On 9 June 2026, the Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies (NEREUS) and the OCEANIDS consortium organised the conference “Shaping the Future of Resilient and Inclusive Coastal Societies through EU Cooperation” at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union in Brussels. The event aimed at showcasing the project’s outcomes and especially the OCEANIDS platform at the EU level and engaging key policy stakeholders, including port authorities and industry representatives, in discussions on advancing and strengthening the EU Blue Economy.
The conference was moderated throughout the day by Eirini Marinou, OCEANIDS Coordinator and R&D Project Manager at Geosystems Hellas (GSH), and during the guided discussions across the different sessions by Roya Ayazi, Secretary-General of NEREUS, Margarita Chrysaki, Communication, Policy and Project Officer of NEREUS and Leon Robin Wiesner, Project Officer at the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC), who facilitated exchanges between policymakers, industry representatives, researchers, and end-users.
Opening Remarks & Policy Perspective
The conference opened with Betty Charalampopoulou, OCEANIDS Coordinator and CEO of Geosystems Hellas, and Roya Ayazi, Secretary-General of NEREUS, who welcomed participants and highlighted the importance of strengthening cooperation between maritime and space communities. They emphasised the crucial role of regional and local authorities in using integrated Earth Observation and digital platforms to support coastal resilience, climate adaptation, and sustainable maritime governance. They also expressed their gratitude to the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union andthe Mazovia Region for hosting the event.
Wojciech Talko, Head of Communication and Public Diplomacy at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU, followed with opening remarks stressing the importance of cross-sector collaboration between maritime and space actors. He highlighted how initiatives such as OCEANIDS contribute to innovation, strengthen ocean governance, and support Europe’s broader sustainability and competitiveness objectives.
Next, Federico Porra (DG RTD, European Commission) connected current achievements to the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, featuring the role of mission-driven innovation in accelerating climate resilience solutions across Europe. He also stressed the importance of maintaining close links with Mission-related initiatives and support mechanisms to strengthen the sustainability, uptake and replication of project results beyond the project lifetime. In this context, he referred to relevant structures and initiatives, including national adaptation hubs, REGILIENCE+ and other Mission implementation and knowledge-sharing platforms, as potential channels for continued engagement, visibility and integration into wider European adaptation efforts.
The discussion on Maritime Spatial Planning as an Enabler for a Sustainable Blue Economy brought together two European Commission representatives:
- Felix Leinemann (DG MARE, European Commission) highlighted the central role of healthy oceans for food security and sustainable maritime activities, and referenced the European Ocean Pact, the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive which must be better aligned to ensure maximum synergies, including through aligned implementation cycles and stronger cross-sectoral coordination at sea basin level. He also noted that the European Commission is working towards the next steps in the directive revision process, with key developments expected in the coming weeks, and emphasised that good frameworks and political ambitions ultimately depend on the active contribution of industry, ports, and coastal communities to succeed.
- Hugo Zunker (DG DEFIS, European Commission) emphasised the strategic importance of space infrastructure, Copernicus services, and downstream applications in supporting maritime governance and European resilience, and highlighted the European Commission’s launch of OceanEye as a significant step towards simplifying the regulatory landscape and strengthening Europe’s ocean data infrastructure.
The OCEANIDS Platform: a decision-making tool
Moderated by Roya Ayazi, the first panel discussion explored the OCEANIDS platform as a decision-support tool and examined how innovative technologies can better respond to the needs of maritime stakeholders. Professor Stanisław Lewiński as an academic partner emphasised the importance of building user skills and competences while encouraging the development of integrated systems that aggregate similar applications rather than creating fragmented solutions. Christos Kontopoulos (Geosystems Hellas) explained that OCEANIDS will continue to evolve through the integration of additional geospatial and environmental data layers, enhancing its value for maritime planning and operational decision-making, including through the integration of AI capabilities into the platform, highlighting that greater use of AI would be an important step in making the platform more intuitive and user-friendly for non-technical users. Representing the technology provider perspective, Jacek Kosiec (CreoTech) stressed that successful innovation begins by listening to port authorities and operational users. Understanding their day-to-day needs is essential for developing practical and effective services. Rainer Müller (Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics) and Christos Kontopoulos highlighted that while Europe has developed many mature technological solutions, there is still work to be done to fully bridge the gap between available technologies and user adoption. Participants also discussed the need for simple and accessible tools. Andreas Slotte, Head of Sustainability/HSEQ at the Port of Helsinki, and a real practitioner, stressed that users require easy-to-use solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into operational workflows, emphasising that the critical keyword for successful adoption is an easy-to-use, user-friendly interface that can back up operational decisions with clear, accessible evidence rather than adding complexity. The discussion concluded with reflections on Europe’s need to remain competitive at the global level through innovation and stronger cooperation across the maritime and space sectors.
Policy Perspective: EU initiatives for Blue Economy
In a short presentation about the EU initiatives in the sector of blue economy, Michal Salíni (EARSC) described relevant policy developments at the international and European levels, including the European Ocean Pact, which is considered an umbrella initiative for EU ocean-related policies, but also the EU Ports Strategy, EU Ocean Act, or the recently published OceanEye, an EU-level ocean observation initiative. The presentation highlighted the ways in which Earth observation can support these initiatives, stressing the role of knowledge and experience gained in the OCEANIDS project, which has contributed especially through co-developing approaches to improve risk assessment and emergency response with port authorities and public entities, supporting coastal municipalities and regional authorities with data-informed urban resilience strategies, or liaising with policymakers and government bodies.
Blue Economy Priorities and Maritime Governance
The second panel discussion, moderated by Margarita Chrysaki, examined how space-based tools and initiatives such as OCEANIDS can support maritime governance, regional planning, and evidence-based decision-making across the Blue Economy. Afroditi Mathioudaki (CDP) highlighted the importance of climate and environmental intelligence in supporting sustainability strategies, climate-related reporting obligations, and evidence-based decision-making, noting that tools like OCEANIDS are becoming increasingly valuable as mandatory disclosure requirements grow. She also stressed that different stakeholder groups speak different languages, and that developing a shared vocabulary across scientists, policymakers, port operators, and industry is a prerequisite for making these tools genuinely accessible and actionable. Justine Brossard (Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions – CPMR) emphasised the key role of regional authorities in ensuring that the Blue Economy remains both sustainable and socially inclusive. She stressed that maritime regions are often at the forefront of climate and economic transitions and therefore require effective tools to support planning and adaptation. Muriel Lux (Mercator Ocean International) highlighted how ocean monitoring services and climate-informed tools contribute to the protection of marine ecosystems and more sustainable maritime planning, stressing that platforms such as OCEANIDS play a critical role in reaching stakeholder communities that centralised services cannot. She pointed to EDITO as a key infrastructure for onboarding applications and extracting the most useful information, and encouraged continued engagement with future EDITO calls as a pathway to broader uptake and sustainability. Representing the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), Piotr Krasnicki discussed the challenges facing European ports, including climate adaptation, environmental pressures, resilience, and competitiveness. He highlighted the importance of operational tools that translate environmental information into practical decision support. Linn Söderpalm (European Community Shipowners’ Associations – ECSA) reflected on how the maritime transport sector can contribute to a competitive and sustainable Blue Economy while responding to growing climate and environmental challenges.
From Data to Service Value Chains for Maritime Spatial Planning
The final panel discussion, moderated by Leon Robin Wiesner (EARSC), explored how Europe can better transform its strong marine data assets into trusted, interoperable, and user-ready services for coastal authorities and port managers. Conor Delaney (EMODnet) stressed that harmonising access across fragmented platforms remains essential to unlock the full potential of Europe’s marine data backbone, and that an important next step is making data easier to discover, combine, and use within operational planning tools. Anica Huck (European Space Imaging) highlighted that commercial Very High-Resolution imagery already delivers where open-source data falls short in terms of timeliness, detail, and responsiveness, and that ensuring it is prioritised in the next Multiannual Financial Framework will be critical for Europe’s marine data future. Sinéad McGlynn (TechWorks Marine) emphasised that in-situ data provides the local validation and point-based detail that satellites alone cannot capture, and that users frequently need support to interpret data, understand its limitations, and translate it into operational decisions. Antoine Mangin (ACRI-ST) stressed that trust, uncertainty communication, and operational integration are just as important as data availability itself. He called for Digital Twin infrastructures to be genuinely fit for purpose, enabling the private sector to contribute and build services on top of them, otherwise they risk remaining infrastructure without delivering the added value that users need. Gaetano Volpe (Latitudo 40) stressed that transforming complex EO and coastal data into intuitive, scalable, and decision-oriented tools through education, visualisation, and AI is the essential final step in closing the gap between data availability and real coastal management decisions.
Key Conclusions
The conference demonstrated the strong potential of tools based on Earth Observation, Copernicus services, artificial intelligence, ocean monitoring, and digital platforms to support resilient and inclusive coastal societies. Participants agreed that Europe possesses a mature ecosystem of environmental data and innovative technologies. However, several speakers highlighted the need to further bridge the gap between technological solutions and operational user needs. Greater collaboration between researchers, technology providers, public authorities, ports, maritime industries, and regional stakeholders will be essential to maximise the impact of these innovations. Projects such as OCEANIDS illustrate how integrated approaches can transform environmental information into practical tools for maritime governance, climate adaptation, maritime spatial planning, and sustainable Blue Economy development. One year after the launch of the European Ocean Pact, the discussions confirmed the growing importance of space-enabled solutions in supporting Europe’s ambition to protect marine ecosystems, strengthen coastal resilience, support economic competitiveness, and maintain global leadership in sustainable ocean governance.
