NEWS: Local Hubs – Engaging Stakeholders Across the ADRION Region

Through Local Hubs events across all seven ADRION countries, we gathered more than 100 stakeholders from tourism, fisheries, maritime transport and offshore sectors. Together, we discussed existing practices, challenges and possible solutions for long-term coexistence of human activities and sentinel species.

As part of WP2 – Joint development of the transnational strategy for long-term coexistence, the project has launched Activity 2.1: Ideation and capitalization of practices identified in the EUSAIR region. The focus is on reconciling the needs of tourism, offshore activities, and fisheries with the protection and coexistence of sentinel species.

Local Stakeholder Events

An important component of this activity was the organization of Local Hubs – stakeholder meetings held in all seven countries of the ADRION region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, and Slovenia.

Local Hub Mali Lošinj (Croatia)

Local Hub at Neum (BiH)

Local Hub at Vlore (Albania)

 

The purpose of these events was to:

  • Gather and review existing knowledge from stakeholders in tourism, marine traffic, fishing, and offshore activities.
  • Encourage dialogue among socio-economic groups, decision-makers, researchers, NGOs, and businesses.
  • Identify current practices, challenges, and potential solutions for better coexistence with sentinel species.

Broad Participation

Project partners from Croatia (PP2), BIH (PP5), Slovenia (PP6), Montenegro (PP7), Albania (PP8), Greece (PP9), and Italy (PP11) coordinated the events, bringing together over 100 participants representing:

  • Local and regional authorities
  • Academic and research institutions
  • Private sector and business associations
  • NGOs and fishermen associations
  • Stakeholders in tourism, marine transport, trade, and offshore activities

Key Outcomes

Across the region, discussions highlighted:

  • Existing coexistence practices already in place
  • Difficulties and conflicts between human activities and sentinel species
  • Country-specific challenges, reflecting differences in activity intensity and species presence
  • Proposals for practical solutions, some overlapping across the EUSAIR region, others highly site-specific

All findings are documented in detail in the official project deliverable: D.2.1.1. Local Hubs Report and can be found under the RESULTS tab. The project partner responsible for coordination of this activity was The Blue World Institute.