[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6828\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EBlack Sea research could reveal cultural sites and methane ice - Dr Adrian Stanica\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Black Sea is a unique inland sea with coastlines in six countries. What does this mean for its management?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027First of all, it\u2019s a bridge between two continents, Europe and Asia. The sea was in a very bad ecological state 25-30 years before now and in the end, we managed to improve the situation, and the fact that we have a healthier sea now is ... the result of collaborative research. All the bad impacts, however, were felt throughout the entire system. If we (the countries surrounding the Black Sea \u2013 Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine) don\u2019t work together, then we cannot address the problems in a holistic way. To understand how the Black Sea works and how to make it healthier, we need to have collaborative research.\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Black Sea is interesting because major rivers such as the Danube and the Dnieper drain into it, but over 90% of the water is anoxic, meaning there is no oxygen to support life. In your view, where are the main research gaps? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027There is a huge amount of work to be done to understand both the interactions between the rivers and the Black Sea, as well as the functioning of the Black Sea itself in much better detail. We are not talking about classical marine sciences, but also about new developments, such as molecular biology that will make us understand the communities of microbes living in that area lacking oxygen, naturally occurring in most of the Black Sea. You need chemistry, you need biology, geology, hydrology, oceanography, you need practically everything to understand what\u2019s going on there. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027Still related to the Black Sea, but from a different point of view, I think it\u2019s extremely crucial to bring back to life our common cultural heritage, for example.\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022 class=\u0022@alignleft@\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Re-establishing a common cultural heritage in the Black Sea region is an important step to move forward with a research and innovation plan there, says Dr. Adrian Stanica. Image credit - Dr. Adrian Stanica\u0022 height=\u00221297\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/summer%20school%202010_0.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022Dr-Adrian-Stanica-Portrait \u0022 width=\u00221870\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003ERe-establishing a common cultural heritage in the Black Sea region is an important step to move forward with a research and innovation plan there, says Dr. Adrian Stanica. Image credit - Dr. Adrian Stanica\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYour group is developing a strategic research and innovation plan for the region. How will this contribute to economic growth in the Black Sea region? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027We\u2019ll be able to interact in a much more proficient way with the decision-makers involved in several fields of interest, like coastal tourism, marine resources, aquaculture and navigation. We have lots of ancient sites, sunken ships and so on, which can be made available to the public for coastal tourism. The Black Sea was a key part of the ancient world - if you travel around it, you\u2019ll see the remnants of the ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman civilisations as well as more recent architectural heritage, resulting from the intermixing of Central European, Russian \u2013 Tsarist Empire, but also British and French influences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027The fact that we have been part of the Communist regime during the Cold War really built a wall that needs to be taken down, and this common cultural heritage has to be re-stitched together because it has been completely wiped away from the memory of people. We don\u2019t know everything that we have because there have been very few marine archaeology projects, but what we have is already a lot to make quite attractive tours.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027The unique environment can be a key to unknown resources. (There is) methane ice under the water at depths of several hundred metres, and that frozen methane can be a source of energy for tomorrow. That\u2019s just one of the many potential opportunities.\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u0026#039;To understand how the Black Sea works and how to make it healthier, we need to have collaborative research.\u0026#039;\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Adrian Stanica, GeoEcoMar, RO\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYou\u2019re the coordinator of the DANUBIUS\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;project \u2013 can you\u0026nbsp;tell us\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ea bit about that?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027DANUBIUS is not just about the Danube and the Black Sea. It will be a research infrastructure that will try to develop excellent science so that managers of river-sea systems can put in practice efficient integrated management plans. The issue at the moment is that freshwater and marine specialists are not working together, they sit back-to-back instead of cooperating. The biggest problem is at the contact point between the rivers and the seas - deltas, estuaries - where we don\u2019t even know very well all the processes occurring there. And these are among the most critical areas in the world because deltas and estuaries are where you find the greatest natural wealth.\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat would be the best case scenario for the Black Sea? \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027I believe in the huge role of science diplomacy, that we need to talk to each other - EU and non-EU countries alike. I think we\u2019ll find that by working together on this agenda and transforming it into reality we\u2019ll be able to build many bridges. I think that we\u2019ll be able to develop plans that we\u2019ll successfully implement to have a healthier sea, more productive sea. I really hope we will succeed but this is because I am an optimistic fool!\u0027\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EBlack Sea research agenda\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EThe European Commission is publishing a vision paper setting out priorities for Black Sea research at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/maritimeaffairs\/maritimeday\/en\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003EEuropean Maritime Day\u003C\/a\u003E in Burgas, Bulgaria, on 31 May.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese include increasing ecosystem resilience and mitigating the effects of climate change, supporting marine and maritime innovation, and helping the emergence of new economic sectors, particularly in the fields of energy, marine food and biotechnology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe vision paper is the result of work carried out by national and EU-funded projects, and is a step towards developing a full stragetic research and innovation agenda (SRIA) for the Black Sea region. The final SRIA will be launched in Romania in 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/bit.ly\/newsalertsignup\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/horizon-magazine.eu\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/news-alert-final.jpg\u0022 alt width=\u0022983\u0022 height=\u0022222\u0022\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-cdeci0rreomcq-ym-8wrbltjph7fvgxab0fstvkblos\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-cdEci0RrEoMcQ_yM_8wrBLtJph7FVGXab0fSTVkbLOs\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]