[Marijana Baltic]

Here is a short summary of the project idea. We already made a project concept and are looking for partnership consortium.

OBJECTIVE: Bring innovative approaches for reduction and elimination of marine pollution to secure a sustainable future to Mediterranean’s wildlife and people

PROBLEMS WE IDENTIFIED:
a) Main problem: Marine plastic pollution has great economic and societal repercussions. Every year, 0.57 million tons of plastic enter Mediterranean waters – the equivalent of dumping 33,800 plastic bottles into the sea every minute. Plastic pollution will keep growing, with plastic waste generation in the region expected to quadruple by 2050.
b) Consequences:
– The Mediterranean Sea is home to amazing wildlife. There is urge need to recover and stabilize populations of key species right across the Mediterranean to maintain their ecological, economic and cultural value for future generations.
– Microplastics and the toxic contaminants that attach to sea animals are accumulating within marine food chains and affecting a large range of marine species with worrying health consequences for them and for people who eat seafood (134 Mediterranean species are known to have ingested plastic, including 60 species of fish, all 3 species of sea turtle, 9 species of seabird and 5 species of marine mammal).
– Impact on tourism – when tourists are no longer willing to visit, due to plastic litter on beaches. In order to avoid this impact, beach clean-up costs need to be incurred. These, and other factors, are costs associated with marine plastic pollution.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS/ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT:
• Joint research on marine litter (microplastic) in coherence with biodiversity, health and economic lost in the Mediterranean countries within the project consortium
• Comparison of analysis results
• Creation of measures and guidelines for reducing marine waste
• Signing joint declaration / protocol / strategy on the reduction of marine waste
• Enactment of local/regional policies and measures on marine pollution
• Pilot project in the focus area (cleaning of an island, bay, installation of artificial reefs, etc.)
• Exchange of experience and replication of models from other countries
• Awareness campaign
• Education, etc.

THE PRIORITY: Greener Mediterranean
THE MISSION: Natural heritage: Protecting, restoring and valorizing the natural environment and heritage
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE: SO 2.7 “Enhancing protection and conservation of nature, biodiversity and green infrastructure including in urban areas and reducing all forms of pollution”
TOPIC: Waste prevention and reduction
FOCUS: Prevention and reduction of all waste related pressures on the natural heritage
TARGET GROUP: public authorities, institutions or relevant territorial associations, mariculture sector stakeholders, Interest groups including NGOs, local community

Capitalization of previous projects and operations:
• PlasticBusters MPAs: Plastic Busters: preserving biodiversity from plastics in Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas
• eWAsTER: Preventing e-waste from polluting MED water by turning waste into a resource.
• ARTEMIS: Accelerating the Restoration of Seagrass Meadows in the Mediterranean area through Innovative ecosystem-service based Solutions
• ACT4LITTER: Joint measures to preserve natural ecosystems from marine litter in the Mediterranean Protected Areas
• AMAre: Actions for Marine Protected Areas
• AMAre PLUS: Action for Marine Protected Areas PLUS
• Biodiversity Protection: Mainstreaming biodiversity management efforts for environmental sustainability
• BLUEISLANDS: Seasonal variation of waste as effect of tourism
• POSBEMED: Sustainable management of the systems Posidonia-beaches in the Mediterranean region
• POSBEMED2: Governance and management of Posidonia beach- dune systems across the Mediterranean
• TUNE UP: Promoting multilevel governance for tuning up biodiversity protection in marine areas

[Blagoy Klimov]

I am writing to you on behalf of BATTI. We are very interested in becoming a partner in your project proposal.
Bulgarian Association for Transfer of Technology and Innovation (BATTI) is the largest association in Bulgaria, focusing on the transfer of technology and innovation. BATTI has a head office in Varna. BATTI’s experts have been involved in more than 60 regional and international projects as a Lead organization and partner funded under Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, COSME, Bulgaria-Romania Cross Border Cooperation Programme, Bulgaria-Greece Cross Border Cooperation Programme, Black Sea Joint Operational Programme, Southeast Europe-Transnational Cooperation programme and different Operational programs in Bulgaria. BATTI’s experts have years of experience in running and managing projects covering a wide range of actions including facilitating the public-private interaction, planning issues, capacity building and knowledge transfer for SMEs, companies, developing ICT and cloud technologies, public sector, developing regional and national tourism development plans, environment protection strategies, sustainable development, responsibility, promoting best practises in business support, providing professional and structured support services stimulating the development of the local economy business sectors, entrepreneurship’s initiatives, cluster’s initiatives, life-long learning, youth activities, immigrants’ integration, social entrepreneurship, empowering disabled people and cross-border cooperation.
The team of the association has extensive and varied in-depth experience in the preparation, implementation, monitoring, reporting and dissemination of results of projects, both as a leader and a partner organization.
BATTI may provide established contacts, networks, resources and experience necessary to more than 400 stakeholders in Bulgaria and the region from the public sector, NGOs, SMEs, universities, companies, etc; bringing together actors and stakeholders to facilitate learning, exchange of experience, culturally and economically to further develop existing and create new creative industries within the region and beyond.
Our project portfolio consists of a broad range of international projects, such as:
Increasing the Conformance of Academia towards Rehabilitation Engineering (i-Care), Development of Entrepreneurship in the Black Sea Basin (TREASURE), Black Sea Joint Environmental Monitoring and Protection (ALERT), Vocational Education and Training on Product Environmental Management for the Footwear and Textile Sector (EcoTextyle), etc. Further participation in the said project will complement the whole cycle of our services, add value to our mission and main activities, will creatively mobilize our resources and further the existing partnerships of BATTI, stimulating the creation of new links. A valuable output for BATTI is the opportunity to expand its internationalization and profit from the challenges of a broader partnership.
We would love to learn more about your idea. If you wish to know more, you can visit our website (batti.eu) or send us an email (battinnovation@gmail.com). We will be looking forward to your reply and hopefully working together soon!

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