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Turning blue innovation into solutions that can be adopted, financed and replicated across the Mediterranean. This is the challenge at the heart of MEDCONNECT, the new Mediterranean Lighthouse of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”, officially launched on 29–30 September 2026 in Limassol, Cyprus. 

MEDSEA Foundation is one of the project’s 20 partners and will play a key role in its implementation: it leads Work Packages 3 and 4, is responsible for Communication & Dissemination activities, and coordinates the Italian National Hub, one of 14 national hubs through which MEDCONNECT will build a long-term network connecting innovators, businesses, institutions, research organisations and territories. 

Coordinated by the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI), MEDCONNECT brings together 20 organisations from 14 Mediterranean countries and aims to accelerate the transition from experimentation to the concrete uptake of solutions for the protection and restoration of seas and waters. Giulia Eremita, MEDSEA’s communication lead for the project, took part in the project launch and first consortium meeting hosted at the Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

From innovation to impact 

The message that emerged from the Kick-off Meeting in Limassol was clear: developing good solutions is not enough. To generate real impact, they need to be adopted by businesses and public authorities, attract investment and become replicable across the Mediterranean. 

Over the next three years, MEDCONNECT will work with 15 innovative solutions, selected from more than 100 mapped across the Mediterranean, supporting them through demonstration activities, capacity building, business plan development, investor engagement and dialogue with the public sector. 

Funded under Horizon Europe with a budget of approximately €3.5 million, the project also aims to mobilise at least €5 million in investment, strengthening the connection between research, innovation, markets and public policy. 

Its territorial structure will be based on 14 National Hubs and three Regional Living Lab Systems, covering the Eastern, Central and Western Mediterranean respectively. 

Within this architecture, MEDSEA will help create the conditions for the solutions identified by the project to move beyond the experimental stage and find concrete application across Mediterranean territories. 

The Foundation will lead two strategic Work Packages, WP3 and WP4, focusing on building and strengthening the Mediterranean innovation ecosystem and on the mechanisms needed to connect solutions, stakeholders and development opportunities. 

MEDSEA is also responsible for MEDCONNECT’s communication and dissemination activities, with the aim of making project results accessible, creating connections between national ecosystems and giving visibility to solutions and experiences that can be replicated across the Mediterranean. 

As coordinator of the Italian National Hub, MEDSEA will also help connect research organisations, businesses, public authorities, civil society organisations and other actors involved in the blue transition at national level. 

A Lighthouse built as a Mediterranean network 

During the two days in Limassol, project partners and representatives of the European Commission discussed governance, investment, capacity building, stakeholder engagement and the organisation of the National Hubs. 

The discussion also involved other Mission Ocean initiatives, including BlueMission Atlantic-Arctic 2030, REMEDIES 5.0, CLEAR-WATER, TASC-RestoreMed, BlueMissionDBS, CO-WATERS and ISLA-BONITA, with the aim of building synergies across projects and sea basins. 

The Kick-off Meeting concluded with a visit to the Port of Limassol and the EUROGATE Container Terminal Limassol, a MEDCONNECT partner: a real-world setting where innovation, economic activity and sustainability need to come together. 

“MEDCONNECT starts from a very clear objective,” says Giulia Eremita, communication lead for the Horizon Europe Mission Ocean project. “The Mediterranean Lighthouse must become more than a network of projects: it needs to act as an infrastructure capable of connecting innovation, territories and investment, turning solutions developed in Europe into lasting impact across the Mediterranean. For us at MEDSEA, working at the intersection of businesses, institutions, research and technology, this is particularly fertile ground to bring together our expertise, networks and experience.”