NCES is an excellent list of topics to be discussed as basic themes for a future
implementation plan. One of its main drawbacks is the fact that it neglects to address
core challenges of the country. Specifically, lagging regions, suffering from persistently low private investments and limited bank liquidity, tend to adopt short-term,
survival solutions. Thus, a prerequisite for the NCES to succeed is a detailed contextspecific analysis of cooperation, coordination and synergies to come up with solutions shifting from a short-termism behaviour to a realistic, profitable, long-term
strategy and the corresponding action plan (Koundouri et al. 2019).
9.3 BL.EU. Climate: Climate Innovation in Southern
Waters
The main objective of the EIT Climate-KIC BL.EU. Climate project, that was
implemented in 2019, was to address the challenge of plastic marine littering in
southern European waters by building capacity for innovation to address the issue at
the very beginning of its life cycle, on the prevention side and plastic waste reduction
with significant climate change mitigation potential from the reduction in the
collected and handled plastic waste. Greece, Portugal and Croatia gathered around
this problem and identified three pillars around ports (commerce, fishing, tourism)
working closely with local problem owners: in Croatia, islands Cres Zlarin; in
Greece, the port of Piraeus, islands of Milos and Andros; and in Portugal, the port
of Lisbon (BL.EU. Climate 2020).
The project started by conducting an extensive stakeholder mapping in all areas.
Secondly, validation interviews/surveys were performed based on a common questionnaire designed by all project beneficiaries, which was targeting tourists of the
above-mentioned regions. The results of the questionnaires were analysed and
presented at different workshops conducted in the project sites. The main objective
of the workshops was to trigger discussions among the participants (mostly stakeholders identified at the mapping exercise) on potential solutions to prevent, reduce
and collect marine litter, focusing mostly on plastics. All the above led to the design
of a strategic roadmap by all three countries, identifying steps to reduce the negative
effects caused by plastic waste in the future, supporting not only governments but
also regions, municipalities, industries, consumers and civil society to improve the
awareness campaigns, systems design, replacement, refuse, recycling and reuse of
plastic.
The outcomes of the BL.UE Climate project for the Greek case studies (Piraeus,
Milos and Andros islands) are presented in the next section.
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P. Koundouri et al.
implementation plan. One of its main drawbacks is the fact that it neglects to address
core challenges of the country. Specifically, lagging regions, suffering from persistently low private investments and limited bank liquidity, tend to adopt short-term,
survival solutions. Thus, a prerequisite for the NCES to succeed is a detailed contextspecific analysis of cooperation, coordination and synergies to come up with solutions shifting from a short-termism behaviour to a realistic, profitable, long-term
strategy and the corresponding action plan (Koundouri et al. 2019).
9.3 BL.EU. Climate: Climate Innovation in Southern
Waters
The main objective of the EIT Climate-KIC BL.EU. Climate project, that was
implemented in 2019, was to address the challenge of plastic marine littering in
southern European waters by building capacity for innovation to address the issue at
the very beginning of its life cycle, on the prevention side and plastic waste reduction
with significant climate change mitigation potential from the reduction in the
collected and handled plastic waste. Greece, Portugal and Croatia gathered around
this problem and identified three pillars around ports (commerce, fishing, tourism)
working closely with local problem owners: in Croatia, islands Cres Zlarin; in
Greece, the port of Piraeus, islands of Milos and Andros; and in Portugal, the port
of Lisbon (BL.EU. Climate 2020).
The project started by conducting an extensive stakeholder mapping in all areas.
Secondly, validation interviews/surveys were performed based on a common questionnaire designed by all project beneficiaries, which was targeting tourists of the
above-mentioned regions. The results of the questionnaires were analysed and
presented at different workshops conducted in the project sites. The main objective
of the workshops was to trigger discussions among the participants (mostly stakeholders identified at the mapping exercise) on potential solutions to prevent, reduce
and collect marine litter, focusing mostly on plastics. All the above led to the design
of a strategic roadmap by all three countries, identifying steps to reduce the negative
effects caused by plastic waste in the future, supporting not only governments but
also regions, municipalities, industries, consumers and civil society to improve the
awareness campaigns, systems design, replacement, refuse, recycling and reuse of
plastic.
The outcomes of the BL.UE Climate project for the Greek case studies (Piraeus,
Milos and Andros islands) are presented in the next section.
140
P. Koundouri et al.