The University of Tartu helps develop innovative land-sea management models

From the beginning of 2024, experts from the University of Tartu will participate in Bluegreen Governance, an innovative international cooperation project supported by the European Union. The project covers the land and sea sectors, and aims to find new ways of sustainable management of seas and coastal areas, based on scientific data, and involving ordinary citizens in important decision-making.

The management of oceans, seas and coasts in the European Union is currently fragmented between several institutional levels and policy areas. There is a clear necessity for a more efficient and flexible administrative system to respond to the realities and expectations of modern climate and geopolitics.

For this to become reality, the European Commission is funding the Bluegreen Governance project ("Multi-layer governance performance of marine policies") proposed by the Johan Skytte Institute of Policy Studies of the University of Tartu, alongside European partners. The project develops innovative land-sea management models that are based on data, scientific foundations and societal choices to link marine policy with land and inland water management. In addition, project partners will gain experience in initiating and facilitating the necessary institutional and political changes for a better maritime policy.

Within the role of the University of Tartu in the project, the international team of the Centre of Applied Social Sciences (under UT’s J. Skytte Institute) will implement the project. In cooperation with the Maritime Institute, the team will develop a decision-making tool using environmental data, test it with pilot regions and help to implement it across Europe. The creation of an environmental data portal based on a geoinformation system is led by Professor Jonne Kotta of the Maritime Institute and his team.

In a wider sense, project partners and international experts aim to promote integration between institutional levels and policy areas with clear implications for land and sea use. In addition, more efficient e-services and the implementation of engagement models based on scientific data play a large role to involve citizens in decision-making processes. This enables a proactive response to e.g. climate change impacts, environmental issues, local community experiences and activities in the area. As a result, local communities and decision-makers can make more informed decisions and respond more quickly to changes affecting the area.

The Bluegreen Governance project is led by the University of Valencia in Spain. In addition to the University of Tartu, KU Leuven and University of Antwerp in Belgium, Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change in Italy, Vannforskning Institute of Norway, Paris-Saclay University, Open University of the Netherlands, University of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands with its partner science and technology park, the Radboud University Foundation in Slovenia are also participating in the project. Public Urban Institute and University of La Reunion and KOFY in France, and University of Portsmouth in the UK are also involved as a partner.