Blue2MF is a suite of biophysical models including land-use, hydrological, hydrodynamics, biogeochemical and ecosystem models tailored to represent the ecosystems conditions of all EU regional seas. By changing the forcing of such models (e.g., nutrients inputs from the land or fishing intensity at sea) Blue2 can estimate the changes in ecosystems’ health indicators.  

This approach is being used to evaluate the environmental impacts of different policy options in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by computing the changes in descriptors of Good Environmental Status (GES) associated to each policy selection. 

Now, JRC would like to extend their analyses by linking those environmental changes with socio-economic indicators with the final goal of establishing Cost-Benefit-Analyses (CBA) of the different policy options (see scheme here below). 

Scheme of the general operation of Blue2MF and its potential use in CBA

For this reason, a workshop with relevant external experts has been planned for the first quarter of 2026 to be held in Ispra, Italy. Experts will be invited to attend, and all expenses will be covered by the Commission. 

The 3-days workshop will revolve about three main topics, generally:

1. Different approaches to value marine ecosystems, their services and provisions
2. Techniques/options to value biogeochemical conditions in marine ecosystems
3. Techniques/options to value ecosystem conditions (HTL) in marine ecosystems