The project aims to develop regenerative concepts involved around the sports and activities in blue spaces. An important premise is to work through a 5-helix multistakeholder governance model with collaboration between public authorities, sports clubs, tourism companies, civil society organisations and environmental organisations. The objective is to improve the sustainable management of sports practices and activities related to the blue spaces in four pilot sites. These pilot sites include Banyoles (Catalonia, Spain), Tampere (Finland), Bled (Slovenia) and Achill (Ireland). The project partnership includes six organisations from five European countries including Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Finland and Belgium. Four of these organisations, Consell Esportiu del Pla de l’Estany, Ekokumppanit Oy, Veslaska Zveza Slovenije and Leave No Trace Ireland will simultaneously act as a pilot implementation site to test the effectiveness of the methodology developed by the academic partner Institut Nacional d’Educacio Fisica de Catalunya (Catalonia, Spain). Finally, a strategic partner Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (Belgium) ensures the sustainability and transferability of the project.

The effects of the three-year project (2024-2026) are evaluated on two levels. First level includes the outcomes of the project pilot site actions in the short term, evaluating the population reached, the number of actors involved, and the number of regenerative practices implemented. These actions benefit the professionals, athletes, amateurs, tourists and researchers directly and the organisations involved are also trained on the multidimensional environmental impact of sports and physical activity on blue spaces. Second level includes the long-term impacts in terms of environmental and social impacts which are assessed based on carbon footprint, waste management, water use, biodiversity, social impact and stakeholder engagement indicators.