Human activities in Mediterranean coastal and marine areas are intensifying and pressures coming from blue economy plans are requiring new areas to develop. The environmental degradation and cumulative impacts on ecosystems and the services they provide, especially in and around critical areas for biodiversity and regions depending on their natural capital, are threatening the Mediterranean way of living.

To help preserving coastal and marine ecosystems as sustainable livelihoods for coastal urban communities through integrated management of human activities, MedCities leads on Transfer, replication and upscaling actions at the ENSERES project. These activities focus on increasing the capacity of local and regional stakeholders and authorities and support intervention models in pilot sites as examples of transformative actions through the transfer and re-use of robust ICZM and ecosystem-based management tools and best practices in the project territories, capitalising on well-developed results of past and ongoing ENI’s and Interreg Mediterranean initiatives.

The activities will be implemented in Sfax (Tunisia) and Tyre (Lebanon) through trainings, peer-to-peer exchange visits and technical assistance that support the re-use of the ENSERES toolkit. The transfer will receive financial support for demonstration actions that engage Civil Society Organisations and businesses to showcase the relevance of income-generating actions in the territories and to raise the awareness of all stakeholder linked to ICZM. The activities have a high rate of transferability potential, enabling the development of local and regional ecosystem-based management strategies, adapted to local/regional characteristics and constraints.

ENSERES is a project seeking transformative changes with an integrated solution approach at transboundary level, both in and outside areas under legal protection, and involving public authorities, socio-economic actors and civil society organisations engaged in natural and urban areas. Specifically, it focuses on transferring and mainstreaming ecosystem-based management tools to implement integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) processes in multi-level conservation and territorial practices.

ENSERES (ENhancing Socio-Ecological RESilience in Mediterranean coastal areas) is funded by the European Union under the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation program ENI CBC Med.