Healthy oceans and waters are vital for planetary health, human well-being, climate stability and economic resilience. Yet they are increasingly threatened by pollution, overexploitation and the impacts of climate change. Meeting these challenges requires coordinated action across all levels, from European policy to local implementation. The EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters” provides a unifying framework for this collective effort, setting ambitious goals for 2030 and mobilising actors across Europe to protect and restore our water systems.

CO-WATERS responds to this challenge by building a Europe-wide Coalition of waterfront cities, regions and islands. Running from 2025 to 2029, the project offers tailored services such as peer learning, training, citizen and stakeholder engagement, and guidance on funding, helping local actors design and deliver effective transition plans. With 17 partners and six pilot areas – Rimini, Burgas, Région Sud, Blue Cluster, Crete and Réunion – CO-WATERS demonstrates how diverse territories can lead the way in achieving the goals of the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.”

Our role

Stickydot is a project partner in CO-WATERS, contributing its expertise in multi-stakeholder engagement and participatory methods. From the start, we lead a broad needs assessment involving the Mission community and beyond, carrying out a survey as well as interviews and workshops that map priorities, expectations and challenges across towards the various services that will be provided by CO-WATERS. Our role is also to ensure that citizen and stakeholder perspectives are not treated as an afterthought but are central to how pilot territories and the wider Coalition shape their transition pathways. We lead the design and facilitation of local engagement activities in the pilot sites, bringing together municipalities, regions, citizens and stakeholders to co-develop roadmaps for healthier waters.

Alongside this, Stickydot contributes to the project’s training and capacity-building activities, designing formats that strengthen the skills of local actors in facilitation, co-creation and stakeholder dialogue. We also play a role in knowledge exchange across the Coalition, helping to curate lessons from the pilots and translate them into tools and resources accessible to other cities, regions and islands. By connecting grassroots engagement with European-level ambitions, Stickydot helps CO-WATERS establish a model of action that is both scalable and sensitive to local contexts.

Expected outcomes

CO-WATERS is creating a Coalition of waterfront cities, regions and islands committed to restoring and protecting Europe’s oceans, seas, rivers and lakes. The Coalition will serve as the main platform for knowledge exchange, peer learning and collaboration, supported by a digital one-stop-shop where members can access resources, training, mentoring and funding advice. This shared infrastructure will make it easier for local and regional actors to connect, learn from one another and take effective action towards the goals of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030.”

In parallel, CO-WATERS is developing and pilot the Mission Ocean and Waters Label, recognising territories with ambitious and inclusive transition plans. Through services such as networking, tailored training, citizen and stakeholder engagement support, and guidance on funding opportunities, the project will equip members of the Coalition to design and deliver water transition pathways. By the end of the project, the Coalition will be firmly established, Labels awarded, and a long-term support structure in place to help communities across Europe achieve healthier waters.