Project

Marine life makes a substantial contribution to the economy and society of Europe. VECTORS will elucidate the drivers, pressures and vectors that cause change in marine life, the mechanisms by which they do so, the impacts that they have on ecosystem structures and functioning, and on the economics of associated marine sectors and society. VECTORS will particularly focus on causes and consequences of invasive alien species, outbreak forming species, and changes in fish distribution and productivity. New and existing knowledge and insight will be synthesized and integrated to project changes in marine life, ecosystems and economies under future scenarios for adaptation and mitigation in the light of new technologies, fishing strategies and policy needs. VECTORS will evaluate current forms and mechanisms of marine governance in relation to the vectors of change. Based on its findings, VECTORS will provide solutions and tools for relevant stakeholders and policymakers, to be available for use during the lifetime of the project. The project will address a complex array of interests comprising areas of concern for marine life, biodiversity, sectoral interests, regional seas, and academic disciplines as well as the interests of stakeholders. VECTORS will ensure that the links and interactions between all these areas of interest are explored, explained, modeled and communicated effectively to the relevant stakeholders. The VECTORS consortium is extremely experienced and genuinely multidisciplinary. It includes a mixture of natural scientists with knowledge of socio-economic aspects, and social scientists (environmental economists, policy and governance analysts and environmental law specialists) with interests in natural system functioning.

For VECTORS, IFM researchers are focusing their research primarily on the Baltic and North Seas; theoretical work surrounds governance, stakeholder and sector interactions and input, and the cultural valuation of ecosystem services.

The objective of PERMAGOV is to assess and improve the performance of marine policies in supporting the implementation of the EU Green Deal goals. PERMAGOV does so by developing Multi-Layered Collaborative Marine Governance Strategies together with stakeholders. Project partners in PERMAGOV study institutional barriers, fragmented planning processes and insufficient possibilities for stakeholder involvement, which hinder the implementation of the EU Green Deal.

Focusing on specific cases within the four thematic fields of Maritime Transport, Marine Plastics, Marine Energy, and Marine Life, PERMAGOV is dedicated to improving the performance of marine governance at different scales. The project partners apply participatory research methods to enhance existing formal and informal dynamics and to leverage the use of relevant digital tools. Altogether this will facilitate stakeholder engagement and knowledge and information exchange. PERMAGOV provides a key contribution to the EU Green Deal for several marine domains by delivering actionable insights for better informed decision making by policy makers, by increasing public awareness of marine affairs, and by contributing to an improved conceptualization of problems and solutions in multi-layered marine governance.

Staff members from Centre for Blue Governance are broadly involved in the different aspects of the project.

PERMAGOV is funded by the EU's Horizon Europe programme.