EU Digital Twin Ocean: Contribution to the EU DTO core infrastructure through applications for sustainable ocean management

The European Digital Twin of the Ocean core infrastructure (EDITO)^[1] i the platform that consolidates European Marine Knowledge, bringing together marine observation and data, an extended variety of ocean models (covering all the dimensions, from physics to social-ecological), digital applications and tools as well as advanced computing capabilities. The goal is to enable the development of multiple verified virtual representations of the marine and coastal systems, including transitional waters (e.g.: land-sea continuum), which will simulate the complex and dynamic nature of oceanic systems and test their evolution under different future scenarios, offering insights and capabilities that go beyond traditional models or simulations.

By integrating real-time and historical observations with advanced numerical modelling, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, digital twins of the ocean can provide ocean stakeholders (scientists, business operators, regulatory authorities, policy makers and civil society) with an innovative set of user-driven and interactive digital tools to support their activities. In particular, they will support decision making, allowing to monitor and continuously refine the assessment of the impacts of decisions, in terms of sustainability, efficiency, effectiveness and durability under different possible future scenarios (climate change, ecosystems adaption, anthropogenic pressures, etc.). Interactive visualisation tools will allow users to explore and interact with simulated ocean environments in intuitive ways, enhancing understanding and facilitating communication of complex oceanic phenomena.

EDITO is conceived, and being built, as a public service and open co-working environment to support and facilitate the development of specific sectorial and/or local digital twin ocean applications. The objective of this topic is to develop specific user-driven digital twin ocean applications, relying on the EU DTO core infrastructure (EDITO) capabilities but also contributing to its development by enriching the array of open data, models and services it provides.

Project results are expected to contribute to all following expected outcomes:

• Digital Twin Ocean applications, co-designed through appropriate stakeholder engagement along the marine knowledge value chain, and in particular the final users (local and regional authorities, business, etc).
• Improved FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) dataflows and best practices across the data value chain: harmonisation and standardisation of data formats (including units), acquisition, collection, quality assurance and sharing.
• Increased availability of models and related best practices on the EU DTO core infrastructure (EDITO) and development of relevant applications directly on the EDITO infrastructure, using the offered capabilities. Models availability enhancement could therefore relate, for instance, to bio-geochemical, species distribution, ecosystem and integrated coastal and marine models, coupled models incorporating environmental, social, economic and policy considerations, and more.
• Improved data assimilation processes and interconnections between models, including land use, hydrological (water quality and quantity) and marine models in a source-to-sea perspective. The resolution of the models should be adequate to properly resolve the requirements of each application, while identifying and quantifying the impact of increased availability of data in the quality and scope of the applications.
• Improved and increased amount of digital twin intermediate and final open services, directly developed into the EU DTO core infrastructure (EDITO).

Proposals should target at least two new Digital Twin Ocean (DTO) domain applications, either addressing policy or regulatory implementation^[2] or sustainable marine or maritime business operations (aquaculture and fisheries, sustainable tourism, etc.), with demonstrated usability at different geographical scales, for ocean and coastal management and planning, policy or regulatory implementation and decision-making or sustainable marine and maritime business operations. Each verified use cases (implementation of the domain applications at different geographic settings, including the relevant data, models, tools and interactions with stakeholders) should be demonstrated in at least 3 different sea basins (amounting to 6 use cases in total), with each of the 4 EU sea basins (1. Atlantic and Arctic Sea basin, 2. Baltic and North Sea, 3. Mediterranean Sea basin and 4. Danube River basin and Black Sea) covered at least by one use-case.

Importantly, while these digital twin ocean applications are the desired end-product, they have an integrative function: to transform the available knowledge into actionable information for use from policy, industry and/or civil society. When designing a specific application, the whole knowledge value chain should be considered by the proposals, with a multi-actor approach, to ensure the involvement of the appropriate actors, including implementing authorities in the appropriate level of jurisdiction (national and/or regional authorities), at each step:

• Co-creation with stakeholders: include the end-users of these applications, for each sea-basin use-case, along the full process of the digital twins’ development, ensuring incorporating their needs, promoting common understanding and ensuring ownership of the outcomes (what scenarios are relevant, what policy alternatives are feasible, what are the limitations, for instance on uncertainties created by data gaps, etc.). The relevant stakeholders may evolve throughout each development phase/step.
• Data: identification of data needs to verify the credibility of each application; identification of gaps and their impact on the quality of results; potential for improvements (if data is to be made available).
• Models and what-if scenarios: primary data processing and analysis, model developments, refinements and downscaling; model coupling to serve targeted needs and development of what-if and policy scenarios (together with relevant stakeholders), quality of modelled assessment data products.
• Interactive visualisation tools. Specific attention to the design of appropriate interfaces with and for end-users, utilising new technologies as artificial intelligence, gaming interfaces, virtual reality and more.
• Quality assurance processes and appropriate quality labelling should accompany all steps of development to provide guarantee to the end-users of the applications: labelling of applications, comparative analysis, characterisation and communication of uncertainties in particular in the context of decision-making support, etc.

Proposals are encouraged to cooperate with actors such as the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) on model scenarios (as for the Blue2MF) in support of marine policies.

Proposals should favour open data, open source, and public-use models and algorithms with open-source licensing and must develop the applications directly into the EU Digital Twin of the Ocean core infrastructure (EDITO).

Proposals should leverage the data and services available through EMODnet and through the European Open Science Cloud, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces in the data-driven analyses and should also demonstrate clear links to Copernicus Marine and associated Member State Coastal Systems (MSCS). Proposals are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the data, expertise and services offered by European research infrastructuresThe catalogue of European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) research infrastructures portfolio can be browsed from ESFRI website^[3].

Proposals are expected to build on the outcomes of EDITO-Infra and EDITO-Model Lab and to contribute to the enrichment of the portfolio of biogeochemical, ecosystem marine and integrated coastal models, beyond those already integrated by EDITO-model lab.

While proposals are free to address the application domains of their choice, aiming for the greatest possible impacts, specific aspects should be followed for applications relating to the implementation of EU legislation, as indicated below:

• Models targeting MSFD implementation at the regional and national levels should implement a multi-descriptor approach including possible connectivity between descriptors and propose methodological frameworks for the design of effective measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES), based on the requirements of the Directive.
• Applications relevant to Descriptors 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of the MSFD should address multispecies systems (group of species), according to the requirements of Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 and the 2021 ICES advice sr.2021.14.2.
• The what-if scenarios of applications to implement marine nature based-solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation, should also address the achievement of Good Environmental Status.
• Applications for decision support tools on the planning and management of marine space (MSPD) should include environmental, social, economic and policy considerations and take into account climate change impacts through appropriate scenarios.
• Applications targeting the CFP should support the assessment of Essential Fish Habitats and Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (also relevant for Regional Fisheries Management Organisations - RFMOs, Biodiversity Strategy and more), while also addressing the sustainability of the fisheries sector through scenarios related to fishing gear, decarbonisation of the sector and more.

[1] https://www.edito.eu/

[2] Marine Strategy Framework Directive - MSFD, Maritime Spatial Planning Directive - MSPD, Common Fisheries Policy, design of Marine Protected Areas - MPAs and design of Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs), sea level rise, coastal resilience and adaptation, pollution monitoring and reduction, cumulative impact across multiple sectors, frameworks for assessing opportunities for sustainable growth in marine industries, etc., compatibility of future offshore developments to reach climate targets and 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and Nature Restoration Law, etc. Proposals addressing offshore energy renewables or marine litter should ensure complementarity with the scope addressed by, respectively, HORIZON-CL5-2025-05-D3-08: Understand and minimise the environmental impacts of offshore wind energy and HORIZON-CL6-2025-01-ZEROPOLLUTION-05: Towards a comprehensive European strategy to assess and monitor aquatic litter including plastic and microplastic pollution and HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-02: A toolbox for public authorities to address marine plastics and litter from river-to-ocean

[3] https://ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/