The EU Blue Parks Community, in partnership with Blue4All, is pleased to announce its seventh workshop, "From Science to Practice: Co-creating Effective MPAs to Meet the EU Marine Protection Targets", taking place on 16 November 2026 in Bruges, Belgium, as a side event to the 7th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity.

Since its establishment, the EU Blue Parks Community has provided a valuable platform for exchange among MPA managers, policymakers, researchers, EU-funded projects, and other stakeholders working to strengthen marine protection across Europe.

This year's workshop will focus on a practical question: how can the tools, knowledge, and solutions developed through EU-funded projects be effectively adopted by MPA managers and authorities?

The event is organised jointly with Blue4All, an EU Mission Ocean and Waters project that has worked with stakeholders in 15 Marine Protected Areas across Europe to co-develop and test approaches for improving MPA effectiveness. As the project reaches its conclusion, participants will have the opportunity to learn from these experiences and discover the new MPA Solutions Hub, designed to make practical tools, methods and lessons learned accessible to the wider MPA community.

Bringing together project representatives, practitioners and decision-makers, the workshop will contribute to the objectives of the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters by helping translate scientific knowledge into concrete action for marine conservation.

Save the Date

When: 16 November 2026, 13:30–17:30 CET

Where: Bruges, Belgium (venue to be confirmed)
How: Hybrid event (in-person and online participation)

Agenda and registration details will be announced soon. Subscribe to the Mission Ocean and Waters Newsletter to receive updates.