Calls for Concepts

Please find detailed information on the past three Calls for Concepts / Proposals of the MeerWissen Initiative here

In the 1st Call the MeerWissen initiative sought to support partnership projects within the following thematic research areas: 

  • Protection of biodiversity (protected areas, ecosystem services, conservation and monitoring of vulnerable and ecologically valuable habitats such as mangroves,) 
  • Balancing conservation and sustainable use (governance, social dimension of conservation, integrated coastal management, marine spatial planning, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture) 
  • Biodiversity and climate change 
  • Biodiversity and marine litter
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In the 2nd Call the MeerWissen initiative sought to support partnership projects within the following thematic focus: Strengthening biodiversity conservation in sustainable blue economy approaches in Africa and thereby contribute to: 

  • Understanding marine and coastal biodiversity and ecosystems and their functioning 
  • Documenting the current status of marine and coastal biodiversity and ecosystems 
  • Identifying areas of high biodiversity and ecosystem value and vulnerability 
  • Measuring, Assessing and Evaluating ecosystem services - Observing and understanding environmental change and the impacts of economic activities in different sectors on marine biodiversity, ecosystems and socio-ecologic systems 
  • Predicting the potential impacts of economic activities in different sectors on marine biodiversity, ecosystems and socio-ecologic systems

The objective of this 3rd Call for proposals is to improve the knowledge base for marine- and coastal Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and to facilitate their use and uptake in national strategies and action plans. 
MeerWissen seeks to support partnership projects that contribute to inter alia: 

  • Understanding marine and coastal biodiversity and ecosystems and their functioning in NbS 
  • Measuring, assessing and evaluating NbS and how (connected) coastal ecosystems can serve as a solution to local societal challenges
  • Observing and understanding causalities between different coastal and marine ecosystems and their role as potential NbS 
  • Predicting the potential impacts of NbS in different sectors on local communities and socio-ecological systems 
  • Up-taking of scientific findings into political processes, such as national strategies, implementation plans, or adaptation strategies