From vision to action: building the innovation ecosystem

BlueMissionAA was a launchpad. Its core mission was to create fertile ground for ocean restoration innovations to take root, replicate, and scale. Through mapping thousands of initiatives and connecting over 14,000 stakeholders, the team built a dynamic ecosystem where ideas could flow, partnerships could flourish, and solutions could leap from pilot to impact. WaveLinks, the digital platform co-developed with BlueMissionBANOS and Prep4Blue, became the central hub for this movement, cataloguing 5,900 projects and 346 innovative solutions and services, making the Readiness Levels Index visible to researchers, investors, and change-makers, and turning isolated efforts into a shared movement towards a healthier and restored ocean.

Recognition on the global stage

In 2023, BlueMissionAA earned the prestigious Atlantic Project Award for Healthy Oceans and Resilient Coasts, celebrating its role in mobilising basin wide restoration efforts. A year later, the project was officially endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade, marking it as a global contributor to sustainable ocean science.

Rethinking governance and impact
BlueMissionAA reimagined Mission Ocean Lighthouse governance frameworks and approaches to marine restoration and ocean innovation. By reviewing existing frameworks and identifying gaps, the project championed a shift toward ecosystem-based, impact-driven governance, a developing effort that included two dedicated workshops (see #session1 and #session2) as well as the joint BlueMissionAA and ICES Workshop on Mission Ocean Restoration (WKREST). Collaborating with the European Environment Agency (EEA), Mission Secretariat and other Mission Lighthouses, it developed a robust basin scale monitoring framework using PESTEL, Theory of Change, and causal loop mapping. This work strengthens a consistent way of tracking progress across Mission regions, through collaboration with sea basin strategies such as the Atlantic Strategy and HELCOM (through Project Baltic) and moves beyond traditional reporting toward shared learning and transformative accountability.

Aligning regional strategies with ocean goals

To ensure long-term impact, BlueMissionAA offered strategic recommendations to the European Commission and regional authorities. These included aligning Smart Specialisation Strategies with Mission objectives, strengthening interregional cooperation, and embedding ocean restoration into regional innovation agendas.

Tools for sustainable research

The Responsible and Sustainable Research Reflection Tool, another key output, empowers researchers to evaluate their work through the lens of sustainability, societal impact, and Open Science. For funders and policymakers, it offers a clear view of how projects contribute to environmental and social goals (i.e. SDGs, Responsible Research and Innovation, Social Impact, and Open Science).

Stories from the sea: engaging communities

BlueMissionAA recognised that restoring the ocean wasn’t simply about science – it was also about people. Through its »Weekly Hour« webinar series and multilingual ocean literacy materials, the project brought marine science to life for diverse audiences. During European Maritime Day 2025 in Cork, it hosted »Ocean Storytelling: stories of the sea,« where fisherwoman, fisherman and maritime professionals shared powerful reflections on life at sea.

A legacy that lives on

Though the project has concluded, its impact continues, as:

• WaveLinks remains a living resource,
• The monitoring frameworks developed with the EEA offer a blueprint for future
  assessments that will be tested in future cascade funding projects,
• New initiatives like BlueActionAA are already building on this foundation, providing funding pathways to bridge the gap between research and market deployment.

Finally, thanks to enduring partnerships with projects such as A-AAGORA, BioProtect, CLIMAREST, and initiatives like Our Shared Ocean, the networks forged by BlueMissionAA will continue to circulate knowledge, strengthen innovation, and inspire action across the Atlantic and Arctic basins.

Explore the full list of outputs and resources on the BlueMissionAA website.

Explore the full press release on the BlueMissionAA website.

Text source: BlueMissionAA