1.1 Carbon Binding Blue Black Sea (BlueC) has been developed under the (INTERREG VI-B) NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme of the European Commission in the First Call for Proposals and contracted to partners from Türkiye, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria on 28.08.2024, with reference number BSB00020.
1.2 The 30-month-long action aims at enabling macrophytes and the marine vegetation formations to be preserved by suitable management tools, which will ensure that these formations are protected, their degradation is prevented, and they are allowed to be maintained in a satisfactory state of conservation.
1.3 These management tools will include GIS integration, and remote sensing technologies will be utilised in all modelling and mapping activities.
2.1 With target groups ranging from primary and secondary school students and their teachers to local authorities and governments and local communities, the action will endeavour to make environmental impact studies (EIA) become a tool for “sustainable development” and, in the long run, be integrated in any drafting of management plans or any definition of the regulatory processes.
2.2 This will be achieved by expanding their field of application in anticipation of both direct and indirect effects on humans, the fauna, the flora, the soil, the air, the climate, the countryside, material property and the cultural heritage.
2.3 With this respect, community-based habitat management will be provided, supported by a community awareness programme informing the public about the unique features of seagrass habitats, their values, and the potential consequences of their loss is of high importance; for this purpose, an online Blue Carbon Education Programme (BCEP) will be developed and implemented towards primary and secondary school teachers and students in partnering countries.
3.1 The implementation method of the BCEP will comprise an education video which will adopt UNESCO’s seven-door education model.
3.2 The flow of this education video will be developed in the native languages of each partnering country (i.e. in Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Moldovan and Turkish), in Q&A style, which can either be addressed to the student body or let the video answer the questions for the trainee.
3.3 The BCEP app will be a living expert guide to seagrass plants.
3.4 This app will not only include a botanical guide, summary of the whole project, descriptions, and videos of all known seagrass plants around the Black Sea but also invite users (including the public) to discuss their own observations through the website.
3.5 In this way, any interested person can get knowledge about seagrasses via the educational videos.
3.6 As the final step of the BCEP, an interactive educational portal will be established extending the breadth of the program beyond the video and including more scientific data and information in the format of presentations.
4.1 The BCEP application does not provide any user ID or password information; it does not require any personal metadata, address, phone number, tax number, or any other private information, and therefore does not store any of this data.
5.1 The application is available for download to all users, is non-profit, and has a mission entirely focused on raising public awareness about seagrass meadows.
5.2 Because it is designed solely for educational purposes, it will not contain any advertisements or promotional activities.
6.1 The portal will have a mobile app, be available in Turkish, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Moldovan languages, and have English subtitles in video.
6.2 In order to create an effective and fruitful domino effect and to reach more peers, each partner will perform a series of Trainers’ Trainings in their respective localities in order to build a pyramid of trainers whose branches will be able to stretch even to the most remote locations of these regions.
6.3 This system will enable each partner to reach as many teachers, directors, and managers as possible from as many schools, authorities/governments and NGOs as possible in these regions.
6.4 After taking the Trainers’ Training, the trainers will implement the BCEP to their peers in their institutions.