Building on the achievements of the JPI Oceans Knowledge Hub S4GES (Science for Good Environmental Status), PAGES aims to transform how Europe assesses the state of its seas. At the heart of the project lies a shift from static, fixed-station sampling towards process-driven monitoring, where biodiversity and ecosystem responses are assessed in relation to dynamic oceanographic processes such as, for instance, tides, river plumes, and coastal upwellings.
“With PAGES, we move beyond static measurements to develop monitoring that considers the ocean’s dynamics, linking causes and effects of changes in the marine environment in an integrated fashion,” explained Dr. Federico Falcini (CNR-ISMAR, Italy), scientific coordinator of the project.
The meeting highlighted the scientific advances made during the 2022 S4GES cruise aboard RV Belgica and the 2024 BIOTREC-Tara cruise aboard RV Gaia Blu, which demonstrated the value of combining satellite observations, eDNA, bio-optics, and food web modelling to capture how ecosystems respond to ocean processes. PAGES will extend these proofs-of-concept through additional cruises across diverse European waters, targeting river plume-dominated systems, upwellings, coastal filaments, and gyres.
Participants discussed how PAGES will structure its work through dedicated working groups on physical oceanography, biodiversity and trophic levels, and contaminants, feeding into a roadmap of best practices for MSFD monitoring.
The meeting placed strong emphasis on the science–policy interface, with interventions from key European actors. Alice Belin (DG Environment), co-chair of the MSFD Working Group on Good Environmental Status, provided an update on the ongoing revision of the Directive. She stressed the importance of projects like PAGES in addressing current needs: more comprehensive data on species and habitats, better data quality, and greater transparency and accessibility.
Belin highlighted that the revision aims to simplify implementation, including monitoring and reporting. Regional sea conventions, she noted, will remain instrumental in setting threshold values. She encouraged the consortium to engage actively with the MSFD process and working groups, pointing out that “it is not only about understanding the current state of the seas, but also whether interventions by Member States are delivering results.”
Wendy Bonne (Belgian Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment) emphasised the importance of targeting national authorities who design monitoring plans. She noted that PAGES results could also inform monitoring linked to the Nature Restoration Law and encouraged the consortium to explore synergies with future Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership activities.
Other policy voices, such as Erika Magaletti (ISPRA, Italy), underlined the time-critical window: EU Member States must submit new monitoring programmes by October 2026, valid until 2032. Incorporating innovations such as eDNA into these plans could cut costs and enhance effectiveness, provided the scientific evidence is timely and compelling.
The PAGES kick-off meeting concluded with a shared understanding: the project is uniquely positioned to shape the future of marine monitoring in Europe. By integrating cutting-edge science with active engagement of policy stakeholders, PAGES seeks to deliver proof-of-concepts that will not only inform the upcoming MSFD revision but also provide the tools for Member States to build more efficient, dynamic and cost-effective monitoring systems.
The project is funded under the JPI Oceans framework, PAGES is supported by the Belgian Science Policy Office (Belspo), the Marine Institute of Ireland (MI), the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), and Xjenza Malta.