Blue Solutions work continues under the PANORAMA Blue

From 2013 to 2021, the Blue Solutions Initiative worked to support the sustainable development of our oceans, for people and nature.

The partnership of four leading environmental organisations (GIZ, GRID-Arendal, IUCN, UNEP) was funded by the International Climate Change Initiative (IKI).

Blue Solutions worked on global knowledge exchange, capacity development and policy dialogue to deliver on the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Agenda 2030. 
 
Taking a people-centered and conservation optimism approach, Blue Solutions supported practitioners, selected governments, and regional institutions on their pathway of implementing successful solutions for a healthy ocean.

After 9 years the initiative ended in 2021 and celebrated together with the global ocean community almost a decade of implementation in the marine realm, reflecting on lessons learned and the way forward for ocean sustainability.

Video: Blue Solutions Celebration Event – Highlights 

PANORAMA Blue 

With the marine and coastal community, the Blue Solutions Initiative was the starting point of the PANORAMA partnership. The solution-approach based on building blocks, cross-sectorial learning and inspiration was invented and applied for the first time by Blue Solutions. Over the years, PANORAMA has become a multi-institutional, multi-thematic partnership providing replicable solutions across a range of conservation and development topics. Today, the PANORAMA web platform features over 1000 vetted solutions from 120 countries.

PANORAMA Blue is the new branding of the marine and coastal community and has added a new consortium partner the OCTO; with unmatched expertise in building vigorous peer-to-peer communities of site-level ocean professionals, with over 100,000 users annually.

PANORAMA Blue continues as a global forum for accessing and sharing good practice in marine and coastal conservation and sustainable use. With hundreds of adaptable cases, and tens of thousands of engaged forum members, it enables practitioners to learn from each other, exchange experience, and get inspiration to accelerate the implementation of “blue solutions” worldwide.

Blue Capacity Development Hub

Capacity development was one of the pillars of Blue Solutions. The global initiative developed training courses in key topics for Integrated Ocean Management, such as Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), Sustainable Blue Economy (SBE) and Blue Leadership. These courses were implemented in five languages in 33 different countries and regions of the world, supporting partners in their path to achieve healthy oceans for sustainable development.

The Blue Capacity Hub is a legacy of Blue Solutions and was created to enable and facilitate the use of its open-source training courses over time. These trainings aim to enhance the capacities of decision makers and practitioners to overcome competing economic interests and uncoordinated sectoral approaches in the marine space. The courses complement each other, training both hard and soft skills. A pool of trainers with broad experience in conducting these courses is also available throughout the world. They can facilitate and adapt the trainings to diverse capacity needs and contexts.

The Blue Solutions Initiative came to an end, but the solutions will live on and thrive – through all users! Stay engaged with PANORAMA Blue and the Blue Capacity Hub to accelerate solutions for a healthy ocean!