The Multi-Use in European Seas (MUSES) project will review existing planning and consenting processes against international quality standards for MSP and compliance with EU Directives used to facilitate marine and coastal development in the EU marine area to ensure that they are robust, efficient and facilitate sustainable multi use of marine resources. The project will build knowledge of the appropriate techniques to minimize barriers, impacts and risks, whilst maximising local benefits, reducing gaps in knowledge to deliver efficiencies through integrated planning, consenting processes and other techniques. MUSES Project - 3 main pillars: 1. Regional overviews which take into account EU sea basins (Baltic Sea, North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Eastern Atlantic) will be based on an analytical framework to facilitate adoption of a common approach across the sea basins. The progress in implementation of the concept of Multi-Uses in European Sea Basins will be assessed and key obstacles and drivers identified. 2. A comprehensive set of case studies of real and/or potential multi-use will be conducted and analysed to provide a complete spectrum of advantages in combining different uses of the sea. The case studies will create local stakeholder platforms to identify multi-use potentiality, opportunities and limitations. 3. Development of an Action Plan to address the challenges and opportunities for the development of Multi-Uses of oceans identified in the regional overviews and case studies. Provide recommendations for future action, taking into account national, regional and sea basin dimensions. The project will build on work undertaken in other studies including Mermaid, TROPOS, H2Ocean and SUBMARINER. MUSES project partners have direct links with related forums including The Ocean Energy Forum (OEF) which will assist understanding of many issues that need to be addressed at an EU level and could help facilitate and implement the OEF roadmap.

ePIcenter will create an interoperable cloud-based ecosystem of user-friendly extensible Artificial Intelligence-based logistics software solutions and supporting methodologies that will enable all players in global trade and international authorities to co-operate with ports, logistics companies and shippers, and to react in an agile way to volatile political and market changes and to major climate shifts impacting traditional freight routes. This will address the ever-increasing expectations of 21st century consumers for cheaper and more readily available goods and bring in Innovations in transport, such as hyperloops, autonomous/robotic systems (e.g. “T-pods”) and new last-mile solutions as well as technological initiatives such as blockchain, increased digitalisation, single windows, EGNOS positional precision and the Copernicus Earth Observation Programme. ePIcenter thus addresses MG-2-9-2019 of H2020 Mobility for Growth “InCo Flagship on Integrated multimodal, low-emission freight transport systems and logistics”, particularly in what refers to new logistics concepts, new disruptive technologies, new trade routes (including arctic routes and new Silk routes) and multimodal transfer zones. ePIcenter will speed up the path to a Physical Internet and will benefit peripheral regions and landlocked developing countries. ePIcenter will reduce fuel usage (and corresponding emissions) by 10-25%, lead to greater utilisation of greener modes of transport reducing long distance movements by trucks by 20-25% and ensure a smoother profile of arrivals at ports which will reduce congestion and waiting/turnaround times.

The main objective of the MyOcean Follow On project will be to operate a rigorous, robust and sustainable Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting component of the pre-operational Copernicus Marine Service delivering ocean physical state and ecosystem information to intermediate and downstream users in the areas of marine safety, marine resources, marine and coastal environment and weather, climate and seasonal forecasting. This is highly consistent with the objective of the HORIZON 2020 Work Programme 2014-2015 establishing the need for interim continuity of the pre-operational services developed by MyOcean 2 before the fully operational services of Copernicus. The project proposes to sustain the current pre-operational marine activities until March 2015 in order to avoid any interruption in the critical handover phase between pre-operational and fully operational services. In effect, any significant interruption in these services could potentially jeopardize several important high-level policy objectives and undermine other related scientific activities. In the period from October 2014 to March 2015, MyOcean-FO will ensure a controlled continuation and extension of the services already implemented in MyOcean and MyOcean2 FP7 projects that have advanced the pre-operational marine service capabilities. To enable the move to full operations, MyOcean-FO is targeting the prototype operations, and developing the management and coordination to continue the provision of Copernicus Marine service products and the link with independent R&D activities. MyOcean-FO will produce and deliver services based upon the common-denominator ocean state variables that are required to help meet the needs for information for environmental and civil security policy making, assessment and implementation. MyOcean-FO is also expected to have a significant impact on the emergence of a technically robust and sustainable Copernicus Service infrastructure in Europe.