SEA-RESTORE LABS: Living Laboratories for Climate-Smart Seagrass Restoration Across European Seas

Background & Rationale: Seagrass meadows are critical blue carbon ecosystems providing coastal protection, biodiversity habitat, and climate mitigation services. Europe has lost over 30% of its seagrass cover, yet restoration success rates remain low (<40%) due to poor site selection, climate impacts, and lack of stakeholder engagement. Traditional top-down restoration approaches fail to incorporate local ecological knowledge and socio-economic realities. Living labs—place-based innovation ecosystems co-designed with local communities—offer a transformative approach to scale up restoration success.

Objectives: SEA-RESTORE LABS will: (1) establish 6 seagrass restoration living labs across European seas; (2) co-develop restoration techniques with fishers, dive operators, coastal managers, and local communities; (3) test climate-smart restoration approaches including thermal priming, depth refugia sourcing, and assisted gene flow; (4) integrate blue carbon financing mechanisms to ensure long-term sustainability; and (5) create a transferable living lab framework for coastal ecosystem restoration.

Approach: Each living lab will be co-designed through participatory workshops identifying local restoration priorities, barriers, and opportunities. Scientific teams will work alongside stakeholders to implement experimental restoration trials comparing conventional vs. climate-adapted techniques. We will source donor material from thermally pre-conditioned populations (including stress-tolerant Red Sea genotypes) and test transplantation across depth gradients. Citizen science monitoring will engage local communities in tracking restoration success. Blue carbon protocols will be developed to attract private investment for long-term maintenance.

Living Lab Sites:

1. Gulf of Aqaba, Israel (thermal extreme reference)

2. Eastern Mediterranean, Greece (warming hotspot)

3. Adriatic Sea, Croatia (tourism pressure)

4. Western Mediterranean, France (native Posidonia restoration)

5. Atlantic, Portugal (wave-exposed coast)

6. Baltic Sea, Germany (low salinity adaptation)

Expected Outcomes:

• 6 operational living labs with sustained stakeholder engagement

• Climate-smart restoration toolkit with species-specific protocols

• 50+ hectares of seagrass under active restoration

• Blue carbon credit methodology for seagrass restoration

• Policy recommendations for EU Nature Restoration Law implementation

Partners Sought:

• Restoration ecology research groups

• Fisheries cooperatives and dive associations

• Coastal municipalities

• Blue carbon verification bodies

• Conservation NGOs

• Social scientists (participation methods)

Countries: Israel, Greece, Croatia, France, Portugal, Germany (6 countries)