Project PHAROS is an innovative European initiative dedicated to restoring coastal ecosystems and protecting marine biodiversity through nature-based solutions and digital monitoring tools. In alignment with this mission, PHAROS complements the ANERIS project - which develops cutting-edge citizen science and tech tools for operational marine biology - to collectively advance Europe's marine conservation goals under the EU Mission Ocean.
An EU-funded project focused on boosting biodiversity monitoring across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments in the EU and associated countries. To do so, the project combines sensors, environmental DNA (eDNA), artificial intelligence (AI) and citizen science to collect large-scale, high-quality biodiversity data, and transforms it into standardised indicators. In this way, it will provide a complete and consistent picture of biodiversity trends to guide restoration and nature-positive action, and support the EU in reaching its biodiversity targets.
An EU-funded project which focuses on improving the detection of alien species in marine and freshwater habitats, thus protecting and preserving marine biodiversity. It uses methods such as artificial intelligence (AI), environmental DNA, satellite imagery, underwater robotics and monitoring systems, and the development of an early alert system. To achieve this, the project also aims to bring together relevant stakeholders and experts in Invasive Alien Species (IAS) management.
An EU-funded project, focused on creating a FAIR-based digital system for supporting marine biodiversity monitoring by gathering eDNA-based repositories and a dynamic species reference.
An EU-funded project aimed at creating a network for citizen scientists, encouraging them to contribute and monitor marine life through data platforms, by connecting them to data experts, training materials and cost-effective technology providers.
A project, co-funded by the EU, aiming to boost the frequency and scale of marine biodiversity by using AI and digital imagery, and to develop new technologies for bettering marine-life monitoring.
A project, co-funded by the EU, which focuses on bettering marine biodiversity management and monitoring. To do so, the project will merge new and preexisting datasets by combining traditional marine monitoring methods with innovative technologies. In this way, it will provide a scientific foundation to support European decision-makers.
An EU-funded project focused on strengthening the observation of EU marine, coastal and freshwater biodiversity, and thus understand and restore ocean health. To do so, the project aims to implement relevant stakeholders’ research and develop practical tools to ease the detection of biodiversity health by policymakers.
An EU-funded project focused on developing next-generation technologies for improving ocean observations and thus enriching marine biodiversity. The project creates fully integrated carbon observing systems across European marine research infrastructures, enabling better data to support science and decision-making.
An EU-funded project, focusing on minimising the introduction, spread and establishment of alien species in EU biodiversity, thus tackling one of the five main drivers of biodiversity loss. The project works on novel approaches for species detection and implements new systems to achieve good stakeholder engagement and effective management.
A project, co-funded by the EU, focused on gathering relevant stakeholders and actors, and creating an innovative, flexible and compliant toolbox for adaptive Ecosystem-Based Management. It aims to inform marine governance about marine biodiversity monitoring and the human impact on marine biodiversity.
An EU-funded project aiming to create innovative technologies and methods for biodiversity monitoring, to better ecosystem conversations across Europe. Technologies and tools include a digital platform called Biodiversity Explorer for managers of natural resources and policymakers, tools and guidelines to mobilise historical baseline data and species checklists.
A co-funded by the EU project, focused on promoting biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and enhancing carbon sequestration by implementing and scaling up an advanced regeneration programme, which provides clear economic benefits and improves resilience of the local communities.
An EU-funded project focused on creating a broad and strengthened citizen science community through awareness-raising and capacity-building activities.
A project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU, which aims at enhancing the citizen science community. The project focuses on connecting citizen scientists to the right networks and encourages collaborative work.
An EU-funded project which aims to strengthen climate resilience. COAST-SCAPES strongly supports coastal communities, mainly by providing them with warning systems and strategies to boost their resilience. The project develops sustainable solutions to increase environmental benefits.
An EU-funded project, focusing on advancing the science of climate change impacts on the polar ecosystem, carbon sinks and biodiversity.
An EU-funded project which aims to create a fair and functional Science Service for Biodiversity to support its main objective of connecting research results on biodiversity to the needs and use of policymakers and decision-makers.
An EU-funded project, focused on setting out diverse mechanisms to support and enable the implementation of technological, economic and social factors to tackle the decline of biodiversity.
An EU-funded project that aims to spread excellence in innovation in the fields of Environment, Biodiversity, and Agriculture by establishing itself as one of the best international Centres of Excellence in Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Research, and AgroBiodiversity, contributing to socioeconomic development, both nationally and regionally.
An EU-funded project, which aimed to develop innovative technologies for detecting molecules and organisms and bring those tools to Europe’s coastal and ocean life. The technologies aim to bridge the molecular scale of structure with the organismal scale of function. The project ended on 31st August 2025.
An EU-funded project which aims to promote social transformation of freshwater and marine biodiversity by scaling up citizen science involvement. The project also focuses on accelerating the creation and adoption of technical, legal and ethical standards for citizen science methods and protocols. The project ended on 29th February 2024.
A project, co-funded by the EU, focused on targeting relevant stakeholders and policymakers, as well as delivering open, scalable and interoperable methods for improving biodiversity monitoring. The project mainly focused on creating innovative and AI-driven tools to build actionable knowledge on biodiversity in support of end-users. The project ended on 31st October 2025.
An EU-funded project which brought together 16 marine metrology research infrastructures, aiming to create innovative methods for retrieving underwater images. To do so, it identified the Essential Ocean Variables (EOV) as the key parameters to monitor. The project also highly supports scientific networking, creating different activities for networking and knowledge exchange. The project ended on 31st March 2025.
An EU-funded project, focused on bettering environmental observations and data handling. The project evolved into EOSC Node | Digital Twin of the Ocean, a core component of the EOSC Federation, which supports FAIR and open data in marine research. The project ended on 30th June 2026.
An EU-funded project aimed at decreasing marine biodiversity loss by developing coastal management and a scalable plan for coastal adaptation. The project is also focused on developing new tools and data to assess risk reduction in the rapid loss of marine biodiversity. The project ended on the 31st May 2026.
An EU-funded project with the main focus on connecting students to scientific disciplines, and thus strengthening Ocean and Water literacy and supporting the Network of European Blue Schools (NEBS). The project encouraged revitalising marine biodiversity through active citizen involvement, innovation and research. The project ended on 31st May 2026.