BLUE4ALL

👏 Such a valuable addition to the discourse. Integrating functional and process-based environmental data is crucial to the work of creating robust and resilient MPAs. Congrats to the whole writing team for publishing this excellent paper! Give it a read at the link in George's post.

🌊 Happy Baltic Sea Day! Four of our Living Labs are located on the #BalticSea, providing important data for our project's development of a blueprint platform for co-managed #MarineProtectedAreas. 📍Vainameri MPA - Estonia 📍Vaike Vain MPA - Estonia 📍Finland National MPA Network 📍Baltic Sea MPA Network - Finland We are very grateful for this unique environment and for all the people working in our project there! 🧡 #BalticSeaDay #MarineConservation #BalticSeaDay

📸 Final call to share your ocean photographs! The BLUE4ALL Photography Contest closes on 26 August 2025 - just one week left to share your vision of marine protection.   🌊 Submit up to 3 photos that capture your connection to the ocean and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).   ✨ Prizes include: * Your photo featured in the 2026 Marine Protection Calendar * Your photo in our travelling exhibition across Europe * A calendar and a bracelet (made out of recycled fishnets) for 5 sea basin winners 👉 Submit here before the deadline: https://ow.ly/iOXY50W2oew   Grab your last chance to be part of something bigger - raising awareness for our ocean and celebrating the beauty of marine protection. 💙   #PhotographyContest2025#MarineProtection#Blue4All hashtag#OceanConservation#ProtectOurSeas

Summer may be in full swing, but #Blue4All hasn’t hit pause. ☀️ Our partners have been out in the field and on the water—connecting with stakeholders, building innovative tools, and collaborating across projects. From hands-on coastal workshops in southern Europe to a #UNOC2025 session on a research vessel, the past two months have been packed with energy, engagement, and fresh ideas for creating more effective and inclusive MPA networks. 🌊 Read our latest blog for a recap of what we’ve been up to: https://lnkd.in/dRNA2v6p #MarineProtectedAreas #StakeholderEngagement #MarineConservation

🌊 Today on #MPADay, we celebrate the vital role Marine Protected Areas play in safeguarding our oceans and restoring biodiversity. This year’s theme, "Ocean Protection Needs Human Connection", reminds us that successful conservation is only possible when communities, scientists, and policymakers work together. At BLUE4ALL, we are proud to contribute to the global #MPADay movement as part of the initiative’s European region. Originating in South Africa, MPA DAY has grown into an international effort to connect people and ocean protection. 📸 Get involved and share your vision with us! 👉 Join our Photography Contest and showcase the beauty — and challenges — of MPAs: https://lnkd.in/dsriC3VJ #Blue4All #PhotographyContest Mission Ocean Western Indian Ocean Marine Protected Areas Professional Network (WIOMPAN) MPA Community Network Marine Conservation Network Marine Planners

🌊📸 Ready to make waves with your camera? Join the BLUE4ALL Photography Contest and showcase the beauty—and challenges—of our marine ecosystems! Whether it’s a vibrant coral reef, a thriving MPA, or innovative multi‑use sea spaces, we want to see your best shot. Submit by 26 August for a chance to win exciting prizes and be featured across our channels. 🔗 Enter now: https://lnkd.in/dCC7dy5a #PhotographyContest #OceanConservation

 🐚 As part of Blue4All’s efforts to strengthen co-creation and stakeholder engagement in marine protected areas, we recently held an online dissemination event focused on the Danish Wadden Sea MPA, one of our 14 Living Labs. 🤝 This session brought together members of the local Stakeholder Engagement Group to share key insights from our recent work, particularly around ecosystem service assessment, spatial mapping of socio-cultural values, and cumulative impact analysis. These tools are central to supporting more inclusive and informed decision-making processes in MPA management. The event also provided an opportunity to highlight current and upcoming Blue4All initiatives, including outreach activities, knowledge-sharing platforms, and stakeholder-driven events designed to foster dialogue and collaboration across Europe’s marine regions. We are grateful to everyone who joined and contributed to this exchange. Check out our website for more info on the Danish Living Lab and the Blue4All project: https://lnkd.in/dyHijJAC #Blue4All #MarineProtectedAreas #StakeholderEngagement #MarineConservation #DanishWaddenSea #EcosystemServices #SciencePolicyInterface

🌊 Last week, Blue4All was represented at the International Conference: Marine Protected Areas in Marine Spatial Planning in Bodø, Norway! Our colleague Sophie van Schoubroeck took the stage to present joint research from the University of Antwerp, HELCOM, and the University of Southern Denmark, carried out under the Blue4All Project, titled “Social values and ecosystem services in Marine Protected Areas: Insights from the Danish Wadden Sea.” The presentation also served as an opportunity to further disseminate the Blue4All project to an international audience of marine experts. What stood out was the strong interest in integrating environmental economics into marine conservation and great engagement and stimulating discussions with participants from a variety of disciplines. This experience highlights the importance of cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration in marine spatial planning. Social values and communicating the oceans' ecosystem services are vital pieces of the puzzle if we want to design MPAs that work - for both nature and people. Thank you to the organisers and everyone who joined the conversation. We are excited to keep building bridges between science, policy and society. For more info about the Danish Wadden Sea and our work in the Blue4All project, visit our website: https://lnkd.in/dyHijJAC #Blue4All #MarineProtectedAreas #MarineSpatialPlanning #EcosystemServices #EnvironmentalEconomics #WaddenSea

🎉 This week in Venice! 🇮🇹 🌊This week (July 2-4) the #MSP4BIO final event is taking place in Venice, bringing together marine planners, MPA managers and other blue economy actors! The MSP4BIO project is focused on Improved Science-Based #MaritimeSpatialPlanning to Safeguard and Restore Biodiversity in a coherent European #MPA network. 🌐The projects’ outputs will be integrated in the MPA Blueprints Platform — scheduled to launch beginning of next year — hosted on the MPA Community Network website, developed as part of Blue4All, and already live. 🤝 Building on its collaboration with MSP4BIO, Blue4All is also participating in the final event in Venice alongside other key projects. At the event, Blue4All’s coordinator, Steven Degraer from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), pitched Blue4All in an engaging presentation. 🔗Event details: https://lnkd.in/d2xZqnF5

🌊 BLUE4ALL in action aboard the METEOR at #UNOC2025! During the interactive workshop hosted by the MPA Community Network last 11th of June , Maëlla Sicard (OFB), partner of Blue4All, linked France — as the host country of UNOC 2025 — to the MPA-CN and its founding members. 👉🏻Participants worked in groups to design MPA corridors using real-world ecological and stakeholder data, supported by facilitators from BLUE4ALL, MSP4BIO , BioProtect Project PROTECT BALTIC , and Blue Connect Project 🙌 The exercise showed how diverse approaches can emerge when balancing ecological priorities and stakeholder needs. 🔗 Event details: https://ow.ly/GXyv50W8lWW #Blue4All #MPACommunityNetwork