Ecologic Institute organised this side event focusing on the source-to-sea approach, multi-use of marine space and marine protected areas in Europe's seas (and transitional waters) – all timely topics in marine management and conservation. In three distinct sessions, a series of ambitious projects provided an insightful picture of how to balance the increasing use of coastal-marine ecosystems with the preservation or even restoration of their biological richness, by mitigating impacts and curbing pressures to achieve true sustainability. Based on the project contributions, a wider panel discussion with experts from different fields of knowledge discussed the approaches and their synergies, look for holistic solutions and consider what is needed to realise the vision of thriving, healthy European seas and coasts for future generations.

Agenda

Welcome & Introduction (5') – R. Andreas Kraemer (Ecologic Institute)

Keynote speech (10' pre-recorded) – Europe’s Seas under multiple pressures

Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director EEA

First Session (20’) – The source-to-sea approach & estuaries as key transitional waters

• Blue Estuaries – Improving Estuary Governance for Habitable Sustainable Ecosystems despite Climate Change and Stress. Dr Grit Martinez, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute (Berlin, Germany)
• Medicating the environment: emerging concerns with pharmaceuticals presence and potential toxicity in estuarine and coastal environments. Dr. Vanessa F. Fonseca, Researcher at MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, and FCUL, University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal)
• Source-to-Sea and the Zero Pollution Action Plan. Pre-recorded impulse speech by Mustafa Aydin, EEA Zero Pollution expert in the Biodiversity & Ecosystems programme.

Second Session (25’) – Ocean multi-use to enable sustainable use of maritime space

• Nature restoration as an integral part of ocean multi-use: the case of native flat oysters in Belgian offshore wind farms (project UNITED). Dr. Annelies Declercq, Postdoctoral researcher at Uni Ghent (Belgium) and Dr. Thomas Kerkhove, Research Scientist at the Royal Belgium Institute of Natural Sciences (Brussels, Belgium)
• Seaweed cultivation & solar energy: a Dutch perspective on multi-use of wind farms (project UNITED). Bas de Leeuw, Manager General & Public Affairs at North Sea Farmers (Den Haag, the Netherlands)

Third Session (25’) – Marine protected area (MPA) management and effectiveness

• Assessing MPA effectiveness – developing a testing a methodology to assess management effectiveness. Concha Olmeda and Alvaro García Herrero from ATECMA (Madrid, Spain) & Tecla Maggioni from Submon (Barcelona, Spain).
• MPA management in the EU, exploring Member State realities & insights from the EEA's work on MPAs. Gregory Fuchs & Rebecca Noebel, Researchers at Ecologic Institute (Berlin, Germany) and part of the ETC on Biological Diversity (ETC/BD) working with the EEA

Panel discussion (35’)

The panel will be opened by a keynote speech:

WWF's involvement in marine conservation/governance in Europe - Dr Antonia Leroy (Head of Ocean Policy | WWF European Policy Office)

Then there is opportunity for Q&A on each session. The discussion will feature a range of experts from different fields of knowledge to discuss the session approaches and to identify synergies as well as the current state of conservation from source to sea in Europe. The panel will shine light on where important progress has been made or is underway, what research/action is still needed in this area including, more broadly, challenges and (untapped) opportunities in terms of effective and holistic protection of Europe's marine environment.

Chair: R. Andreas Kraemer (Ecologic Institute)

Panelists:

• Dr Joachim Claudet (French National Center for Scientific Research, CNRS)
• Dr Antonia Leroy (Head of Ocean Policy | WWF European Policy Office)
• Cécile Roddier-Quefelec (Expert | Ocean Governance, Mediterranean Regional Cooperation | EEA)
• Dr Marisa Batista (MARE | Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Lisbon)