H2020 Funded BRIDGE-BS Kick-off Meeting on 12-13 July 2021

BRIDGE-BS (Advancing Black Sea Research and Innovation to Co-Develop Blue Growth within Resilient Ecosystems) is a Research and Innovation Action funded under Horizon 2020 it has officially started as of the 1^st of June 2021. On 12-13th of July 2021, BRIDGE-BS will be kicked off with a virtual meeting.

BRIDGE-BS is a multi-partner and international consortium with the overarching aim of assessing the present state of Black Sea ecosystems, their services, their resilience to the multi-stressors, and creating the means necessary to sustainably manage these ecosystems. To deliver its objectives, BRIDGE-BS will identify and map the habitats linking them to core ecosystem services and their dynamics, thereby contribute to the assessment of the ecosystem resilience in the Black Sea. The project will use pilot study sites at the regional level, with findings contributing to interconnected work packages addressing the four pillars of the Black Sea Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (Black Sea SRIA) while feeding into major relevant policy initiatives at the regional and international levels.  Through this novel partnership, BRIDGE-BS will leave a long-term legacy by proposing and fostering realistic, robust strategies and create new long-lasting institutional arrangements for a healthy, resilient, and better-valued Black Sea by 2030.

The virtual kick-off meeting will take place on the 12^th and 13^th of July 2021, starting with a public session and a general introduction of the BRIDGE-BS and DOORS, the winning consortia under the Blue Growth Call of Horizon 2020 with the aim of implementing the Black Sea SRIA. After the public session, the kick-off meeting will continue with internal WP presentations in the afternoon on the 12^th of July and continue on the 13^th of July 2021.