In the framework of the BLUEMED project, the coordination action supporting the development of the BLUEMED Research and Innovation Initiative for blue jobs and growth in the Mediterranean area (www.bluemed-initiative.eu/), an overview and analysis of funding schemes available at different levels, from national to European and international, has been carried out.
This task is part of the activities devoted to strengthening cooperation to consolidate and implement the BLUEMED Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). It complements the BLUEMED interconnecting Platforms developed by the four BLUEMED operational working groups on knowledge, economy, technology and policy, to update the SRIA and serves as reference tool in the process of developing an operational network of research funders and key players to favour synergies and coordinate the realization of the BLUEMED actions.
This report can be considered a background document to initiate and facilitate dialogue and interaction between research funding agencies of different countries and European Institutions. Once the strategic alignment of agendas on areas of mutual interest has been identified, the aim is to lay the groundwork for operational alignment towards the launch of transnational actions.
As a first step, a catalogue (Annex I and II) has been compiled for reviewing marine and maritime RTDI strategies. The collected information has been analysed to address opportunities of alignment for joint implementation of the BLUEMED SRIA (section 2) and finally provide a set of preliminary recommendations to develop the BLUEMED Implementation plan (section 3), one of the key deliverables of the project.