Data Card - Cohesion policies in the Mediterranean Sea
The International Day of the Mediterranean Sea is celebrated on 8th July: it represents an opportunity to raise awareness of the state of health of what the Romans called Mare Nostrum and the dangers that threaten it. On this occasion, OpenCoesione dedicates a Data Card to describe the projects of cohesion policies for the Mediterranean, chosen - in the absence of a specific focus of national and European cohesion on the marine area located between Europe, North Africa and Western Asia - to highlight the multidisciplinary approach to interventions in the area.
There are certainly numerous interventions that refer to the topic of technological innovation, and which look, for example, at the enhancement of oceanographic knowledge, measurement for planning and integrated surveillance of coastal and maritime space, restoration and the conservation of the underwater archaeological heritage, the availability of operational oceanographic environmental data integrated into state-of-the-art technological platforms and risk adaptation.
The data are collected for the benefit of a wide and diversified audience: from maritime transport operators, to port authorities and coast guards, from port authorities to environmental protection agencies.
Then there are specific interventions, such as a plan for the prevention, reduction and disposal of marine litter in ports or interventions for the relaunch of aquaculture. Finally, attention to biodiversity: "The Mediterranean - explains an ISPRA press release - is a treasure trove of the marine biodiversity of our planet because, despite having only an area of about 1% of all oceans, it hosts over 12 thousand marine species, between 4 and 12% of the world's marine biodiversity ".
The Mediterranean is obviously an area perfectly suitable for the interventions financed under the European Territorial Cooperation (ETC). There are three examples of the projects we are describing, which refer to the Italy-France and Italy-Malta Programmes.
11 PROJECTS FINANCED BY COHESION POLICIES