The Mediterranean is under growing pressure from climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and overexploitation. MEDCONNECT is a Horizon Europe project that supports the Mediterranean Sea Basin Lighthouse of the EU Mission "Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030". It addresses all three Mission objectives: protecting and restoring marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, preventing and eliminating pollution, and making the blue economy carbon-neutral and circular.

The project brings together National Hubs from across the basin, organised into three Regional Hubs: Western, Central and Eastern Mediterranean. At its core are three Regional Living Lab Systems, in Spain, Albania and Cyprus. There, stakeholders and citizens jointly test and refine 15 innovative solutions, chosen from more than 100 mapped across the basin, under real coastal conditions. MEDCONNECT then helps these solutions get financed and deployed through business plans, investor sprints and public investment dialogues. Supporting this are a Digital Portal that combines EU data sources with citizen science, tailored capacity building, behavioural-change activities and a Mediterranean-wide community of practice. Together they aim to build a lasting ecosystem that keeps delivering on the Mission beyond the project's lifetime.

Adria Innovation Harbour (AIH) is a project partner in MEDCONNECT. Together with the University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, it represents Croatia in the consortium. AIH contributes to the Croatian National Hub and involves local five-helix stakeholders (research, business, public authorities, civil society and citizens) in identifying regional challenges and promising solutions. It also supports the project's capacity-building and investment-mobilisation activities, and shares MEDCONNECT results across Croatia and the wider Adriatic region.