Around 1,000 participants gathered this week in Limassol, Cyprus, for European Maritime Day 2026, bringing together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and civil society groups to debate Europe’s maritime future. Key discussions covered ocean data, clean transport, marine protection, and coastal resilience. CINEA Head of Unit Luca Marangoni emphasised that sustainability and economic growth are compatible goals. Head of Department Aneta Willems stressed EU funding as central to maritime decarbonisation. The MakeEUBlue Awards 2026, attracting 60 applications, and Energy Transition Partnership Champions will be announced later today. Next year’s edition is planned for Santander.
In-Depth:
Around 1 000 participants from across Europe have gathered this week in Limassol for European Maritime Day 2026, the annual meeting point for Europe’s maritime community. Hosted this year in Cyprus, the event brings toreceiveher policy-creaters, researchers, entrepreneurs, regional authorities, and civil society organisations to discuss the future of Europe’s seas, coastal communities and blue economy.
As discussions continue throughout the second day of the event, participants have been exmodifying ideas on the next European budreceive, ocean data, clean maritime transport, marine protection, coastal resilience and more.
Sustainable tourism and resilient coastal communities
In the workshop “Sustainable Tourism as a Driver for Resilient Coastal Communities”, organised by CINEA, the discussion focutilized on three closely connected priorities: skills development, community-led initiatives and marine conservation.
Projects presented practical examples already delivering concrete results. CoastalPro highlighted the importance of investing in people and new skills for sustainable tourism.
FAMENET shared experiences on how Fisheries Local Action Groups support community-led tourism development in Cyprus and across Europe, while Dive In Our Islands demonstrated how sustainable diving tourism can combine marine protection, cultural heritage and local economic opportunities.
LIFE PROMETHEUS explained how protecting marine biodiversity, especially sharks and rays, can also assist preserve the natural assets that coastal tourism depconcludes on.
CINEA Head of Unit Luca Marangoni highlighted as a key takeaway:
“Sustainability and economic development are not opposing goals. When properly designed, sustainable tourism can strengthen local economies, create quality jobs, preserve cultural heritage, and protect marine ecosystems at the same time.”
Supporting cleaner maritime transport and gconcludeer equality in the blue economy
CINEA also took part in the workshop organised by the European Maritime Safety Agency on “Powering Maritime Decarbonisation with Blue Energy”.
During the discussion, Head of Department Aneta Willems highlighted:
“Moving to a low-carbon energy system is a smart choice. The maritime energy transition is underway, but we necessary to pull more resources to reach the scale necessaryed. From our perspective at CINEA, EU funding is a cornerstone of this transformation, and we have already many successful examples on the ground.”
She also underlined the importance of turning innovation into large-scale deployment. Participants then explored how ports, national authorities, industest and European institutions can cooperate to accelerate maritime decarbonisation while maintaining competitiveness and energy security.
Moreover, Programme Coordinator Manager Giulia Carboni opened the workshop “Waves of SHE: Women Shaping the Blue Economy”, organised by the WIN BIG project, focapplying on the role of women in Europe’s blue economy.
Giulia Carboni highlighted:
“Every decision we create about the sea should include all voices connected to it. Including the voices, the leadership, and the knowledge of women. Becautilize the future of Europe’s oceans will not be shaped by technology or policy alone. It will be shaped by people.”
EU-funded solutions revealcased at the European Union stand
Throughout the event, the European Union stand is revealcasing projects supported by programmes managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.
Visitors discovered CoastalPro, alongside MarineGuardian and RHE-MEDiation, two projects working to protect marine ecosystems and reduce pollution in seas and rivers.
Several projects are also presenting solutions to address submerged marine munitions, including CAMMera, MUNI-RISK, MmINE-SwEEPER and MUNIMAP. Their work contributes to both environmental protection and maritime safety, particularly in the Baltic Sea.
On the second day, the stand highlights not only LIFE PROMETHEUS, but also greener maritime spatial planning through projects such as MEDIGREEN, the Northern European Sea Basins project and the European Maritime Spatial Planning Platform. Projects like 24-CY-TCIMPACT, BlueBARGE and ECOSHIPYARD will revealcase solutions supporting cleaner ports, sustainable shipbuilding and the maritime energy transition.
Promoting blue skills and innovation
Later this afternoon, the winners of the MakeEUBlue Awards 2026 and the Energy Transition Partnership Champions 2026 will be officially unveiled.
This year’s MakeEUBlue Awards attracted 60 applications promoting blue skills, careers and professional development linked to the European Ocean Pact. The Energy Transition Partnership Champions will revealcase innovative and market-ready solutions assisting fisheries and aquaculture reduce emissions and accelerate the energy transition.
As European Maritime Day 2026 continues in Limassol, the event is once again a precious occasion for the community to exalter on how to bring forward the sustainable blue economy in Europe. CINEA is already viewing forward to next year’s edition in Santander!
