Green, circular and resilient harbours

Expected outcome

This topic aims at directly engaging and supporting harbour/ports and their communities in demonstrating and accelerating the transitions needed for achieving one or several objectives of the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”. The participation of relevant public bodies managing port authorities and their communities as partners of the consortium is strongly encouraged. Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: Measurable, quantifiable, verifiable and ambitious progress towards reaching one or several interlinked objectives and targets of the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”, as set out in the Mission Implementation Plan through implementation of effective and well-managed place-based and people-centred actions; Involvement and increased readiness port cities and authorities for testing, deploying and upscaling systemic innovative solutions for restoring ecosystems and preventing their degradation, including by monitoring invasive species brought through maritime traffic or facilitating ecosystem connectivity; Increased number of port cities and authorities taking concrete measures to protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, prevent and eliminate pollution of our ocean, seas and waters, and make the blue economy carbon-neutral and circular; Increased resilience of port/cities/authorities and their related communities to extreme climate events; sea-level rise and other environmental challenges (floods, droughts, sea-level rise, etc.) through in particular the reduction of pollution and improved environmental management in harbour areas; Enhanced knowledge sharing across and within ports and their related communities, facilitating scalable and sustainable practices.

Scope

The goal of this topic is to accelerate the implementation of innovative solutions to achieve Mission objectives and targets in ports in line with existing legislation like the Industrial Emissions Directive , the Water Framework Directive , the Marine Strategy Framework Directive , the Waste Framework Directive , the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive , the Nature Restoration Regulation ,the upcoming EU Port Strategy, Industrial Maritime Strategy and the European Ocean Pact . Proposals under this topic should test, deploy, and upscale systemic innovative solutions to improve sustainability and resilience in ports to reduce pollution and environmental degradation, reverse biodiversity loss, and improve natural resource management in port areas. This covers both coastal and inland cities and areas with a port regardless of their activities (e.g. fishing, commercial, marinas, recreational) and size. The proposals should encourage cooperation within and between ports across Europe using existing activities in some ports as pilots/leaders and engaging other ports in a development and learning process (e.g. using formats like summer schools and twinning, living labs concept). For each project, demonstration activities are expected to take place in at least 4 ports, 1 in each of the four sea and river basins: 1. Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin, 2. Mediterranean Sea basin, 3. Baltic and North Sea basin, 4. Danube River basin, including Black Sea, with strong and meaningful involvement of public administrations and port managing authorities. The basins / Mission “lighthouses” include the river basins flowing into the respective sea basins. The project should: Support the testing, deployment, and upscaling of innovative solutions to restore harbour/ports ecosystems, mitigate pollution by addressing one or several of the specific Mission objectives and targets and monitor the effectiveness of the proposed solutions; Bring together harbours, local stakeholders, relevant authorities, scientific and industry partners to drive collaborative action towards the development of specific local Implementation Strategies such as transitioning to renewable energy, alternative fuels or circular economy initiatives, biodiversity restoration and Nature-based Solutions, or adaptation measures to address sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and other climate-related risks; Facilitate knowledge-sharing initiatives and partnerships within and between ports to leverage best practices and lessons learned by demonstrating their transferability and scalability potential; Provide targeted assistance and capacity-building programmes to help smaller size ports to overcome barriers and adopt sustainable practices;

What this means for cities and regions

Port authorities and port cities, with the public bodies that manage the port as partners. Topic budget €11.9 million; 2 grants expected; €5.5 million–€5.95 million per project. Opens 9 February 2027; closes 21 September 2027. Satellite monitoring of water quality, oil spills and vessel activity supports the measurable, verifiable progress the topic requires.