Open Call with SSH aspects in Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership

SSH aspects:

Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Human Geography, Psychology, Behavioural  Studies, Law.

Deadlines:

Deadline for pre-proposal submission  17 November 2025 15:00 CET (Brussels Time)

Deadline for full proposal submission: 17 June 2026 15:00  CEST (Brussels Time)

Weblink:

Call text

Short Call Abstract:

The third Joint Co-funded Call within the Partnership covers five priority areas

Priority area 1: Digital Twins of the Ocean (DTOs) at sub-basin scale

(…)

Priority area 2: Transitioning the blue economy sectors, and the development of the coexistence and the marine multi-use infrastructures

R&I activities will involve multiple domains including mathematics/physics, maritime, marine and aquaculture and fisheries sciences, science diplomacy, economics, legal studies, political sciences, social sciences and humanities and extend to research infrastructures and their authorities responsible at national level, and NGOs. 

Projects funded under this priority area are thus expected to directly engage with stakeholders, including industries, adopting a cross-disciplinary approach with a specific focus upon sustainable innovations for boosting the green and digital transition of the blue economy sectors and the development of the coexistence and the multi-use of infrastructures. 

Various types of innovations are expected (e.g. digital technology, materials, processes and concepts, social innovations, business models) to mitigate the environmental impacts (e.g. increased ecosystem resilience), and maximise social (e.g. increased social acceptance of novel infrastructure multi-use) and economic impacts (e.g. emergence of new business models of multi-use installations) of R&I activities covering the entire blue economy sectors.

The following targeted research directions, to be considered in the proposal formulation, are presented hereafter.

A project needs to address one or more of the following topics including a multi-actor approach.

2.2.2.1 Innovations to boost the transition of the Blue Economy

(…)

2.2.2.2 Innovations to improve co-existence and multi-use offshore infrastructures

Projects are expected to address respective and cumulative socio-economic and environmental barriers and impacts related to the complexity of multi-use of installations or space, considering the synergistic benefits for associated sectors including industry and the risk of conflicts and negative environmental effects. Projects must adopt a multi-skakeholders perspective to propose solutions to solve competition or conflicts between the different users of a certain areas of the sea space or their surroundings that are important components to succeed in the multi-use’s offshore platform developments.

Priority area 3: Climate-Smart Planning and managing sea-uses at the regional level

The overarching goal of this priority area is to support science-based decision-making in EBM-MSP, considering the maintenance and improvement of the environmental status, the legacy of human impacts, climate change trends, and future scenarios, and therefore addressing the multitude of pressures from the different uses of the marine space and marine resources and related cumulative impacts. 

The following targeted research directions, to be explored in the proposal formulation, are presented hereafter. 

A project needs to address one or more of the following topics: 

2.2.3.1 Scientific knowledge, data and innovations for effective management and conservation of complex socioecological systems

Projects are expected to produce scientific knowledge, that provides innovative tools, methods, strategies, to obtain, disseminate and analyse essential data considered as prerequisite for the assessment of ecosystem health, for implementing effective ecosystem-based management and conservation of complex socioecological systems at the land-ocean interface. This includes socio-economic models which would allow enhance the knowledge about ecosystem services and ocean accounts.

2.2.3.2 Development of innovative Decision Support Tools (DSTs)

(…)

Priority area 4: Blue Bioresources; sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and new bio-based products

(…)

Priority area 5: Resilient Coastal Communities and Businesses

The goal of this priority area is to support interdisciplinary research across natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and technology, as well as innovation to enable a just and efficient transition to low-impact, regenerative and sustainable coastal businesses, that increases also the resilience, adaptation and preparedness of the communities in which these businesses are embedded.

The following targeted research questions are presented hereafter. 

A project needs to address one or more of the following topics: 

2.2.5.1 Knowledge and Innovations to foster coastal businesses/communities resilience and sustainable coastal tourism

Projects are expected to contribute to improve the understanding of the pressures on coastal businesses to inform more effectively policies, planning and product development, to feed strategies to foster resilience in coastal communities, businesses, to support diversification of coastal and marine-based enterprises and a just and efficient transition to a more resilient and sustainable coastal tourism sector. 

In that framework, the R&I projects are expected to cover at least one of the following sub-topics:

• To identify opportunities for sustainable blue tourism products/services that contribute to preventing negative environmental impact, and support the protection and restoration of degraded marine and coastal habitats or re-vitalise local, traditional culture and heritage
• To assess the impacts of diverse coastal activities (including small ports and marinas), on marine and coastal environments and co-dependencies between tourism and coastal and marine ecosystem health, and also their role on sustaining livelihood in coastal communities from a socio-economic perspective
• To provide inputs to strategies for strengthening resilience and preparedness of coastal businesses
• To sustain social innovation to enable diversification of coastal and marine-based enterprises for delivering new economic opportunities and thriving coastal communities.
• To investigate, promote and showcase the coexistence of coastal and maritime tourism and other coastal businesses with marine protected areas.

2.2.5.2 Resilient coastal infrastructures and nature-based solutions

(…)

*The information provided above constitutes a summary of the topic text, focusing on aspects relevant to the potential contribution of the SSH expert. For comprehensive details, please refer to the full topic text.

Specific participation requirements:

Check out the call text.

Countries:

Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, Slovakia.