Pillars

Pillar 1 – Blue Sustainable Economy – aims to foster sustainable blue and green growth in the Adriatic-Ionian Region by strengthening innovation ecosystems, supporting sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and enhancing maritime and marine governance, including skills development.

The Pillar will address three interrelated topics that reflect the region’s main priorities for blue sustainable economy.

The specific objectives for this pillar are:

• To maximise progress in research, technological development and innovation to help solve societal challenges by creating synergies between smart specialisation approaches and strengthening the quadruple helix ties between research units, business support organisations, SME and sector-specific business associations and clusters in the field of green and blue technologies in the region
• To support cooperation efforts aiming at networking policy practices, business practices, research findings and other important assets to strengthen the fisheries and aquaculture sectors (in maritime and inland environments) in the Adriatic-Ionian Region.
• To support cooperation among players in the Adriatic-Ionian Region to make better use of the skills that are available and equip people with new skills (including soft skills) that are needed

To achieve the abovementioned objectives, Pillar 1 will focus on three topics:

• Topic 1 – Blue and green technologies
• Topic 2 – Fisheries and aquaculture
• Topic 3 – Maritime and marine governance and services

Pillar 2 – Connecting the Region – aims to strengthen connectivity, integration, and cohesion across the Adriatic-Ionian Region and with the EU in transport and energy. Achieving this requires close collaboration among partner countries to align policies and initiatives. Joint efforts will focus on infrastructure development and the coordinated management of transport and energy systems, with the shared goal of building a more inclusive, cohesive, and competitive region.

The specific objectives for this pillar are:

• To enhance the safety, security, and competitiveness of port operations, and to develop an interconnected, macro-regional port system
• To develop reliable multi-modal and intermodal connections with the hinterland, both for freight and passengers.
• To support the integration of urban nodes and regional transport systems into a greener TEN-T network to achieve a well-interconnected and well-functioning internal energy market supporting the three energy policy objectives of the EU, i.e. confronting climate change, enhancing security of supply and competitiveness.
• To confront the challenges of the energy transition towards decarbonised and resilient energy systems, while promoting renewable energy sources and energy efficiency

To achieve the abovementioned objectives, Pillar 2 will focus on three topics:

• Topic 1 – Maritime transport
• Topic 2 – Multi-modal connectivity
• Topic 3 – Urban nodes
• Topic 4 – Energy networks
• Topic 5 – Decarbonising the energy systems

Pillar 3 – Environmental Quality – aims to strengthen regional cooperation to protect marine and coastal environments and transnational terrestrial habitats, enhance ecosystem health, and support climate resilience in line with EU and global environmental goals.

The specific objectives for this pillar are:

• To strengthen the collaboration in the Adriatic-Ionian Region in improving the marine and costal environment as well as biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• To address threats to terrestrial biodiversity and contribute to the aim of the EU biodiversity strategy, so that Europe’s biodiversity will be on the path to recovery by 2030 for the benefit of people, the planet, the climate and economy, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and with the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Two topics are identified as pivotal in relation to environmental quality in the Adriatic-Ionian Region:

• Topic 1 – Marine and coastal environment
• Topic 2 – Transnational terrestrial habitats and biodiversity

Pillar 4 – Sustainable Tourism – aims to promote sustainable tourism in the Adriatic-Ionian Region by integrating economic, environmental, cultural, and social dimensions, fostering innovation, and strengthening resilience to global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and geopolitical crises.

The specific objectives for this pillar are

• To develop favorable framework conditions and facilitate digital and green transition with the aim to diversify and strengthen the tourism offer in the Adriatic-Ionian Region.
• To raise awareness on the opportunities of the twin transition and to develop, support and promote effective dissemination, sharing and learning on green and digital skills among all tourism stakeholders, especially destination management organizations, tourism business associations/cluster and SMEs.
• To integrate environmental sustainability throughout all tourism operations and development processes in the Adriatic-Ionian Region

To achieve the abovementioned objectives, Pillar 4 will focus on two topics:

• Topic 1 – Facilitating digital and green transition of the tourism and cultural heritage offer
• Topic 2 – Preparing for the future: knowledge, skills and management
• Topic 3 – Greening of tourism products and services