The First Kick-off/Steering Committee Meetings and the Opening Conference for official launching of the MARSPLAN-BS II Project (Cross-border Maritime Spatial Planning for Black Sea - Bulgaria and Romania) took place on 9-10 October 2019 at Ramada Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria. The events were organised back to back by the Project Coordinator, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) of Bulgaria with participation of MARSPLAN-BS II project team: Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration of Romania; National Center for Regional Development, Bulgaria; National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa”, Romania; Center for Coastal and Marine Studies, Bulgaria; National Institute for Marine Geology and Geo-ecology, Romania; Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania; Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Bulgaria.
The MARSPLAN-BS II project aims to support the coordination of Bulgaria and Romania in the process of Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), as required by the European Directive 2014/89/EU and to create a long-term mechanism for cross-border cooperation on MSP in the Black Sea Basin. The project is funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund of the European Union under the Grant Agreement: EASME/EMFF/2018/1.2.1.5/01/SI2.806725- MARSPLAN-BS II.
The Kick-off Meeting and the First Steering Committee Meeting were conducted on 9 October 2019 and brought together for the first time all project partners and the Steering Committee Members (representatives of each project partner, of the European Commission and the EASME). During the meetings many administrative and technical issues on project activities and details for the project development phase were discussed and clarified among partners.
The Opening Conference of MARSPLAN-BS II was a great success on 10 October 2019 and it introduced to relevant stakeholders and to wide general public the long-term objectives, main activities and expected results of the project in support to the Competent MSP Authorities in Bulgaria and Romania. This official event was opened by Mrs. Denitsa Nikolova, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works of Bulgaria and she stated that the MRDPW as the National Competent Authority for MSP aims to integrate the efforts of all stakeholders and to engage businesses for sustainable use of marine resources and development of the Black Sea Basin. “Together we are looking for the balance between economic interests and environmental protection, balancing interests in the different maritime sectors, to ensure their sustainable development for future generations" said Deputy Minister Nikolova.
Key notes were presented also by official representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration of Romania (the Competent MSP Authority and project partner), Mr. Juan Ronco Zapatero from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the Black Sea Commission, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
Mr. Bogdan Ghinea, the Project Coordinator of the first MARSPLAN-BS Project presented the main achievements and Lessons Learned, followed by Mrs. Maria Georgieva, Coordinator of the MARSPLAN-BS II Project that introduced the main objectives and activities. The CCMS Director, Dr. Margarita Stancheva presented the first draft of Synthesis Report on maritime uses, Land-Sea Interactions (LSI) and Multi-Uses (MUs) in a transboundary context of the MARSPLAN-BS II Project (Part1, Part 2).
The afternoon session of the conference included important interesting presentations by two distinguished key MSP experts and members of the MARSPLAN-BS II Advisory Board: Mr. Emiliano Ramieri from Thetis, Italy (also member of the CCMS Advisory Committee) talked about MSP in the Mediterranean Sea and Prof. Jasek Zaucha, who introduced the participants with MSP in the Baltic Sea.
All presentations can be found on the MARSPLAN-BS II website (link).