Building connections across the Mediterranean is not a side activity of MEDCONNECT. It is at the heart of the project.
MEDCONNECT starts from a simple idea: innovation can only scale when the right people are connected.
Across the Mediterranean, public authorities, researchers, businesses, innovators, investors, civil society organisations, practitioners and communities are already working on solutions for healthier and more resilient seas. What is often missing is the space to connect these experiences, understand common challenges and turn knowledge into collaboration.
This is what the MEDCONNECT Community is designed to do.
From a network of stakeholders to a community
From the very beginning of the project, MEDCONNECT will identify and connect stakeholders across participating Mediterranean countries, building a shared ecosystem around the objectives of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”.
The process starts with stakeholder mapping, but it goes beyond creating a database.
MEDCONNECT wants to understand what each stakeholder can bring to the project, what they need in return, and how they may want to engage over time.
For some, this could mean contributing knowledge and local experience. For others, testing or adopting innovative solutions, joining workshops and consultations, connecting with other Mediterranean regions, contributing to policy discussions or exploring future investment and cooperation opportunities.
A two-way relationship
The community is being designed around a simple principle: participation needs to create value on both sides.
Stakeholders will therefore be mapped not only according to their sector and geographical area, but also according to their relevance to MEDCONNECT, their potential contribution, the benefits they expect from participating and their possible level of engagement.
This first mapping will help shape a broader Community of Practice, connecting people and organisations with different perspectives but shared Mediterranean challenges.
Over the course of the project, the MEDCONNECT Community will grow through workshops, consultations, Living Lab activities, knowledge exchange and other opportunities for participation.
A dedicated online entry point will also progressively allow new stakeholders to express their interest, introduce their organisation and identify the areas where they would like to contribute.
The ambition is to build something that lasts beyond individual project activities: a connected Mediterranean community able to exchange knowledge, identify opportunities and help promising solutions move from local experience to wider impact.