Sustainability in the maritime sector has been a major priority of the European Commission since 2013. This led to the development of the so-called #EUSeaBasinStrategies: the Atlantic Action Plan, the Common Maritime Agenda, targeting the Black Sea, and the WestMED Initiative.
Starting from 2021, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) has decided to fund flagship projects for each of the sea basin strategies.
ECO-CRUISING FU_TOUR is one of the flagship projects funded within the WestMED Initiative. Other two projects of this EU Sea Basin Strategy have been selected and they are:
- EU WeMED_NaTOUR: coordinated by X23-The Innovation Bakery, this project aims at providing support via capacity building to WestMed tourism SMEs and related stakeholders and involving them in the design and development of school trip tourism packages to natural marine sites, remote coastal destinations, and protected areas in the Western Mediterranean basin.
- REBOOT MED stands for Recovering, Experiencing and Boosting eco-tourism in the WestMed area. This project is coordinated by Coopérative Petra Patrimonia Corsica and encourages public-private partnership co-defining Blue Economy Action Plans for the Recovery of the tourism sector and aims at creating new eco-tourism packages promoting cross border and interregional cooperation, with replication potential across the Mediterranean.
To find out more about the WestMED Initiative and these flagship projects: https://westmed-initiative.ec.europa.eu/success-story-emfaf-tourism-flagship-projects/
Another project worth mentioning is "METAVASEA", a five-year project coordinated by HELMEPA and involving 6 partners, among which the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI) and the Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association (CYMEPA). From the Greek word "Metavasi", meaning transition, the project aims at promoting maritime decarbonization infrastructure in Greece & Cyprus as well as support stakeholders in upskilling the workforce. Visit the website to discover more about the activities and support the green and digital transition: https://helmepa.gr/en/metavasea.
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