allow mapping, monitoring and forecasting of various characteristics of coastal areas (including geomorphological, land use, flooding, habitats etc.) as well as operational model validation, operational air quality monitoring and forecast, pollutant emissions monitoring and assessment, re-analysis of air quality at national scale, hydro-meterological mapping and monitoring atmospheric structure, greenhouse gases and others essential climate variables monitoring, lightening monitoring, flood forecasting and sediment management, etc.

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The IRIDE program is an innovative project undertaken by the Italian government, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), to leverage resources from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Following the successful implementation of the IRIDE Precursor Phase, the Phase 2 started in October 2024. The main purpose of the project is to deliver an operational portfolio of geospatial services and develop digital tools for End and Pilot users within the Thematic Services S7-Emergency and S8-Security. The operational services allow mapping, monitoring and forecasting of critical events such as earthquakes, floods, extreme weather events, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, landslides, avalanches, mudflows, tsunamis, and other natural or man-made disasters. Additionally, the program includes Maritime Surveillance, focusing on oil spill detection, sea pollution management, and vessel tracking, ensuring comprehensive support for emergency and security needs.

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The MISSION project will eliminate bottlenecks of the overall maritime supply chain creating significant economic advantages for direct stakeholders and environmental benefits for society. By enabling collaboration among stakeholders and allowing ship schedules to be synchronised, ship operations and port services will be optimised, thus enhancing the efficiency of maritime operations and reducing the fuel consumption and GHG emissions. The project will demonstrate the benefits and challenges of MISSION specifically for three shipping segments, Tramp (bulk and tanker) RoRo, and container ship traffic, connecting ports in the European seas of Spain, Italy, Greece and Lithuania. MISSION’s port call optimisation and end-to-end orchestration of different traffic types will be built on data sharing platforms, with reference to harmonised standards and provide application programming interfaces for interoperability.

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Il progetto NADIR è un’iniziativa di Citizen Science realizzata dal CMCC in collaborazione con il Circolo Legambiente Capo di Leuca APS. Nell’ambito del progetto, i partner intendono organizzare una serie di attività volte al coinvolgimento attivo della cittadinanza tra cui: escursioni in barca a vela, giornaliere, nel weekend e settimanali, per contribuire al monitoraggio degli ecosistemi costiero-marini e di variabili oceanografiche e atmosferiche; percorsi di Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro con le scuole del territorio, per lo sviluppo di competenze trasversali e l’orientamento degli studenti; attività di tagging (marcatura tramite sistemi GPS) delle tartarughe marine; esperienze pratiche a bordo in ambiti quali oceanografia operativa e sperimentale, ecologia marina e climatologia; progettazione, costruzione e utilizzo di strumenti per il monitoraggio marino. Le attività del progetto contribuiranno alle campagne di monitoraggio promosse dalla Jonian Dolphin Foundation, nonché ai servizi europei di EMODnet, CMEMS e al programma strategico di ricerca del CMCC “Global Coast as a New Frontier”.

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The ocean’s biodiversity supports the livelihoods of over three billion people, providing vital services, including food and nutrient cycling. However marine policy and resource management do not yet consider the latest scientific advances, even when the state-of- the-art operational models of the European Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS) are used. The project’s objective is to enable CMEMS to deliver novel products that inform marine biodiversity conservation and food resources management, by fusing new data into innovative ecosystem models that integrate biological and abiotic components, habitats, and stressors of marine ecosystems. NECCTON will inter-link new models in the CMEMS systems, thus building novel capacities to simulate higher-trophic-levels, benthic habitats, pollutants, and deliver projections of climate change impacts. We will develop and exploit new data-processing chains, supporting CMEMS’ use of novel ecosystem observations, including new hyperspectral data from satellites, as well as available acoustic, pollution and omics data. We will fuse these new data and models by using innovative machine-learning algorithms to improve models and data assimilation methods. These developments will be applied in thirteen case studies, co-designed with fisheries and conservation managers as part of our pathway-to-impact, resulting in the demonstration of Technological Readiness Level 6 of NECCTON products. The project objectives will be achieved by a team of twenty-three world-class organizations with track records for all the key project components. It includes the CMEMS Entrusted Entity and core developers, who will promote the final uptake of NECCTON by CMEMS. On project completion, NECCTON will provide CMEMS with the scientific and technical

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PHAROS is an EU-funded project, led by the Canary Islands Ocean Platform (PLOCAN), and implemented by a consortium of 24 organizations, which aims to provide nature-based solutions for restoring ecosystems and biodiversity while tackling climate change and human impacts in the Atlantic and Arctic maritime regions. These goals align with the European Union’s ambitious Ocean Mission objectives. The PHAROS project aligns with the European Union’s Ocean Mission by focusing on protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and biodiversity, eliminating pollution, and achieving a sustainable, carbon-neutral, and circular blue economy by 2030.

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