Prep4Blue

Inspired by the Apollo 11 mission, the Horizon Europe Missions seek to enable large-scale transformations as solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our world (cancer, climate change, protecting our oceans, greener cities and ensuring soil health and food). The Missions’ intend to link initiatives across different disciplines, mobilise policymakers, stakeholders and citizens, and leverage public and private investments towards their goals. The objective of the Mission Ocean, seas and waters is to restore the health of our ocean, seas and waters by 2030, with specific goals for each sea-basin.

As one of the four Missions contributing to the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals, the Mission will require support from society as a whole and strong socio-economic adaptations that take into consideration sustainable growth prospects of the Blue Economy^,.

The Mission will be implemented in two different phases: a 1^st “development and piloting” phase (2021-2025), followed by a 2^nd “deployment and upscaling” phase (2026-2030). During the 1^st phase, a series of lighthouse demonstrators are expected to develop scalable solutions for the 2^nd deployment phase.

PREP4BLUE’s overarching objective is to develop the R&I implementation modalities and to facilitate a successful first phase of the Mission Ocean. Our outcomes will allow the Mission Lighthouse Areas to develop and pilot innovation of all forms: technological, social, business models and governance; with an emphasis on the methodologies that will allow co-design and co-implementation of solutions with citizens and stakeholders.

PREP4BLUE will achieve this through the following interlinked set of activities:

• ensure that all EC, international, national and regional initiatives are aligned and complement each other to achieve the Mission Ocean, Seas and Waters objectives

• Develop a strong Mission Narrative and run innovative physical and virtual Mission Spaces that will improve and increase stakeholders and citizen engagement.

• Ensure active citizen and stakeholder participation through the design and management of a network of citizen and stakeholder assemblies with well developed co-creation methods and actions

• Support AI driven knowledge management (Mission Dashboard) to ensure high potential solutions are identified and effectively transferred to target end-users for uptake/application in support of the Mission