Last week in Brussels, our BioProtect team joined European Ocean Days 2026 and the Mission Ocean and Waters Forum, meeting with partners, showcasing tools, and sharing ideas for healthier seas.
At the Mission Forum exhibition, we were part of a joint booth with MarineGuardian, ECO-CATCH, SEA4Future, BLUE4ALL, PHAROS and the MPA Community Network, showing how collaboration can strengthen Marine Protected Areas, marine spatial planning, and sustainable fisheries across Europe.
At the BioProtect corner, visitors had the opportunity to see how the BioProtect Marine Planner works, our decision-support tool for smarter, ecosystem-based management of Europe’s seas, guided by live demos from Maÿlis Sontot–Marjary of the Marine Institute. The MPA Game helped spark conversations about the real‑world challenges of planning and managing MPAs.
BioProtect also took part in the workshop “From Actions to Impact: Tracking the progress of EU Mission ‘Ocean and Waters”, which explored how to link project-level results with Mission-level impact indicators such as ecosystem restoration, pollution reduction, and decarbonisation progress. The session highlighted the importance of turning distributed project outcomes into evidence of real change for Europe’s ocean and waters by 2030.
Throughout the week, one key message was recurring: it is not only about how much of the sea is protected, but how well those areas are managed, monitored, connected, and designed for people and nature. We leave Brussels with new ideas, and a clear motivation to keep improving our tools and working with partners to support resilient, thriving seas.
And as always, it was a pleasure to reconnect with old friends and colleagues! See you all next year!
