The third General Assembly of the Horizon Europe project Blue4All has concluded at the University of Palermo. From 3 to 6 February 2025, international experts and managers of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) gathered to discuss innovative tools for ocean protection.
Four days of intensive work, technical workshops and field visits: the University of Palermo hosted Blue4All’s third General Assembly, a project aimed at making the management of Marine Protected Areas across Europe more effective and participatory. The event marked a turning point in the collaborative journey among European partners, united by the common goal of protecting marine biodiversity through concrete, shared solutions.
The Capo Carbonara MPA Living Lab: a model for Europe
The team from Fondazione MEDSEA, together with the staff of the Capo Carbonara Marine Protected Area, shared the progress achieved within their Living Lab.
Marine biologists Michela Congiu and Francesca Frau (project manager for MEDSEA), alongside Nicoletta Cadoni (Capo Carbonara MPA), explained how operational dialogue between managing authorities and stakeholders is turning theory into practice.
At the heart of this challenge lies the new zoning process of the MPA. As highlighted during the sessions, redesigning protected areas is not merely a bureaucratic step, but a participatory pathway involving fishers and local operators to reconcile environmental protection with the socio-economic needs of the territory.
Blueprint Platform: a compass for marine managers
During the Assembly, the Blueprint Platform was officially tested — a key technological and methodological tool developed within the project. The platform serves as a guide for managing authorities, helping them identify the most appropriate solutions to address specific challenges: from spatial planning and scientific research to tackling the threat of invasive alien species.
The effectiveness of these tools was assessed through dedicated technical sessions, with the aim of leaving a lasting legacy at the end of the project. This legacy will feed into the MPA Community Network, the virtual space where marine area managers from across Europe already collaborate (register at: https://bluebiomatch.hivebrite.com/).
A vision for the future
“Being a partner in Blue4All has enabled us to systematise nearly 30 years of knowledge gained through the Marine Protected Area and to improve the planning and management of what we protect,” it was reiterated during the discussions.
The Capo Carbonara case study — covering 14,000 hectares and hosting extensive meadows of Posidonia oceanica as well as several protected species, including the golden coral Savalia savaglia — is positioning itself as a reference model not only for the Mediterranean, but for the entire European network of protected areas.
The Assembly concluded with the definition of the next steps to ensure that the successful models developed within Blue4All continue to generate ecological, social and economic value well beyond the project’s duration.
To learn more about the work carried out in Sardinia, watch the video dedicated to the Capo Carbonara Living Lab:
Watch the video
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