ISTOCK
CONTENTS
MAY 2016
in Brief Editorial: Towards sustainable blue growth
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BONUS innovation projects show evidence of successful collaboration between industrial and scientific partners
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Guest column: Navigating towards a sustainable blue economy in the Baltic Sea
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BONUS archipelago: Reinforcing thematic collaboration across research and innovation projects
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A record-high number of enterprises in proposals submitted to ‘BONUS call 2015: Blue Baltic’
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News from members of the BONUS Steering Committee and Advisory Board
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Steps towards rewarding public engagement
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BONUS in Brussels on 1-2 December 2015
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BONUS at European Maritime Day 2016
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New BONUS publications
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Event calendar
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BONUS members
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EDITORIAL
Towards sustainable blue growth by Kaisa Kononen, Executive Director, BONUS
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BONUS
here was a time, not so long ago, when marine scientists were working in an ivory tower, environmentalists marching on the streets, industry polluting, engineers developing more and more effective production technologies and businessmen making money. And all opposing one another. The above is, of course, an exaggeration. But the truth is that a major change has taken place during the era of my generation. Today we understand that the multitude of human activities affected by and
impacting on the marine ecosystem are all necessary. Individual citizens, as we are, need conditions for good life, and that comes from jobs created by economy and business. We want also to enjoy the nature, we want to swim in clean water, rest our brains by settling eyes on beautiful marine sceneries. We want to be sure that the food caught from or farmed in the sea is tasty and healthy. We want to be ethically and ecologically responsible citizens and handle the various harmful outcomes from our life styles sustainably, namely managing the waste properly, exploiting natural resources sustainably, avoiding damaging nature’s habitats and so on. Blue growth is defined as the long term strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors as a whole. It is, in fact, for the first time in history an overarching concept across many fields and sectors of the society. It responds to the multitude of needs of the citizens living on the coasts and regions surrounding seas. It brings together actors and groups which only a few decades
ago saw each other as enemies in opposing fronts. From the very beginning BONUS has taken into account the need for communicating across sectors. In the beginning it was through an advisory board. Currently BONUS advisory board includes representatives of Baltic Earth, Baltic Sea Regional Programme, Waterborne, BalticSTERN, Black Sea Commission, BSR Stars, HELCOM, OSPARCOM, International Council for the Exploration of the Seas ICES, VASAB, WWF, Cargotec Ltd as well as Joint Programming Initiative Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans. Also, individual experts are included from universities of Maryland, Helsinki and East Anglia as well as Polish Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation. We are pleased to have this newsletter’s guest column written by Pauli Merriman, Director of the Baltic Ecoregion Programme of WWF, an organisation which offers a way to every citizens to work for the benefit of our nature. But most importantly, BONUS science has gradually progressed
towards blue growth. The first BONUS research agenda, published ten years ago focused on the Baltic Sea marine ecosystem. The second strategic research agenda six year later broadened the scope to cover the drainage area and included innovation. Now a major new step has been taken. In the end of last year BONUS together with three new countries (France, Belgium and the Netherlands) submitted a proposal to the European Commission for continuing the BONUS legacy in years 2018-2023. The proposal is titled ‘Towards sustainable blue growth - Outline of the joint Baltic Sea and the North Sea research and innovation programme’. Despite broadening of the geographical scope, the focus of the new programme will be on growth based on resources provided by marine ecosystem, and how they can be exploited sustainably without damaging the marine environment and its capacity to provide goods and services. The progress has been amazing – something that I could not anticipate when marching for the environment as a youngster.
BO NUS IN BR IEF M AY 2016 |
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