EU missions : restore our ocean and waters : EU Blue Parks Community.
Date: 2025-08-12
Institutions: European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
Subjects: EU Member State, EU activity, conservation of resources, environmental cooperation, environmental protection, marine ecosystem, marine environment, nature restoration, water protection

EU 
MISSIONS

R E S T O R E   O U R   O C E A N   A N D   W A T E R S

EU Blue Parks Community

June 2025

The EU Blue Parks Community under the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’ brings together EU Member
States’ national, regional and local authorities, European marine networks, businesses, and research and innovation
projects to collaborate on marine protection and restoration in EU sea basins. The community aims to help identify and
address challenges, share tools, solutions and good practices for marine protected areas (MPAs), contributing to the
protection of 30% and strict protection of 10% of EU sea areas by 2030. 

Community members 

The strength of the community lies in its diverse and constantly growing membership. Currently, 117 members contribute
to its efforts.
Members of the community represent a wide range of organisations, including public authorities, non-governmental 
organisations, private companies, and public and private research institutions. 
Members come from various EU sea basins, including the Atlantic and Arctic, the Baltic and North Sea, the Mediterranean 
Sea and the Danube-Black Sea basin, bringing with them diverse expertise. Most have backgrounds in ecology, particularly 
in marine conservation and biology, while approximately half also have knowledge in policy-making and societal issues, 
such as education and governance. 

117

117

Number of members 

Public research
centres & universities

3% 3%

4%

29%

9%

Local 

Sub-national

International/EU

National

20%
Public 
Authorities

Private research
centres & institutes

6%

18%

Non-governmental
organisations

28%

Private companies

‘Through the EU Blue Parks 
Community, the University of 
Southern Denmark strengthens its 
efforts in marine protection and
restoration by exchange of cutting-edge
knowledge, fostering collaboration, 
and engage with stakeholders to 
co-create solutions aligned with both
scientific and societal needs.’
H. Cecilie Petersen, Ocean Mission Manager, Science
Faculty Administration, University of Southern Denmark 

‘We are very pleased to become 
part of this growing platform of valued
partners, putting together knowledge and
efforts to build an effective network of
marine protected areas across the EU.’
Michael Sealey, Senior Policy Advisor, Oceana in Europe

‘Being part of the EU Blue Parks
Community can be a great opportunity
to expand our partnerships and
collaborate with other organisations
that share the same objectives.’ 
Margaux Janin, Coordinator of the Together for the Med
partnership, BlueSeeds 

Become a member
Membership in the EU Blue Parks Community is
open to a range of entities, including national
agencies involved in marine and environmental
matters, regional authorities responsible for
marine protected areas and Natura 2000 sites, as
well as marine conservation researchers,
academia, sea basin organisations, NGOs,
international bodies, donors and sustainable
investors. Interested organisations can apply to
become members through an online form.
Membership is free of charge.
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/
EUBlueParks-Membership

Why join the community? 
Members of the community are invited to participate
in and contribute to dedicated workshops, organised
online and in person. Community members also have
access to technical assistance on specific topics related
to marine protection via the EU Blue Parks helpdesk.  

Community members have the opportunity to:

• Exchange knowledge and good practices, enhance
governance and stakeholder involvement, explore
funding opportunities and improve the ongoing
management of marine protected areas. 

• Contribute their expertise and learn from others
across EU sea basins to enhance marine 
conservation efforts and address common 
challenges effectively. 

• Strengthen synergies by joining the EU Blue Parks
Community, bridging gaps and leveraging the
collective knowledge and resources available in
established initiatives. 

• Benefit from opportunities for exchange and
cooperation through EU Blue Parks workshops and
Mission projects, and gain increased visibility of their
marine protection efforts through the Mission Portal
and newsletter.

 
Members of the
EU Blue Parks Community

• Aegean Research Center

• ALOT S.r.l.

• ARPROE

• Associação Natureza Portugal (WWF Portugal)

• Association Romanian River Transport Cluster

• Atlantic International Research Centre (AIR Centre)

• Blue Pangolin Consulting

• BlueSeeds

• CDTI (Spanish Ministry of Science and Education)

• Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental - Ciimar

• Citiprofile

• Common Wadden Sea Secretariat

• CMCC Foundation

• CNR-IRBIM

• CNRS, Aix-Marseille University

• Consorzio Isole dei Ciclopi - Ente Gestore Area Marina

Protetta Isole Ciclopi

• Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable

Development

• CTN Marine Technology Centre

• ILVO

• INOV - Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e

Computadores Inovação

• Institu de Ciències del Mar - Consejo Superior de

Investigaciones Cientificas

• Institute of Natural Sciences

• Institute of Plastics and Circular Economy IKK (Leibniz

University Hannover)

• Institute of Aquaculture and Environmental Safety,

Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences

• IS2E \ Azores University

• ISPRA

• LAMAR S.A

• Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology

• LAQV/ REQUIMTE, University of Porto

• LifeWatch ERIC

• LIFE OASIS

• MARE- Marine and Envirionmental Sciences Centre -

Polytechnic Institute of Leiria

• Marine & Environmental Research (MER) Lab

• Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean

• Marine Conservation Institute

• Department of Fisheries and Marine Research Cyprus

• Marine Research Centre - University of Vigo

• DHI A/S

• Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality

• EcoBilge

• Ecocean

• Efund

• EPOMEA - Special missions of Thessaloniki municipality of

wildlife rescue and environment

• ELWAVE

• European Environment Agency

• ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence

• Ericeira Surf Clube

• EU B4LIFE FACILITY

• European Commission

• EUROSEA GmbH

• Fjordskole - Fjordschool Norway

• GESPLAN

• HARTIS Integrated Nautical Services

• Martina Gaglioti

• MedPAN

• MRAG Europe

• Mundus maris asbl

• National Park Authority Lower Saxon Wadden Sea

• NatureMetrics

• Naula

• Norwegian Institute for Water Research

• N(N)LE International Business and Economic

Development Center

• Oceana

• OceanFront AS

• Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands

• Oceanus Research Group

• Outdoor Portofino

• Planet to the 3rd Power, Institute for Interdisciplinary

Sustainable Development

• PIÑEIRON SL

• Polytechnic University of Marche - DISVA

• Positive Ripple Consulting

Members of the
EU Blue Parks Community

• Portuguese Institute for Nature

Conservation and Forests

• Project management Jülich

• Protection of biodiversity in Bulgaria

Foundation 

• Public Institution Brijuni National Park

• RECYCLLUX SRL

• SUBMON 

• Swedish Agency for Marine and Water

Management (SwAM)

• Tecnoambiente SL

• Thales 

• Stardust Impact

• Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 

•  Regional Science &Technology Fund,

• Underwater Gardens International S.L. 

Azores Regional Government

• Region of Murcia

• SAIL LA VIE 

• SALT Research AS

• SAYARI

• SCOALA GIMNAZIALA ,,TUDOR ARGHEZI,

NAVODARI

• SDMED Consultants

• South Denmark EU Office 

• SUBMARINER Network for Blue Growth

Join the community and explore
insights from past workshops! 

• University Asen Zlatarov - Burgas

• University College Cork: MaREI Centre 

• University of Southern Denmark 

• University of the Azores 

• University of Portsmouth 

• University Wuppertal 

• Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences 

• VIA PONTICA FOUNDATION

• WWF Adria

EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’

With a 2030 target, the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and
Waters’ aims to protect and restore the health of our ocean
and waters through research and innovation, citizen
engagement and blue investments.
Join forces with others to protect our oceans and waters 
by pledging  your action to the Mission Charter.

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All images © European Union, unless otherwise stated. 
Image sources: © Richard Carey, # 209819526, 2021. Source: Stock.Adobe.com; Bernd Dittrich. Source: Unsplash.com
PDF

ISBN 978-92-9405-252-0

doi: 10.2926/1548408 

HZ-01-25-099-EN-N