From 25 to 27 of November 2025, the Natural Heritage Mission holds its third Annual Institutional Dialogue in Barcelona, co-organised by MedCities and Creaf, with the support of the Interreg Euro-MED Programme. Germ of Life participates alongside the other projects integrated into Natural Heritage Mission.
This year’s event will explore how the Euro-Mediterranean frameworks and new policy instruments, such as the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, the Oceans Pact, and the Pact for the Mediterranean, are shaping a more integrated approach to environmental governance across the region.
Over these three days, policymakers, scientists, practitioners, and community representatives will gather to:
- Discuss opportunities and challenges for nature protection, restoration, and valorisation in the Mediterranean
- Strengthen multilevel governance by linking local, regional, and national perspectives
- Expand the Mission’s Policy Recommendations to terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems
- Foster replication and transfer through the Mission’s Community of Practice and Amplification Room activities.
The Dialogue will also coincide with the 10th UfM Regional Forum (28 November) and the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, providing a symbolic and strategic setting to confirm the shared commitment to a greener and more resilient Mediterranean. From the Barcelona Convention to the new Pact for the Mediterranean: thirty years after the Barcelona Process, it is time to rethink the architecture of environmental policies in Europe’s most biodiverse — and most vulnerable — basin.
This policy momentum sets the scene for the NHM Annual Institutional Dialogue, which will be rolling out in three different moments:
On 25th November, the Institutional Dialogue will explore the opportunities and limitations of the new Pacts and the renewed frameworks in terms of nature protection, restoration, and valorisation in the Mediterranean context as to their implications for or contribution from multilevel stakeholders and the Mission Natural Heritage Community. With a local and regional dialogue around the Nature Restoration Regulation between the different Spanish sub-state administrations and some partners leading local experiences under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme. This afternoon session will focus on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.
On 26th November, we will be fully engaged within our Community of Practice. With a participatory dynamic to extend the Mission’s Policy Recommendations on Coastal and Marine restoration to the terrestrial environment (including wetlands). Following, a wide range of mentorship/adoption opportunities, including potential replication cases and new project initiation (NHM Amplification Room activities).
In this round of Thematic Projects pitches, Miltiadis Anastasiadis (in the image), from the Greek company Dotsoft, will speak on behalf of Germ of Life. Within Germ of Life’s partner team, he is one of those responsible for the technological platform that, with various tools, aims to improve the prevention and mitigation of drought risks in Euro-Mediterranean countries.
On 27th November, during the morning, Natural Heritage Mission propose tailored activities for transfer opportunities dedicated to the community members and key actors. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in a conversation with Thematic Project representatives to know more about the solutions they are developing and explore opportunities for adoption and replication.
On Wednesday the 25th, the following individuals participated in the opening of the Annual Institutional Dialogue:
Clare Hart, Acting President of MedCities and Vice-President of Montpellier Métropole.
Manuel Szapiro, Head of Representation of the European Commission.
Anna Estella Viñeta, Deputy Director of Environmental Education, Nature and Society, Government of Catalonia.
Christoph Maier, Project Manager, Interreg Euro-MED Joint Secretariat.
On the first day, in the session dedicated to Nature Restoration Plans: Policy Territorial Solutions to Global Challenges, four Natural Heritage Community projects will explain their solutions:
Coastrust project. By Flaminia Squitieri, SUSDEF.
LocAll4Flood project. By Maria Soria, BETA.
We Go Coop project. By Giancarlo Gusmaroli, MedWet.
Wetland4Change project. By Christoph Schröder, ETC-UMA.
During the second day, in the pitch session where Germ of Life participates, these are the other representatives of the NHM Community of Projects who will present their solutions:
Wat[H]ER project. By Paola Nella Branduini, Politecnico di Milano.
MedSeaRise project. By Eleni Iordanidou, Anatoliki S.A.
FRED project. By Nataša Osrečki, RGO Communications Ltd., & Mr. Pantelis Xofis, Democritus University of Thrace.
LocAll4Flood project. By Meritxell Abril, BETA.
Wetland4Change project. By Stanimira Ivanova, University of Forestry.
Carbon 4 Soil Quality project. By Francesco Morari, University of Padova.
Artemis project. By Arnaud Terrisse, Plan Bleu.
StrategyMedFor project. By Nieves García Pablos, University of Malaga.
Renforce project. By Giulia Corino, University of Turin.
GreenList4MMPAs project. By Giulia Costa, IUCN Med.
MPA4Change project. Joaquim Garrabou, ICM-CSIC, & Fernando Pinillos, Europarc.
Maria Cristina Fossi & Mr. Matteo Baini, University of Siena, MIRAMAR project
Miramar project. By Pablo Palomo, Fundación Valenciaport.
Incore-MED project. By Alejandro González Domingo, Eco-union.
We Go Coop project. By Romina D’Ascanio, Roma Tre University.
Coastrust project. By Federica Di Pietrantonio, Roma Tre University.
Germ of Life will also be represented at the Annual Institutional Dialogue by its project manager, Panagiota Saranti (University of Patras, Greece) and by its communications manager, Juan Charneco (Ubitel, Spain)
See more about Annual Institutional Dialogue 2025 in this link
