BRIDGE-BS will develop the predictive tools and capabilities necessary to understand and predict the impacts of climate-driven and anthropogenic multi-stressors on the services stemming from Black Sea ecosystems.
The International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) leads WP8 and contributes to WP4, WP6, WP7, WP8, WP10.
Programme
H2020-BG-2018-2020 (Blue Growth)
Type of Action
Research and Innovation Action
Topic
BG-11-2020
Project Duration
June 2021 – November 2025
Consortium
33 partners – 15 Countries
Coordinator
Middle East Technical University (METU)
Total Budget
€9 Million
Project Overview
BRIDGE-BS aims to advance the Black Sea’s marine research and innovation to co-develop Blue Growth pathways under multi-stressors for the sustainable utilization of the ecosystem services. To do so it will develop an ecosystem-based management framework to enable policy uptake and foster citizen engagement.
The Challenge
With unique habitats, abundant resources, and rich cultural heritage, the Black Sea is vital to its coastal communities and the broader population of over 160 million inhabiting its watershed. The Black Sea is a distinctive semi-enclosed basin with 10 large rivers flowing into a highly coupled coastal-deep-sea system introducing anthropogenically generated nutrients and pollutants nourishing the largest anoxic-sulfidic water body of the Earth. The Black Sea ecosystem is also unique in being susceptible to increasingly negative impacts from several human-induced stressors, such as eutrophication and hypoxia, overfishing, and the introduction of alien species. Multistressors are a central challenge to be tackled by BRIDGE-BS.
BRIDGE-BS will develop predictive tools and capabilities necessary to understand and predict the impacts of climate-driven and anthropogenic multi-stressors on the services stemming from Black Sea ecosystems. These services and their responses to stressors will be mapped, monitored, and modeled to identify a safe operating space within which a sustainable blue economy can flourish.
Expected impacts
BRIDGE-BS will support the development of an informed, well connected, educated, and empowered Black Sea community, including scientists, institutions, policymakers, and the society at large. It will create a flow of knowledge between scientists, policymakers, and entrepreneurs, working side-by-side from the beginning of the project. This approach will develop trust and complementarity, one of the main goals of BRIDGE-BS, which is necessary to prepare for future marine environmental challenges and ensure Blue Growth potential in the best possible way. Sustainability is at the core of the project.
Interconnected Nodes of BRIDGE-BS
BRIDGE-BS will advance knowledge and deliver research under three NODES: Service Dynamics, Blue Growth Incubators and Empowered Citizens. The NODES will be highly interlinked, feeding on and into each other.
Project's brochure
Kick-off Meeting for the H2020 funded BRIDGE-BS
On 12-13th of July 2021, the Horizon 2020-funded BRIDGE-BS project (Advancing Black Sea Research and Innovation to Co-Develop Blue Growth within Resilient Ecosystems) was officially kicked-off. After a 2-hour public session, the internal work within the BRIDGE-BS consortium took place during the 2-day virtual kick-off meeting. The project, that is a Research and Innovation Action funded under Horizon 2020, has officially started as of the 1st of June 2021. The new project involves 33 partners from the Black Sea countries, EU MS and regional organizations and is coordinated by METU. The International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) is the Lead Partner of WP8: Science-based policy making for Blue Growth of the Horizon 2020-funded BRIDGE-BS project.
-Agenda of the Kick-off Meeting
Activities and Deliverables
BRIDGE-BS project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101000240.
For more information, please visit BRIDGE-BS official Website - Facebook - Twitter and Youtube channel.
