Explore Cross-border Aquatic Biodiversity - EXChAngE

Sveučilište u Dubrovniku/Institut za more i priobalje  kao glavni partner  potpisalo je 15. kolovoza 2020  ugovor sa Ministarstvom regionalnog razvoja i fondova EU   u sklopu  programa Interreg-IPA CBC 2014-2020  pod nazivom "Explore Cross-border Aquatic Biodiversity” -  EXChAngE, projekt traje 2 godine, a ugovoreno je 1.686.047,15 eura od toga je 1.433.140,05 eura  bespovratnih sredstava. U projektu sudjeluju još 4 partnera po dva iz BiH i Crne gore.   Glavni cilj projekta je jačanje i diversifikacija turističkih ponuda kroz istraživanje prekogranične vodene biološke raznolikosti i da se omogući bolje upravljanje i održivo korištenje  kulturnog i prirodnog nasljeđa.  Ovim projektom je planirano da se u Dubrovniku  razvije nova turistička ponuda – turistička ruta Dubrovnik i akvarij Dubrovnik . U sklopu projekta rekonstruirat će se i akvarij u Dubrovniku

Virtual kick-off

meetingDue to Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions, the University of Dubrovnik as the lead partner has organized a virtual Kick-off meeting on the Zoom platform on 31st August 2020 with the main objective to discuss among partners project objectives, main activities, and deliverables, setting project implementation teams and agree on forthcoming implementation steps. Project partners accepted their roles in the project implementation 

Kick-off meeting

Kick-off meeting of the project "Explore Cross-border Aquatic Biodiversity – EXChAngE” was held on 11th September 2020 in Kotor, Montenegro. The meeting gathered all 5 project partners from 3 countries: from Croatia the University of Dubrovnik, from Bosnia and Herzegovina Tourism Organization of Herzegovina-Neretva county and Nature Park "Hutovo Blato”, and from Montenegro: Institute of Marine Biology of the University of Montenegro and Tourism Organization Kotor. Project partners signed the Partnership Agreement, set project management bodies, and discussed planned activities, with which the project is launched.

Launching event

 

The launching event of the project was held on 19th October 2020 in Dubrovnik and Kotor. The event was organized as a combined seminar and webinar, due to Covid-19 travel and meeting restrictions. All 5 project partners presented planned project activities and deliverables in two meeting rooms: one at the University of Dubrovnik and one at the University of Montenegro, and to more than 30 webinar participants.

On the project main deliverable, Dr. Nenad Antolović, the Head of the Institute for Marine and Coastal Research of the University of Dubrovnik – the lead partner, said, "Blue Pass is much more than a joint ticket for five localities in three neighboring countries. It will offer comprehensive information in digital and paper form, guided tours of Dubrovnik Aquarium (Croatia), Kotor and Aquarium Boka (Montenegro), Hutovo Blato Aqua Path, and Mostar Aqua Path (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and creates a community for sustainable use of the cross-border aquatic biodiversity”.