On May 25, 2023, the coordinator of CREATE project Margaretha Breil gave a speech to the Forum on EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region in Sarajevo.
More in detail, Create presented maritime spatial planning as a case for mainstreaming climate change into existing plans. The speech focused on the following key messages:
- Climate change will affect the basic conditions for human activities in the sea (Fisheries, Energy generation, Blue economy, Ecology, etc.).
- Increase the extension of Marine Protected Areas (MPA),
- Increase connectivity between protected areas,
- More efficient management of protected areas and connection between protected areas,
- Restoration and preservation of degraded marine habitats as a form of blue carbon sinks.
The EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) is a tool to foster social, economic and territorial cohesion to reduce disparities in the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region through cooperation.
The strategy involves ten countries: four EU Member States (Greece, Croatia, parts of Italy, Slovenia), five candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and North Macedonia), and a third country, San Marino.
In accordance with the EU priorities for 2019-2024, EUSAIR contributes to the European Green Deal, European digital strategy and a stronger Europe in the world.