The first meeting – Kick-off Meeting of the SAMESEA project takes place in Venice, Italy

The first meeting was held – Kick-off Meeting of the project SAMESEA në Venecia, Itali.

Project SAMESEA “Sustainable Management of Sensitive Marine Species and the Interaction of Human Activities” has a duration of September 2024 to April 2027 (30 months) and is a project funded by EU Interreg – IPA Adrion.

Participants in the meeting:

• Prof. As. Erjola Këçi, institutional project coordinator
• Rexhina Alite, project staff, Projects Directorate, UAMD.

SAMESEA Project Description
Sustainable Management of Sensitive Marine Species and the Interaction of Human Activities
Duration: 2024-2027

The SAMESEA project aims to increase international harmonization regarding monitoring and coordination practices between different countries and regions, as well as to improve the limited dialogue between socio-economic activities and the conservation of marine biodiversity.
Marine biodiversity suffers from water pollution, maritime traffic, and direct or indirect habitat degradation or loss.
These challenges affect national and regional authorities that have different approaches to implementing existing regulations and agreements, but also economic interest groups and the general public, who can benefit from the ecosystem services that the sea provides.
SAMESEA is based on the assumption that if a basin is not managed sustainably, socio-economic activities will not be able to continue for years, and marine species will decline substantially.
Cooperation is essential at the macro-regional level but also between the various interests involved, to create a functional and sustainable coexistence.
Working together with national and regional authorities, research centers, NGOs and sectoral agencies is essential to launch a new level of risk management, capitalization and cooperation.
The consortium will identify and assess risks and impacts on sensitive marine species and related ecosystems, which will be the basis for the development of a Joint Monitoring Strategy for monitoring sensitive marine species, pilot actions for testing them, solutions for the dissemination of coexistence practices and an Action Plan for improving the sustainable management of the Adriatic-Ionian Basin.
The consortium will apply monitoring methodologies, learn about good coexistence practices and inform about new practices, as well as increase networking among members.
The EUSAIR (EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region) region will benefit from the project's activities and results, especially the IPA regions along the sea coast.
SAMESEA will improve the sustainable management of interactions between sensitive marine species and human socio-economic activities, through capitalization, sharing and networking of stakeholders who care about the well-being of the Adriatic-Ionian region's ecosystem.

Project Purpose
The overall goal of the project is to improve the management of interactions between socio-economic activities and sensitive marine species in the EUSAIR (EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region) region to be sustainable.
The consortium will work to harmonize monitoring protocols, capitalize on best practices of coexistence, and create an international network capable of collaborating with as many stakeholders interested in the sustainable management of the Adriatic-Ionian region as possible.
SAMESEA builds on the EUSAIR strategy, aiming to promote a common marine ecosystem management strategy, in which the well-being of marine species co-exists with socio-economic activities. In this way, SAMESEA will promote regional cooperation to share methodologies, data and techniques to ensure that the entire EUSAIR region is on the same page.

Project Consortium
The consortium consists of 11 partners and is led by CoNISMa (National Inter-University Consortium for Marine Sciences, Italy), representative of global marine scientific research, which will manage the managerial and financial aspects. Among the project partners, the “Aleksandër Moisiu” University, Durrës, Albania, will contribute to the dissemination of data and advance knowledge on the situation in the coastal zone and IPA, and will also support partners in pilot activities by activating local networks for the analysis of activities and their outreach to students and tourists.
In addition to the project partners, SAMESEA also includes 20 associated partners, who will support the project partners mainly in terms of communication and promotion of the project activities. The participating countries in the project are Italy, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro and Greece.

Project Results

• Identification and assessment of risks and impacts on sensitive marine species
• Drafting a Joint Monitoring Strategy for Sensitive Marine Species
• Drafting an Action Plan for improving the sustainable management of the Adriatic-Ionian basin
• Application of monitoring methodologies and good practices of coexistence between sensitive species and human activities
• Improving the sustainable management of interactions between sensitive marine species and human socio-economic activities, through capitalization, sharing and networking of stakeholders who care for the well-being of the Adriatic-Ionian region ecosystem
• Increasing cooperation between interest groups