Lead Partner

Achieving Good Environmental Status for Maintaining Ecosystem Services

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.

Project Deliverables

Elliott M; Borja Á; Andersen J; Franco A; Papadopoulou N; Smith C; Uyarra M C

Policy brief: Healthy oceans for health societies Technical Report

2026.

Links

Hemraj A D; Elliott M; Borja Á; Carstensen J

Policy brief: Why tipping points are important when managing marine systems? Technical Report

2026.

Links

Elliott M; Borja Á; Berg T; Coll M; Cubillos J; Piet G; Papadopoulou N; Rehren J; Stelzenmüller V; Uyarra M C

Policy brief: Cumulative pressures at sea demand action: Tools to make management possible Technical Report

2026.

Links

Franco A; Elliott M; Smith C; Papadopoulou N; Boyes S; Borja Á

Policy Brief: The method of choosing tools to support Ecosystem-Based Management and marine ecosystem managers – SEAS4GES Technical Report

2026.

Links

Borja Á; Teixeira H; Uyarra M C; Coll M; Leal M C; Elliott M; Ortega M; Papadopoulou N

Policy brief: Bringing climate change into the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) revision Technical Report

2026.

Links

Barnard S; Amorim E; Franco A; Papadopoulou N; Elliott M; Smith C

SEAS4GES: Optimising tool selection when applying EBM approaches to ecological assessment Presentation

02.09.2024.

Links

Franco A; Elliott M; Amorim E; Barnard S; Smith C; Borja Á; Cormier R; Papadopoulou N

GES4SEAS Deliverable 2.3: Guidelines (Best Practical Options) for Practical Ecosystem Approach Technical Report

2023.

Links

Katsanevakis S; Sagarminaga Y; Fortuna C M; Amorim E; Birchenough S N R; Boicenco L; Borrello P; Bosch-Belmar M; Brasseur S; Bresnan E; Bueno-Pardo J; Camp J; Coll M; Claver C; de Angelis R; Doyle T; Ferrer L; Fernández-Corredor E; France J; Fortibuoni T; Franco A; Fraschetti S; Fumarola L; Garcés E; Garcia-Garin O; Giménez J; Holland M; Jakobsen H; Jaspers C; Knudsen S W; Kobos J; Lanzén A; Leone A; Leoni V; Louzao M; Lynam C P; Magaletti E; Mazaris A; Machairopoulou M; Montero N; Nikolaou A; Olenin S; Pagou K; Peck M A; Pedrajas A; Piraino S; Puntila-Dodd R; Raicevich S; Ramírez F; Ransijn J; Reñé A; Revilla M; Rilov G; Rodríguez G J; Russell D; Sampedro N; Sbragaglia V; Serena F; Spada E; Stæhr P A U; Stern R; Stranga Y; Teixeira H; Tidbury H J; Tsirintanis K; Tsirtsis G; van Leeuwen A; Papadopoulou N; Elliott M; Borja Á

GES4SEAS Deliverable 2.2: Technical Report on the State-of-the-Art in Support of Ecosystem-Based Management Approaches to Address Harmful Algal Blooms, Jellyfish Outbreaks, Invasive Species, and Decline of Top Predators Technical Report

2023.

Links

Papadopoulou N; Smith C; Franco A; Elliott M; Borja Á; Andersen J; Amorim E; Atkins J; Barnard S; Berg T; Birchenough S; Burdon D; Claudet J; Cormier R; Galparsoro I; Judd A; Katsanevakis S; Korpinen S; Lazar L; Liquete C; Loiseau C; Lynam C; Menchaca I; O’Toole C; Pedreschi D; Piet G; Reid D; Salinas-Akhmadeeva I; Stelzenmüller V; Tamis J; Uusitalo L; Uyarra M C

GES4SEAS Deliverable 2.1: Ecosystem Management Approaches Based on a Review of the Activity-Pressures-Effects Chain Towards Achieving Good Environmental Status in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Technical Report

2023.

Links

Smith C; Papadopoulou N; Elliott M; Franco A; Barnard S; Borja Á; Uyarra M C

Marine Strategy Framework Directive Terminology Definitions and Lists, GES4SEAS Project Technical Report

2022.

Links