The Cyprus Foundation of the Sea (CyFOS) organised on the 6^th of April an informational workshop on ‟Horizon Europe Funding Opportunities” addressed to the Blue Economy Sector.

The event took place at the Limassol Municipal ‘Blue Innovation Centre-Royal Caribbean Group’. It was the first event that was hosted at the newly established centre and CyFOS would like to sincerely thank the Mayor of Limassol, Mr. Nicos Nicolaides, for both offering the space and for attending the event.

The aim of the event was to inform the participants about the research and innovation funding opportunities under the European Commission Research and Innovation Framework Programme 2021-2027 “Horizon Europe”.

The workshop provided an overview of the Horizon Europe Programme, its structure and budget, the procedure and rules for participation as well as the services offered to potential participants by the National Contact Points (NCPs). In addition, particular focus was given to the Horizon Europe Clusters related to the blue economy sector as well as to the European Mission “Restore our Oceans and Waters”

During his opening speech CyFOS Chairman, Capt. Eugen-Henning Adami, thanked the Mayor for his initiative to create the Blue Limassol Innovation Centre and informed the audience that the CyFOS office will be officially hosted at the premises of the Centre.

Capt. Adami also briefed the participants about the latest developments of CyFOS and highlighted that CyFOS participated in the holistic environmental risk assessment of the Limassol coastal area. The scientific study was initiated by the Municipality of Limassol in 2020 and Frederick University conducted the study, whose results were presented on the 30^th of March at the Blue Limassol Forum 2022.

The Chairman also mentioned that the five working committees of CyFOS will now commence their actions and activities for 2022 and he invited members to join the committees.

Mr. Nicolaides, during his address, said that one of the initiatives of the Municipality was the creation of the Blue Innovation Centre whose mission is the development of solutions and technological tools, products and services by young entrepreneurs and other stakeholders on issues related to the blue economy and the shipping industry.

He pointed out that the event falls within the scope of the Limassol Municipal ‘Blue Innovation Centre-Royal Caribbean Group’, and within the priorities of the Municipality. Thus, he extended his full support to the event.

Closing, the Mayor thanked the Chairman of CyFOS for the invitation to address the event and stated that the Limassol Municipality looks forward to continuing their cooperation with CyFOS.

The topics included in the agenda of the day were:

• Collaborative Research and Innovation in the Blue Economy Sector-Potential and Success stories presented by Gotelenne Piaton, Head of RISU, CMMI
• Introduction to Horizon Europe Programme & Cluster ‟Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment” presented by George Christou, Scientific Officer, RIF.
• Cluster ‟Climate, Energy, Mobility” presented by Christakis Theocharous, Scientific Officer A’, RIF.
• EU Mission ‟Restore our Oceans and Waters” presented by Charalambos Papatryfonos, Scientific Officer, RIF

As CyFOS we would like to thank the Research and Innovation Foundation for coordinating the agenda and the topics, the staff of the Limassol Municipality for their assistance and excellent cooperation and lastly the CMMI secretariat for their participation in the presentations and the whole coordination and organisation of the event.