About

Overview

INSPIRI is a collaborative mission to restore the health of the EU’s ocean and water systems by 2030 and 2050. INSPIRI unites citizens, scientists, policy-makers and artists across four key Lighthouse Regions (Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Sea, Baltic Sea, and Danube Delta), in a transformative journey built on four core actions:

Co-Creative Visioning: We begin by working hand-in-hand with regional stakeholders to co-design shared visions for sustainable water futures.
From Vision to Model: These co-created visions are transformed into robust scientific scenarios and models, grounding hopes in data and aligning them with key EU environmental goals.
Engaging Decision-Makers: In our regional Transformation Labs (T-Labs), we convene decision-makers and policy experts to merge insights with concrete, actionable plans to navigate towards the 2030 and 2050 targets.
Inspiring Citizens: To make the future of water a shared conversation, we foster broad public engagement through innovative art-science collaborations and an art-science online hub, connecting people to the mission in meaningful and inspiring ways.

Approach

In INSPIRI, our objectives are to:

Policy support

Support the implementation of EU policies by co-designing aspirational and integrated visions and scenarios of sustainable and just futures for ocean and water systems.

Evidence-based decisions

Inform decision-making processes on restoring ocean and water systems with the latest science by testing normative scenarios in different models.

Action & impact

Stimulate action for restored EU ocean and waters.

We follow the steps of:

1. Synthesising

Baseline understanding of current systems dynamics and scenarios.

2. Imagining

Participatory scenario development using Nature Futures Framework.

3. Testing

Regional modelling of business-as-usual and aspirational visions.

4. Inspiring action

Transformation Labs and citizen engagement including art–science collaborations.

Inspiri participants gather for a collaborative workshop in a modern space

Partners

Znanstveno-raziskovalno središče Koper, Slovenia

Stockholms universitet, Sweden

Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, France

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy

Planethon AB, Sweden

Centre national de la recherche scientifique, France

Asociatia WWF Romania

Researchers involved

Jerneja Penca

Institution: Science and Research Centre Koper

Jerneja coordinates the project team, combining experience from transdisciplinary settings and bringing expertise from EU environmental policy, sustainability governance and the science-policy interface

Laura Pereira

Institution: Stockholm University - Stockholm Resilience Centre

Laura is co-lead on the project bringing expertise in creative and participatory futuring methods, the Nature Futures Framework and transformations towards desirable futures

Nina Kos

Institution: Science and Research Centre Koper

Nina will support the dynamic policy landscape analysis and activities related to Transformation Labs, dissemination, communication and overall project coordination.

Susa Niiranen

Institution: Stockholm University - Stockholm Resilience Centre

Susa will support the agent-based modeling work, drawing on outcomes from Baltic futuring workshops to co-design a model that allows stakeholders to explore how socio-economic variables shape trade-offs and co-benefits in 2030–2050 futures

Anna Woodhead

Institution: Stockholm University - Stockholm Resilience Centre

Anna will support research activities in the Baltic Sea case study and an evidence synthesis on existing futures work in the case study regions.

Emilie Lindkvist

Institution: Stockholm University - Stockholm Resilience Centre

Emilie will lead the agent-based modeling work, drawing on outcomes from Baltic futuring workshops to co-design a model that allows stakeholders to explore how socio-economic variables shape trade-offs and co-benefits in 2030–2050 futures

Jan Kuiper

Institution: Stockholm University - Stockholm Resilience Centre

Jan will lead on the review of existing futures of waters and sea across the EU, and connect INSPIRI to the ongoing work under the Biosphere Futures database.

Åsa Johansson Kendzie

Institution: Stockholm University - Stockholm Resilience Centre

Åsa will conduct her masters project on techniques which can be used in participatory futures processes to elicit more creative responses to aspirational nature futures.

Ignacio Gianelli

Institution: Stockholm University - Stockholm Resilience Centre

Ignacio will lead the Baltic visioning workshop and provide overarching coordination and support across the other case study workshops.

Sebastian Villasante

Institution: University of Santiago de Compostella

Tamara Niella

Institution: University of Santiago de Compostella

Tamara will co-lead the Atlantic visioning workshop. Within the Atlantic case study she will also support: research on evidence synthesis of existing models, futures work, and policy landscape, and assistance on the Transformative Labs.

Alicia Landin

Institution: University of Santiago de Compostella

Barbara Willaarts

Institution: Internazionales Institut fuer Angewandte Systemanalyse

Barbara will mainly contribute to participatory and co-creation processes in the Danube Lighthouse, helping design and facilitate spaces where people from different backgrounds can imagine futures, build narratives, and align visions around restoration and governance innovation to preserve the Danube Delta.

Emilio Politti

Institution: Internazionales Institut fuer Angewandte Systemanalyse

Emilio is co-leading WP3, which focuses on testing science-based pathways through modelling. He is also carrying on the modelling and contributing to the stakeholders' engagement process in the Danube case study.

Yunne-Jai Shin

Institution: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

Yunne co-leads WP3 on modelling science-based pathways and is involved in the Mediterranean case study, being responsible for IRD activities on modelling, visioning, scenario building, and art & science.

Adrien Chevallier

Institution: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement

Adrien is co-leading WP2 on participatory scenario development using the Nature Futures Framework and will be leading the Mediterranean visioning workshop.

Emiliano Ramieri

Institution: Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche

Emiliano coordinates WP4, aiming at establishing and running Transformative Labs in the four Mission Lighthouses to co-define policy actions for the strengthened implementation of the “Restore our Ocean and Waters

Stefano Menegon

Institution: Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche

Stefano is involved in the Mediterranean case study visioning exercise and in the transfer of the results of related modelling activities to the Mediterranean Transformative Lab.

Elena Gissi

Institution: Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche

Elena is involved in the Mediterranean case study, being responsible for CNR’s activities on visioning and scenario building in this sea basin. She is also involved in the dynamic policy landscape analysis part of Task 4.1 and the development of the Transformative Labs.

Ginevra Capurso

Institution: Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche

Ginevra is part of WP4 CNR’s team, having a primary role in the dynamic and policy landscape analysis (Task 4.1), supporting the visioning exercises (WP2) and the Transformative Labs activities.

Andrew Merrie

Institution: Planethon AB

Andrew is the Planethon lead on the Inspiri project and is responsible for developing and executing on the DEC strategy in collaboration with partners for the project as well as the ArtScience Webhub

Fredrika Yngwe

Institution: Planethon AB

Fredrika will support Andrew and the rest of the project in creative, strategic communications for Inspiri as well as realising the ArtScience Webhub

Joachim Claudet

Institution: Centre national de la recherche scientifique

Juliette Wan-Fat

Institution: Centre national de la recherche scientifique

Corina Gheorghiu

Institution: Associatia WWF Romania

Camelia Ionescu

Institution: Associatia WWF Romania

Advisory Board

Our dedicated Advisory Board members are:

Jessica Blythe, Associate Professor, Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (Brock University)
Fedra Francocci, Coordinator of the Mediterranean Lighthouse (BlueMissionMed project)
Françoise Gaill, International Platform for Ocean Sustainability / Ocean Sustainability Foundation
Verena Höhn, Coordinator of the Danube Lighthouse (EcoDaLLi project)
Valerie de Liedekerke, Coordinator of the Atlantic Arctic Lighthouse (BlueMissionAA project)
Angela Schulz-Zehden, Coordinator of the Baltic Sea Lighthouse (BlueMissionBANOS project)
Joost Vervoort, Associate Professor, Environmental Governance Group, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development (Utrecht University)