The Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS), the World Bank and the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies (MoTCIT) and CMA Coordinator for Bulgaria, the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW), and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW) are organizing a stakeholder webinar to launch the recently published report on “Bulgaria Blue Economy Policy Note: Toward Blue Economy Development in Bulgaria” and to initiate consultations in Bulgaria on the design of the “Blueing the Black Sea (BBSEA) Program: a regional initiative to tackle marine pollution and Climate Change in the Black Sea” on 29 March, 2021, at 15.30 EET. Connection details via the Zoom platform will be distributed prior to the meeting.

The main sessions of the webinar will introduce:

I.                    Policy note “Toward a Blue economy Development in Bulgaria”, prepared by the World Bank in collaboration with the Government of Bulgaria in support of Bulgaria’s 2020 Presidency of the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea and meant to initiate a debate on a national vision and strategy for a sustainable and resilient blue economy.

II.                  “Blueing the Black Sea (BBSEA) Program: a regional initiative to tackle marine pollution and Climate Change in the Black Sea”, which intends to assist the Black Sea countries in expanding the body of knowledge (analytical component) and in mobilizing investments and technical assistance (investment component) for addressing the most pressing challenges in the areas of Black Sea pollution prevention, reduction, and control. As part of this work, a Global Environment Facility-funded BBSEA regional project intends to finance a grant competition targeting the public and private sectors to develop innovative projects tackling marine pollution and its sources.

III.                The results of the MARSPLAN-BS II project, which partly funded the elaboration of the maritime spatial plans in Bulgaria and Romania and offered an opportunity to jointly plan the cross-border marine area.

The webinar will be highly interactive and engage with the audience through a live survey and Q&As to the panelists and moderators. The outcome of the webinar will define the area of expertise and knowledge Bulgaria would like to share and receive through the envisaged “Blueing of the Black Sea” (BBSEA) regional program, as well as to inform the country dialogue of the World Bank with the Government of Bulgaria in the field of blue economy.

The working languages of the event will be English and Bulgarian, with simultaneous interpretation available to facilitate interaction.

More information will soon be available at:http://www.bsec-bsvkc.org/Forms/BlueingTheBlackSeaProject

and through EVENT feature in the World Bank Country Office webpage