GRAAL in Brussels during the European Ocean Week: a strategic General Assembly to accelerate impact
The European project GRAAL will hold its first General Assembly in Brussels on Tuesday 3 March 2026, bringing together all partners and associated partners. This milestone takes place during the European Ocean Week (2–6 March 2026), a key moment to foster dialogue between projects, territories and European institutions around major maritime, climate and transition priorities.
After many months of remote collaboration, this meeting marks a turning point: taking stock of progress, consolidating our methods, and above all accelerating the transformation of results into impact across the Atlantic Area.
A steering meeting and a consolidation step
The General Assembly is designed as a strategic moment at the intersection of three dynamics: capitalising on what projects actually deliver (results, tools, methods, demonstrators), improving alignment between territorial needs and European programme priorities, and testing cooperation formats that can speed up uptake and scaling.
In this context, associated partners - Atlantic seaboard territorial authorities - are fully integrated into the process: the Principality of Asturias, Brest Métropole, the La Rochelle Agglomeration Community, the Basque Country, as well as Turismo de Portugal, will be consulted to help shape priorities, share field feedback and support implementation. This momentum is reinforced by the involvement of national and European actors who will also play a support and relay role, including representatives of the French ministry in charge of the sea (DGAMPA), the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB), and the Managing Authority of the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme, in order to strengthen the link between project results, public policies and deployment conditions.
Key issues at the heart of the General Assembly
Multi-criteria assessment of project results: moving from production to usefulness
A key thread of the General Assembly is the consolidation of a multi-criteria evaluation methodology for project results, led by Cerema, ERNACT and Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique. In this framework, 71 projects funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area 2015–2020 programme were analysed. 42 of them are directly linked to GRAAL’s five thematic areas: they will be assessed by our experts from Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal to qualify results maturity, transferability, success conditions and the main barriers to overcome.
The goal is clear: to build a robust foundation to better prioritise, better document and better scale what works, for the benefit of Atlantic territories.
Consultation: Interreg, territorial priorities and alignment with major European strategies
In parallel, GRAAL is strengthening a structured consultation with its partners and associated partners - particularly territorial authorities - to review programme priorities, and especially those of Interreg Atlantic Area, in light of European strategic frameworks. This sequence builds on insights from the survey carried out by Atlantic Cities and on the work of the CPMR, to analyse convergences, gaps and areas for improvement.
At the core of discussions is programmes’ ability to align and contribute concretely to the Atlantic Strategy, the Ocean Pact and the Green Deal, by bringing political objectives, funding and the effective uptake of solutions closer together.
First test of the “Atlantic Policy Lab” methodology
The General Assembly will also be an opportunity to present the methodology for the Atlantic Policy Lab, led by IH Cantabria with the involvement of the project’s thematic leaders. This methodology, currently in a testing phase, aims to structure a working space capable of turning evaluation and consultation into operational cooperation: identifying shared priorities, testing approaches, strengthening multi-level coordination, and supporting the formulation of directly actionable recommendations.
GRAAL during the European Ocean Week: strengthening dialogue with the EU and communities
Beyond the General Assembly, GRAAL will take part in several European Ocean Week sessions, in connection with its five thematic areas. We will notably attend the 4 March event “Coalition to Empower Communities for Mission Ocean & Waters” (EU Ocean Days), an opportunity to strengthen dialogue with European institutions and contribute to policy developments at EU level. GRAAL partners will also engage in other events during the week - including CoWater, which is particularly relevant for GRAAL in terms of cooperation, capitalisation and networking - to identify synergies and feed into our work.
GRAAL is co-funded by the European Union under the Interreg Atlantic Area programme.