Final Assembly in Athens to showcase EcoScope’s vision for improved fishing management

Partners of the EU-funded EcoScope project as well as stakeholders from across Europe and beyond will gather in Athens, Greece on 23–26 June 2025 for the Final General Assembly of the project, which is dedicated to advancing sustainable, ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) in European seas.

The event marks a milestone: the unveiling of the final versions of the EcoScope Platform and Toolbox, two powerful digital resources designed to support informed, science-based decision-making for healthier marine ecosystems.

Throughout its four-year journey, EcoScope has aimed to support sustainable, ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) in European seas.

During the event, the final versions will be presented of the project’s flagship outputs: the EcoScope Platform and the EcoScope Toolbox. 

These tools are designed to address critical gaps in knowledge, data integration, and accessibility, enabling science-based decision-making for the health and productivity of marine ecosystems.

The EcoScope Platform is an open-access, web-based system offering users an intuitive interface to explore ecological, environmental, geospatial, and fisheries-related data. Interactive dashboards allow stakeholders—from policymakers to scientists and fishers—to access large volumes of data and monitor key marine indicators across regions.

The EcoScope Toolbox complements the platform with a suite of advanced modelling and forecasting tools. These include ecosystem and socio-economic models, risk and sustainability assessments, and scenario simulation capabilities. By integrating environmental drivers and climate change projections, the Toolbox provides a holistic view of fisheries dynamics.

Both tools were designed with interoperability, transparency, and usability in mind—core requirements for fostering collaboration and trust among the wide array of actors involved in marine management.

EcoScope has brought together 24 partners from Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. This international collaboration has laid the groundwork for long-term impact, with the Final Assembly serving as a launchpad for broader uptake and continued development of the platform and toolbox.

"The EcoScope project has successfully met its objectives, creating innovative tools that bring science closer to policy," said Professor Athanassios C. Tsikliras, Project Coordinator. “The platform and toolbox will support effective, ecosystem-based fisheries management across Europe for years to come.”

Workshops and strategy sessions during the event will focus on how to embed the EcoScope tools into national and EU-level decision-making processes, ensuring that the project outputs will impact the way fisheries are managed across Europe’s diverse marine regions.

As the EU intensifies its commitment to biodiversity protection and climate adaptation, tools like those developed by EcoScope will be essential. By making data more accessible and decisions more transparent, EcoScope is helping pave the way toward more resilient and sustainable seas.