Cities of Europe,
How can you act for river and ocean sustainability?
Whether your city is coastal or inland, and whether it is actively addressing aquatic ecosystem challenges or exploring how best to tackle these, our Cities in Action guide is for you!
This practical guide draws from the plethora of blue sustainability initiatives burgeoning across Europe and lists 10 actions you can take to help achieve European goals for river and ocean sustainability. It offers ideas that can serve as a starting point or complement your existing initiatives. You can:
- Browse our list of actions and determine which ones are a good fit for your city, its context and priorities!
- Stay in touch at info
makeeublue [dot] eu (info[at]makeeublue[dot]eu) once you’ve set your course of action, to lend your actions EU-wide visibility.
Please note that most resources cited below are available in several EU languages. For the few that aren’t, you can use automatic translation tools or get in touch with us if you have questions!
Champion the EU Directive on Single-Use Plastics by reducing the use of plastic waste, such as plastic cutlery, straws, stirrers, balloons, food containers, and plastic bags, and promoting alternatives.
Our tip: the Zero Waste Cities Local guidance is a great starting point for implementing the Single-Use Plastic Directive. It might also surprise you to hear that by the time you finish reading this sentence, over 300,000 cigarette butts will be improperly littered around the world. Although they pollute ecosystems and cause severe damage to biodiversity, they are never considered during major water governance public policy conversations. You can join the Filter the Future coalition advocating for a ban on filters and environmental alerts on all cigarette packs in the EU.
Streams, rivers, beaches, and other natural or urban areas are all good candidates for an event which will help your city raise awareness.
Our tip: join a cleanup network! For example, EUBeachCleanup campaigns for plastic-free oceans, Plastic Pirates bring your beach cleanup data to the science community, and River Cleanup tackle pollution in our rivers. You could also go beyond ‘cleaning up’ and tackle the root causes of marine litter by organising an Ocean Initiatives waste collection. These aim to quantify the waste you find to inform and empower local actors to resolve waste issues.
Establish city-wide universal collection and safe disposal, reduce and treat food waste, boost recycling rates, encourage a circular economy or set a zero-waste goal to reap social, economic and environmental rewards.
Our tip: take a look at Urban Action’s Roadmap for a Circular Resource Efficiency in cities and become an active member of the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management, raising the profile of blue sustainability within the network.
Pledge to the charter of the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’. You can pledge past, ongoing and upcoming protection and restoration projects to the charter. Whether coastal or riverine, they can contribute to implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the EU Biodiversity Strategy!
Our tip: Pledging your projects to the charter will give you extra visibility, signal the importance of protecting our ocean and waters, and allow you to get involved in Mission fora and events.
Capture the general public’s attention and involve local actors by organising and supporting events such as awareness campaigns, conferences, art exhibitions, concerts, workshops, etc.
Our tip: lend your projects extra visibility by registering these as next year’s ‘European Maritime Day in my country' events, or co-organise your event with your local EAZA aquarium! You could also source inspiration from TBA21, a foundation pursuing a better understanding and deeper relationship with the Ocean by working as an incubator for transdisciplinary inquiry, artistic production, and environmental advocacy.
Support ‘blue’ educational projects in your schools by facilitating partnerships between schools and professionals, providing logistical and financial support for school trips/projects, and giving them visibility in your events, celebrations and communication.
Our tip: support your schools to become EU Blue schools! A great starting point for supporting teachers and students on their blue school journey is Surfrider’s online Ocean Campus, which offers a range of resources including courses, videos, quizzes, and infographics. You could also take part in a BlueLightS online event to better understand what blue education is, or use some of promote award-winning Digiblue open-access educational resources as resources for your local schools.
Support innovative local governance approaches that include citizens of all ages in decision-making impacting aquatic ecosystems. This can involve setting up a citizens' ocean forum or an ocean youth committee, associating citizens' representatives to plenary sessions addressing ocean challenges and solutions, and ensuring the city's newsletter and website have dedicated thumbnails or resources outlining your ‘blue’ actions.
Our tip: ALDA’s Toolkit for Local Authorities to Successfully Engage Citizens is a great resource, and you can lend your governance extra visibility by pledging your projects to the charter of the EU Mission ‘Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030’.
Your city can contribute to the transformation of the EU's Blue Economy for a Sustainable Future by supporting blue economy sectors in applying sustainable practices, technologies and standards, including by raising awareness and strengthening the skills of current and future professionals.
Our tip: this could involve guiding holiday accommodation owners to become EU Ecolabel certified, or restaurant owners towards joining Ocean Friendly Restaurants Initiative. You could also source inspiration from l’eautelier, a marine-based design studio curating regenerative workshops in hospitality, travel and water stewardship. Depending on where your city is, you could also support shipyards in obtaining Green Certifications, pave the way for members of the local fishing industry to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, or join the Atlantic Cities Network to benefit from guidance and best practice sharing on its sustainable tourism projects.
Develop a strategy embedding rivers and the ocean in all strategic decisions, plans, budgets and procurement (particularly in planning, regeneration, skills and economic policy), aligning with requirements for a carbon-neutral and climate-resilient future, and outlining how implementation will be monitored and reported on to your electorate.
Our tip: share your success and inspire others by applying to the European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards, demonstrating how important blue is to green. You could also apply to be the host of one of the next European Maritime Day events or look across the horizon to see what other countries are doing, such as the Motion for the Ocean signed by over thirty councils in the United Kingdom.
Develop processes and initiatives for addressing coastal resilience challenges and implement relevant actions, including soft and nature-based solutions.
Our tip: bring your questions and solutions to city, European and even global networks. For example, you could join the Waves of Change platform for making coastal cities and their ecosystems future proof or contact the EC-EEA Climate-Adapt platform to share your coastal resilience experience. You could also join the Ocean Rise & Coastal Resilience Coalition to inspire other coastal cities and territories and contribute to the development of good practices in delivering the coastal resilience transition.
