European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), CINEA - European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency

This action aims to ensure a more resilient electricity system in the decarbonised era when facing emergency situations and to avoid total blackouts. It is crucial to assess the need to update how the grid is managed during different types of extreme situations untapping the capabilities that new assets and tools can provide to cope with the situation . The expected result is to propose a range of services, tools and techniques to efficiently modernise grid operations and planning actions during emergency and restoration states. This analysis includes, enhancing grid observability, early warning systems and controllability, to support TSO and DSO control rooms operators in critical situations, ensuring the protection of critical and vulnerable electricity customers, exploring blackstart protocols based on grid forming inverters, and the use of microgrids and facilitating swift recovery after a blackout by leveraging digitalization, AI and other advanced tools.

Study on Blue Carbon Certification - developing certification rules for tidal marshes and seagrass meadows

This procedure is to conclude one single contract to continue providing technical assistance services for the implementation of four EU sea basin strategies: Atlantic Ocean, Black Sea, Western Mediterranean and North Sea. The European Ocean Pact recognises the benefit of sea basins cooperation and indicates that the EU will continue supporting it and developing tailored strategies for each European sea basin. The service contract will support the European Commission, Member States and third countries involved in the implementation of the agreed policy objectives and priorities, through specific activities at national and regional level, tailoring the specificities of each regional sea basin. Activities will include the provision of specific expertise on the blue economy, regional work on maritime spatial planning, support to smart specialisation partnerships, support to coastal communities at the sea basin level, blue skills, capacity building, administrative support to relevant public authorities, stakeholder community, national hubs and thematic working tracks, dissemination and communication activities, partnership building and match-making, project definition and identification of funding opportunities, organisation of annual events and workshops, reporting, logistic support to the SBS Steering Committee meetings, among others.

This procedure is to conclude one single contract to continue providing technical assistance services for the implementation of four EU sea basin strategies: Atlantic Ocean, Black Sea, Western Mediterranean and North Sea. The European Ocean Pact recognises the benefit of sea basins cooperation and indicates that the EU will continue supporting it and developing tailored strategies for each European sea basin. The service contract will support the European Commission, Member States and third countries involved in the implementation of the agreed policy objectives and priorities, through specific activities at national and regional level, tailoring the specificities of each regional sea basin. Activities will include the provision of specific expertise on the blue economy, regional work on maritime spatial planning, support to smart specialisation partnerships, support to coastal communities at the sea basin level, blue skills, capacity building, administrative support to relevant public authorities, stakeholder community, national hubs and thematic working tracks, dissemination and communication activities, partnership building and match-making, project definition and identification of funding opportunities, organisation of annual events and workshops, reporting, logistic support to the SBS Steering Committee meetings, among others.

Development and maintenance of the Building Stock Observatory (BSO) web tool, which aims to provide transparent and reliable information and data on the EU’s building stock. This supports the monitoring of current EU energy policies and measures and will contribute to future policy making.

The procurement will provide support in terms of training, project development, business model development, and access to finance to start-ups, SMEs and consortia having results obtained through Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects. The goal is to stimulate the use of results obtained in European funded projects through high-quality technical and financial advisory support to access funding provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Innovation Fund, and other private and public funding programmes. For actions with a focus on international business development, alignment with Global Gateway Strategy priorities has to be ensured.

CINEA and DG ENV require substantial external support in the following areas: 1. Monitoring of LIFE projects, including action grants and operating grants: around 1 000 grants are to be monitored across a wide thematic and geographical coverage. There is a need for an external team of monitors covering the different thematic areas and possessing knowledge of the relevant national or local contexts and languages, in order to ensure proper monitoring of the projects and to provide support where issues arise. 2. Communication on the LIFE programme and project achievements, with a view to outreach and potential replication: this includes, for example, social media, Info Days, the LIFE Awards, other ad hoc events, participation in third-party events, project news, newsletters, and publications. It should be emphasised that LIFE grants support actions at local, regional, and national level that are close to citizens and generate tangible environmental, climate and health benefits. There is therefore a significant volume of material and strong potential to promote a positive image of the EU. 3. Other related activities include policy feedback events and studies or activities, whether online or in-person, upon request from the parent DGs, namely ENV, CLIMA and ENER; annual Welcome Meetings for new projects; and support to projects aimed at facilitating commercial success. Activities will take place in the EU, in third countries associated with the LIFE Programme: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/life/guidance/list3rdcountryparticipation_life_en.pdf and, very rarely, in overseas countries and territories, with fewer than 10 project visits estimated over the duration of the framework contract: https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/countries/overseas-countries-and-territories_en

The general objective of this service contract is to enhance ocean literacy in the EU as a key driver for sustainable development in the blue economy. This will be achieved by continuing, managing, and further expanding the work of the EU4Ocean Coalition, launched in 2020. In line with the European Ocean Pact, the contract will aim to broaden the focus of ocean literacy beyond environmental awareness to also highlight the ocean’s importance for innovation, prosperity, climate action, and global security. The specific objectives of this service contract are to: 1. Expand the Coalition’s membership and outreach across its three communities (EU4Ocean Platform, Youth4Ocean Forum and Network of European Blue Schools), with a particular focus on engaging the private sector. 2. Provide new services to support members and foster collaboration within and between communities. 3. Strengthen cooperation with EU and international initiatives on ocean literacy, ensuring a coordinated and comprehensive approach to EU efforts. 4. Organise impactful events, communication campaigns, and actions with clear deliverables and measurable outcomes. 5. Maintain and enhance the Coalition’s webpage on the Maritime Forum. 6. Develop a roadmap to ensure the Coalition’s long-term sustainability, enabling it to operate independently of EU funding. 7. Support the implementation of the European Ocean Pact through ocean literacy.

The aim of this call for tender is to map the EU Ocean Observation landscape, develop and propose methodologies to enhance synergies and coordination of Ocean Observation including the description of two use cases and a strategy for stakeholder consultation and validation, including by a Member States Expert Group.