Navigating the Ocean-Climate Nexus: Multi-Actor Forums and Living Labs to Identify Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Blue Economy

The complex interrelations between ocean governance, climate change, and innovation create both challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in the Black Sea region. The Blue Economy-encompassing fisheries, tourism, ports, shipping, and marine transport-plays a crucial role in regional prosperity but faces mounting pressures from overfishing, pollution, geopolitical instability, and the low capacity for technological and institutional adaptation. The EU-funded projects DOORS and BRIDGE-BS address these challenges through participatory, system-based approaches that engage stakeholders from across the quadruple helix (academia, industry, government, and civil society). While DOORS sought to identify policy and innovation gaps at the regional level through Multi-Actor Forums (MAFs), BRIDGE-BS explored future pathways for a sustainable and resilient Blue Economy using Living Labs (LLs) and participatory foresight. Together, they reveal a persistent disconnect between local implementation capacity and national policy ambition, as local actors often remain "locked in" existing practices and lack the skills and resources to embrace emerging sectors. Findings highlight shared sectoral priorities-capture fisheries, marine and coastal tourism, ports and shipping, and marine transport-and common challenges, including weak law enforcement, fragmented governance, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and limited technological innovation. The study underscores the value of participatory multi-actor engagement in bridging the science�policy�practice gap, supporting skills development, and co-designing actionable pathways toward climate-resilient ocean governance. Lessons from the Black Sea demonstrate that integrating systems innovation, participatory governance, and capacity building can inform broader regional and global initiatives under the EU Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters," the UN Ocean Decade, and the SDGs, providing a transferable model for advancing sustainable blue transitions in politically sensitive marine regions.