Italia-Croatia

29/05/2026

The BRAVE project has achieved a major milestone in cross-border environmental monitoring. The Project Steering Committee has officially approved five key technical protocols designed to standardise and harmonise how environmental data is collected across the Adriatic Sea.

Historically, environmental data has been collected in isolated national or sector-specific "silos," making it difficult to compare information across borders. Because environmental threats like pollution and climate change do not respect national boundaries, the BRAVE partnership has created a shared "language" for data collection. Developed in collaboration with the Adriatic Advisory Committee (AAC), these five new standards ensure that data generated by our 13 partners across Italy and Croatia is fully comparable, reliable, and interoperable.

The 5 Areas of Transnational Monitoring:

The approved protocols (Deliverables D.1.1.3 through D.1.1.7) define shared operational frameworks across five critical thematic fields:

1. Trophic Chain Integrity & Primary Production: Standardising coastal and lagoon biological monitoring.
2. Major Pollution Inputs: Tracking cross-border pollutants like microplastics and heavy metals.
3. Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP): Evaluating planning efficacy against climate change.
4. Invasive Alien Species (IAS): Early detection and management frameworks (e.g., for the blue crab).
5. Target Species Production: Harmonising environmental impact data on aquaculture and fish farming.

What's Next?

These protocols lay the groundwork for the upcoming BRAVE Smart Digital Platform. Moving forward into the pilot action phase, this platform will allow policymakers, researchers, and maritime operators to access high-quality, shared data visualisations to make informed, evidence-based decisions for the sustainable management of the Adriatic.

Want a deeper dive into the science behind these protocols?

Read our full feature in the Insight Section!