Lead partner:

Summary

In the last decade, Europe’s ocean economy has received increasing policy attention. This can be seen in the publication and ongoing implementation of the EU’s Blue Growth Strategy, the Atlantic Strategy and its Action Plan, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, etc. These initiatives are all aimed at fostering the sustainable development of the EU’s marine resources. The impact of the current and potential human activities on marine and coastal ecosystems will therefore be a key determinant of the ocean´s health and of the derived benefits through the ecosystem services.
The objective of the MOSES project is to examine the ‘blue’ growth path for the sustainable development of the major sectors operating in the Atlantic space as envisaged in the Atlantic Action Plan. MOSES will quantify blue growth for key marine sectors and develop a common methodology for the quantitative assessment of sectoral pressures on the marine environment and the vulnerability of marine and coastal areas. The methodology will contribute to the joint implementation of integrated marine industry sustainability assessment toolkits across the Atlantic region.
To achieve these aims the consortium will work on four major blocks:
(i) Evaluate the evolution of the Atlantic marine sectors using the previous Atlantic Area project MARNET framework;
(ii) Examine the sectoral pressures on the Atlantic marine environment in order to identify best management practices;
(iii) Assess the vulnerability of coastal marine areas/features to marine sector to the identified sectoral pressures;
(iv) Using case studies, develop sustainable transition plans to blue growth for a number of key marine sectors and test policies for how well they manage activities to meet Marine Spatial Planning and Maritime Strategy Framework Directive goals.

Project website: www.mosesproject.eu