The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership has launched a new Call for Interest to identify and connect ongoing projects across Europe that contribute to a more innovative, resilient, and sustainable blue economy.
What is the opportunity about?
Two thematic portfolios will be established for the period 2026–2028, focusing on:
Innovations and digitalisation for low-impact small-scale fisheries
Sustainability in marine algae cultivation and circularity in the blue bioeconomy
Selected projects will benefit from enhanced visibility, networking opportunities, and collaboration with EU Commission experts and stakeholders from across the sea basins.
Who can apply?
- Projects must fall in the thematic scope of the portfolios.
- Projects must be active and ongoing during the Thematic Portfolio Activities timeframe and must be receiving a regional/national/EU grant.
- Projects must address at least one geographical area among: Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, North Sea, Atlantic Ocean. If applicable, projects may target regional areas (e.g. Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Celtic Sea, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Seas, etc.) or their scope must prove to be relevant for one or more of the above-mentioned geographical areas.
- Applicants must prove their commitment, availability and capacity to engage in the activities (as self-funded).
- Project Principal Investigators (and alternates, if any) must be employed by an organisation belonging to one of the countries1 of the Partnership and must be a stakeholder from one of the four major sectors of the quadruple helix (industry, government, research institutes, and the public).
Benefits of participating in the Thematic Portfolios:
Increased visibility at the international level
Networking with quadruple-helix stakeholders
Career boost, especially for early career scientists
Identification of new opportunities for cooperation
Identification of potential beneficiaries of the project outputs
Co-design market-uptake plans
Meetings with EU Commission experts
Deadline to express interest: 30 October 2025