Marking one year of progress, the SEACURE consortium gathered in Turin on 15–16 October for two days of dialogue and collaborative exchange, bringing together partners and Mediterranean stakeholders to advance on a shared mission: restoring healthier soils and waters across the region.
Hosted by Regione Piemonte, the two-day gathering provided an opportunity to reflect on the progress made, exchange experiences, and strengthen synergies for the years ahead, driving action towards the EU Missions “Restore our Ocean and Waters” and “A Soil Deal for Europe” goals.
Mediterranean voices for freshwater restoration
On 15 October, SEACURE joined forces with BlueMissionMed and Regione Piemonte for the Pilot Platform for Mediterranean Rivers and Lakes Communities, held within the framework of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.”
Paolo Mancin, Deputy Director of the Department of Environment, Energy and Territory of Regione Piemonte, welcomed participants with opening remarks highlighting the vital role of regions in implementing the Water Framework Directive and translating its goals into effective local measures. His address was followed by keynotes from Loïc Blanchard (European Commission, DG RTD) and Paola Gallani (Po River Basin Authority), outlining policy priorities at the EU level, alongside successful approaches for basin-level implementation, together offering an overview of ongoing efforts from the European down to the basin level.
Participants heard from Fedra Francocci (BlueMissionMed) and Lorenzo Proia (SEACURE), who presented concrete Mission Innovation and Support Actions that are supporting the scale-up of innovative solutions for the restoration of aquatic ecosystems across the Mediterranean. The discussion followed with replicable success stories, including Regione Piemonte’s long-term water restoration programme, funded through a reinvestment of public water revenues, and the Catalan Water Agency’s voluntary stewardship agreements, strengthening local collaboration for river restoration.
A dynamic “Voices from Rivers and Lakes Community” exchange opened the floor to participants to share local perspectives, challenges, and lessons on bridging the gap between successful pilots and wider adoption of solutions, offering valuable input for SEACURE’s forthcoming Policy Handbook for Nutrient Management and Freshwater Restoration.
SEACURE 2nd General Assembly
On 16 October, the SEACURE consortium brought together all 25 partners in Turin for its 2nd General Assembly, marking one year of collaborative progress in tackling nutrient pollution across the Mediterranean’s land–river–sea systems.
SEACURE’s coordinator opened the session by reviewing key milestones and progress achieved, aligning objectives before partners discussed priorities to strengthen collaboration and plan strategically for the months ahead. Konstantinos Soulis, coordinator of SEACURE’s sister project PATH4MED, joined the session to share updates and outline next steps for closer collaboration. The discussion centred on a shared plan to build on the areas of collaboration already identified, with joint efforts focused on maximising impact and leveraging synergies between the two sister projects.
Demo Leaders presented advances from the six demonstration sites in Spain, Italy, and Greece—sharing early results, construction plan updates, and field implementation, including the completion of works at Demo 2 in the Po River Delta — an important milestone for the project. Other work packages also presented advancements and next steps for the coming phase, including key analyses completed during this first year that are shaping regional vision papers, the preliminary version of the Decision Support Tool (DST), and progress in communication and dissemination activities—together providing a strong basis to guide regional actors and build momentum for SEACURE’s upcoming Open Call.
Together, these events mark a milestone in SEACURE’s mission — connecting science, policy, and practice to restore Mediterranean freshwater and soil ecosystems, from land to sea.
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