Avenir Littoral 2024 / Coastal Future 2024

With 220 km of coastline, the Occitanie Region is making its coastline a strength and supporting economic development that combines ecology and innovation. Together with all the players involved, it is developing strong, proactive actions to protect its coastline, which is an exceptional natural heritage and a force in the service of a blue economy that must combine jobs and ecology.

Supporting the development of innovative solutions by and for coastal stakeholders, the "Avenir Littoral" calls for projects launched jointly by the State and the Occitanie Region (following on from the actions of the Plan Littoral 21 signed in March 2017) aim to support maritime economic sectors, key factors in sustainable employment in the region in response to climate, demographic and economic challenges. These calls for projects have been designed to identify, help and support all innovative projects enabling the implementation of concrete solutions to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change on our coastline.

Support for innovation, particularly in this area of the blue economy, is a powerful response to the current economic situation, mobilising the vital forces (businesses, research laboratories, start-ups, etc.) to help make the region more resilient.

Themes for 2024:

- Innovative solutions for the maintenance, preservation and restoration of marine and lagoon biodiversity and the desartificialisation of lagoon and marine environments.

The aim is to limit the impact of human activity (pollution, pressure from uses, etc.) and climate change on marine and lagoon biodiversity (species, habitats, ecological functions). Particular attention will be paid to projects proposing eco-designed tools and facilities that limit the use of materials likely to spread pollution in the natural environment (microplastics, etc.) and generate a minimum impact in terms of artificial development at sea.

- Innovative solutions to optimise water management in blue economy activities (ports, water sports, seafood processing, etc.).

The aim of the projects must ultimately be to achieve water savings (reuse, reduction in the use of resources via new processes, etc.), in line with Axis 1 "optimising water use" of the Occitanie Region's Regional Water Plan.