Workpackages

Through 7 complementary Work Packages, the A-AAGORA consortium will deliver A-AAGORA project, supporting the ambitious targets set in the Mission on “restore our ocean and waters by 2030” through the reduction of pressures in coastal areas to boost resilience to climate change and mitigate its impacts.

WP1, leaded by AcTeon will respond to the Missions Policy objectives by demonstrating the (societal) added-value of innovative solutions and propose fit-for-purpose solutions that address current bottlenecks.

Objectives :
The main objectives of WP1 are: (i) to demonstrate the (societal) added-value of innovative solutions for responding to key policy objectives; and (ii) to propose fit-for-purpose solutions addressing current (policyrelated) bottlenecks to the widespread application of innovations, thereby preparing for the upscaling of innovations demonstrated in A-AAGORA. The WP:

  • Considers a wide range of political commitments, policies and strategies at different scales (national, EU and international), including: the WFD, MSFD, MSP and EU Biodiversity Strategy/Habitats & Birds directives; climate change (adaptation) strategies and programmes; structural and sector policies (e.g. the CFP and EMFAF) that can support, or benefit from, the implementation of innovations; the European Green Deal and its different pillars such as the Zero Pollution Action Plan; Atlantic strategies; the Sustainable Development Goals in particular in relation to the use of natural resources and ecosystems, biodiversity, resilience, as well as the UN/international conventions and protocols on Biodiversity and climate change (IPBES, IPCC)
  • Builds on a critical analysis of current policy objectives, requirements and delivery mechanisms, as well as on practical implementation, identifying opportunities that favour, or bottlenecks that limit, the application of NbS/innovations considered in the project;
  • Identifies, shares and discusses (including via training activities at the Demo’s level) enabling conditions required to steer and deliver wide application and upscaling within the scope of the Atlantic 2.0 Action Plan and the EU Arctic Action Plan

WP2, leaded by CAU, will act on the Public mobilisation and engagement for the co-design and co-implementation of solutions for empowering citizens.

Objectives:
The main objective of WP2 is to co-develop implementable social-ecological innovations for deliberative democracy process at each demonstrator, and to prepare a framework for up-scaling of gamification approaches beyond Demos. The WP:

  • Considers ‘Living Lab’ concept, advised by active and informed stakeholders and citizens
  • Implements fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) to understand the relationship between anticipated social– ecological changes and differences in knowledge and perception
  • Builds on a serious gaming approach, enabling stakeholders at different scales to overcome the language barrier and participate at decision-making through their reasoning, viewpoints, arguments and trade-offs.

WP3, co-leaded by KT and UPB, will implement a digital knowledge system, including an environmental and biodiversity monitoring system to better understand, monitor and forecast, and measure progress towards the targets of this Mission.

Objectives:
The main objective of WP3 is to implement the Atlantic-Arctic digital knowledge system, staring from the system architecture, design, and integration/interoperability with existing systems, to enable new partnerships and working towards the vision of sustainable ocean observing. The WP:

  • Builds on the need to ‘embrace new observations and data’ from coastal to marine areas, which implies, identification of users’ and stakeholders’ needs (link to WP2), as well as data sources filtering, management, and integration, and stakeholders training (link to WP5)
  • Considers the concept of modular platform design to promote the potential reusability and extension of the platform’s functionalities

WP4, leaded by SBE, will develop economically sustainable solutions, by identifying climate change and biodiversity threats and opportunities for implementable NbS.

Objectives:
The main objective of WP4 is to is to better inform public policy decision-making by engaging better informed citizens, local stakeholders, and coastal communities to contribute to co-create socially and economically sustainable management strategies. Building innovative sustainable management strategies for welfare enhancing of the Arctic-Atlantic coastal communities. This WP:

  • Builds on the need to protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, to prevent and eliminate pollution from our ocean, seas, and waters, to achieve a carbon-neutral and circular blue economy at the Atlantic-Arctic coastal areas, first developing the proposed solutions at the Demos´ scale.
  • Considers the concept of EBM, to integrate technological, logistic, social, and economic innovation for marine, coastal and river ecosystems NbS.

WP5, co-leaded by INOVA and AIRC, will promote the setup and engagement of a Community of Practice (CoP) where the A-AAGORA project will co-lead a forum (the ‘Agora’) for the exchange of experiences and best practices.

Objectives:
The main objective of WP5 is to Plan, implement and monitor efficient Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication (DEC) activities to maximize impact and visibility to all target audiences by:

  • Engage and cooperate with similar (twin) projects, ongoing initiatives and missions to foster sustainability of project results and contribute to the building of a community of practice (CoP);
  • Integrate and engage with Associated Regions and ensure adequate implementation and execution of the Third Party’s programme throughout the project;
  • Implement training activities towards increased ocean literacy, proactive awareness and co-ownership

WP6, co-leaded by UiT, UAVR and UCC, will Set-up the Atlantic-Arctic lighthouse based on three Demos activities, and make the lighthouse ready for the following scaling up phase.

Objectives:
The main objective of WP6 is to Showcase how EBM and NbS can be co-designed and co-implemented in Demos, sustained and scaled up to the Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin and Associated Regions by:

  • Establishing transformative hubs in the three Demos
  • Identify areas and locations where the solutions are replicable and draw up an action plan and roadmap
  • Developing implementable blueprints for making communities climate-proof and weather-resilient
  • Providing blueprints for implementing such innovations through basin-scale cooperation

 WP7, leaded by UAVR, will be devoted to the comprehensive management of the Project, supported by the internal Steering Committee and the external Advisory Board that gathers established and recognised experts and decision makers from across Europe.

Objectives:
The main objective of WP7 is to

  • Efficiently coordinate and manage all technical aspects (e.g., deadlines, objectives, financial aspects)
  • Facilitate and manage communication flow and information exchange between the consortium partners, including the Steering Committee, the Advisory Board, and the European Commission.
  • Keep deadlines and ensure optimal implementation and reporting, within the allocated budget.
  • Provide data management plan (FAIR principles, resources allocation, data security, ethical aspects)
  • Prepare and open the call for financial support to third parties aiming at showcase the feasibility, replicability and scale up of the solutions developed in the “associated region” within A-A Agora.