The EFFECTIVE project made a significant contribution to the European Union’s marine conservation efforts by participating in the 5th EU Blue Parks Community Workshop! Held online on 19 November 2025, the workshop, themed “Achieving Mission Ocean and Waters Protection Targets: Showcasing the EU Blue Parks Projects,” brought together over 80 online attendees from more than 115 member organizations dedicated to marine protection.

Key Focus: Mission Ocean and Waters Targets

The core objective of the workshop was to explore and discuss the key outcomes and expected impact of various EU-funded projects under the Mission Ocean and Waters and Horizon Europe. These projects are crucial in helping the EU reach its ambitious targets of protecting 30% and strictly protecting 10% of its marine areas by 2030.

Attendees had the opportunity to learn from projects like EFFECTIVE about:

• Good practices and implemented solutions for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs);
• Impact on the protection and restoration of EU sea areas;
• Opportunities to enhance synergies among projects to increase the replication and upscaling of MPA designation, management, and monitoring.
  
  

Spotlight on EFFECTIVE

During the dedicated “Showcasing EU Blue Parks Projects” session, Natalia Preciado from project partner CTN presented the EFFECTIVE project.

The presentation highlighted the project’s vital mission, focused on promoting the large-scale establishment of MPAs in the Mediterranean by developing a comprehensive scientific knowledge base and practical guidance. It achieves this by combining science, technological nature-based solutions, and digitalization for the application of an Ecosystem-Based Management System (EBMS) across four pilot sites.

By focusing on the Mediterranean, a global biodiversity hotspot, EFFECTIVE’s work directly supports the EU’s conservation goals and contributes to more effective and sustainable management of vital marine ecosystems.

Strengthening the EU Blue Parks Community

As the 5th event in the series, the workshop reinforced the value of the EU Blue Parks Community, a growing platform for national authorities, marine networks, businesses, and research projects to collaborate on marine protection and restoration. The exchange of expertise and focus on cross-project synergy is essential for translating scientific research into concrete, on-the-ground action to protect our oceans and waters.