GES4SEAS

GES4SEAS is designed to support marine governance by helping authorities minimise human pressures on marine ecosystems while safeguarding the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services. The project develops and tests a flexible toolbox within an adaptive Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) framework.

This toolbox enables decision-makers to assess and predict the cumulative impacts of multiple stressors—including climate change—across national, sub-regional, regional and European scales. It supports the achievement of Good Environmental Status under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), while aligning with broader policy goals such as the Biodiversity Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Stakeholder engagement is central to GES4SEAS. A Practitioner Advisory Board brings together key authorities to co-create and validate both the toolbox and the EBM approach. The project follows an iterative development model focused on solving real-world problems.

GES4SEAS will be demonstrated at 11 Learning Sites across Europe’s four regional seas. These sites explore the effects of cumulative pressures on ecosystem functioning and service provision, including transboundary challenges and harmonisation across regions. A pan-European site and a Caribbean site extend the project’s reach, addressing global comparability and extreme event resilience.