Coherent and cross-compliant ocean governance for delivering the EU Green Deal for European Seas
Duration
Increasing pressure on European seas threatens species, habitats, and ecosystems. The EU's Green Deal aims to achieve healthy and productive seas, including a pathway to climate resilience and biodiversity conservation. This requires marine policies to function coherently across governance levels and between sectors.
CrossGov - Transdisciplinary research for coherent and cross-compliant EU ocean governance
The EU has developed a complex governance landscape to conserve the health of and manage activities within Europe's seas and coastal areas. However, this system remains fragmented due to conflicting legislation, institutional barriers, and impeding political factors such as power relations, all of which challenge or hinder the successful implementation of these policies. These extensive initiatives must be understood and streamlined by enhancing synergies and removing obstacles between governance levels and sectoral policies within the European ocean governance to support the achievement of the EU's Green Deal.
CrossGov (Cross-compliant Ocean Governance for Delivering the EU Green Deal for European Seas) aims to improve the coherence of multi-level and multi-sectoral marine policies to enhance the protection and restoration of marine ecosystems undergoing rapid change. To reach these goals, the project will develop a comprehensive research framework and innovative governance models, including analytical and methodological guidelines, policy evaluation tools, and a roadmap for the achievement of the Green Deal for European Seas. The project is coordinated by NIVA Norway with six partners across Europe, including RIFS in Potsdam, Germany.
Ocean governance and EU marine policy
RIFS, in partnership with the University of Eastern Finland, is responsible for Work Package (WP) 2 within the CrossGov research programme and will assess the governance, policy and legal dimensions of EU marine policies. Within the WP, RIFS will lead a task force on ocean governance to map the EU and international policy landscape, analyse the design of specific policies, and establish how this process supports or impedes progress towards the EU's Green Deal objectives in the marine domain. The project is part of RIFS' EU ocean governance cluster along with OceanNETs, MarineSABRES, SOS-ZEROPOL2030 and PermaGov.
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Funding information
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101060958.
