Research & knowledge

Scientific knowledge is fundamental to understanding and protecting the European seas. Policy and science must be closely linked in order to ensure the effective protection of the seas and the efficient management of natural marine resources. The competence available through the marine scientific community should therefore be made available to the policy implementation process.

The MCC bridges science and policy by providing a link between the marine scientific community and the implementation strategy for the MSFD. This includes access to information from relevant European marine research projects as well as direct links to research projects specific to the MSFD and dedicated EU-funded projects to support MSFD implementation.

In close collaboration with DG R&I, the MCC extracts MSFD-relevant knowledge from past projects and channels this into the MSFD implementation and adaptation process. This "knowledge brokerage" system provides highly relevant scientific knowledge to inform the appropriate users involved in policy development and implementation.

This requires linking different networks such as the MSFD implementation strategy, the MSFD expert networks and the scientific community.

European Marine Knowledge

Scientific knowledge is essential to the success of MSFD, to define and track Good Environmental Status and to achieve efficient monitoring and implementation through appropriate programs of measures. Although a wealth of relevant research is being produced with the potential to assist MSFD implementation, the accessibility and packaging of associated knowledge outputs need to be optimized for subsequent use by policy makers.

Through the FP7 projects Marine TT and STAGES, EurOcean and associated partners have developed the Marine knowledge Gate, a permanent on line repository of marine research with their knowledge outputs. Specific access is provided to MSFD-relevant research from EU, regional and national projects. Knowledge is then clustered by MSFD marine region and by GES descriptors.

Green Jobs in the Blue Economy – A Bottom-up Approach

According to the Commission's working definition, the Blue Economy includes any market activity contributing to the EU's Gross Domestic Product that depends intrinsically on the sea.1 Whilst much of this activity is concentrated around Europe's coasts, the Blue Economy also includes those operating inland. For example, manufacturers of marine equipment. 

Joint Programming Initiative - Oceans

The Joint Programming Initiative, Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans (JPI-Oceans) aims to increase the value of relevant national and EU research, and infrastructure investments by concerted and joint planning, implementation and national research programmes. In cooperation with EurOcean, JPI Oceans has integrated mapping efforts conducted over the last years into one single repository of Marine Research Infrastructures (MRI), gathering information (knowledge) on more than 785 facilities.

FP7

Horizon 2020 projects:

 

Project Coordination Group - selected projects

All Project Coordination Group projects:

DG ENV specific support contracts

DG Environment of the European Commission co-funded three regional pilot monitoring projects. These "New Knowledge Projects" aimed to facilitate the development and synthesis of the Member States' monitoring activities in line with the general monitoring principles developed in the Technical guidance on monitoring for the MSFD.

North Sea JMP NS/CS - Towards a joint monitoring programme for the North Sea and the Celtic Sea