ExpectedOutcome:
The successful proposal(s) will enhance new knowledge and design or improve tools to achieve better informed decision-making processes, social engagement and innovation, supporting the implementation of the European Green Deal. Proposals will contribute to the development or improvement of innovative multi-layer governance models enabling sustainability and resilience and of EU and international science-policy interfaces.
Project results are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:
- Better understanding by the policy making community of the institutional barriers such as lock-ins, path dependency, bounded rationality, political inertia and power imbalances in the formulation and implementation of marine policies.
- The policy making community exploited analyses and better understanding of formal and informal policy governance work streams or processes, including public consultation and encompassing local, regional, national, European and global ocean governance aspects.
- Stronger e-government and easily achievable open government data facilitate greater access to public services.
- Appropriate communication, exchange, coordination and management is enabled at regional, national and European level.
- Improved collaborative governance performance allowing social and technical innovations to provide opportunities for the social contract between the State and the citizenry through increased transparency, enabling better spatial planning and natural resource management, ultimately leading to increased trust in policy making.
Scope:
The management of the ocean, seas and coasts is largely carried out in a fragmented manner, at institutional as well as legal governance level and through several related sectors. Poor coordination between sectoral approaches, low institutional capacity, weak implementation of international conventions and lack of technical knowledge and of financial resources for regional, cross-regional and national processes are common issues in Member States and partner countries, affecting coastal communities severely in terms of food security and livelihoods (loss of jobs). Current policy governance models and work streams, including public consultation, at different governance levels, need to be analysed in relation to their performance and further challenged to intensify regional and local integration in the policy dialogue, as the (total, regional and local) transitions towards a sufficiently protected marine natural capital and health and wellbeing of citizens should also be just and inclusive. Proposals should address the need to meet increasing public demands and to address declining public trust.
Proposals should conceptualise and operationalise strategies to address identified barriers to collaborative governance related to the ocean and seas based on a long-term perspective using a participatory process of visioning and experimentation, accompanied by strong and justified recommendations on the required capacity building.
Proposals should improve or develop and leverage innovative digital tools, towards a stronger e-government and easily achievable open government data.
The proposals should cover comparisons within, across and between different spatial governance layers (local, regional, inter-regional, macro-regional, cross-border, international) to cover a representative set of governance structures across Europe varying according to size and geographical, environmental, socio-economic, institutional and administrative conditions.
This topic should involve the effective contribution of SSH disciplines.
Interactive research approaches should be used to engage with local, regional, national and international authorities, as well as local communities, citizens and other relevant stakeholders, considering gender, age and socio-economic background, where relevant.
Projects should build on existing knowledge and integrate results from multiple origins, including other EU, international (for example UN) or national projects or studies. Some cooperation activities with projects financed under topic HORIZON-CL6-2021-GOVERNANCE-01-06 on environmental and social cross-compliance of marine policies could be included. This topic should also be linked to the Horizon Europe Mission Ocean, seas and waters and the Partnership for a climate neutral, sustainable and productive Blue Economy or other partnerships where relevant.
Cross-cutting Priorities:
Societal EngagementOcean sustainability and blue economyDigital Agenda
