WP7 will provide analysis of institutional and social constraints which constitute the main obstacles to aquaculture development in Europe and particularly in the Mediterranean region. This WP will also explore the conditions of social acceptability to aquaculture development in order to foster social licenses to operate at the territorial and Mediterranean eco-region scales. To achieve these objectives, the work program proposed will be structured by the work tasks below. The aim of this WP is achieved through the following

Objectives

Understanding the social bottlenecks that lead to the stagnation of the sustainable aquaculture development in the Mediterranean Sea. This work requires the identification of the social needs related to aquaculture in terms of space, technology, safety and healthy food, environmental friendly products, wellbeing, etc.;

Accompanying the development of a strategy for sustainable aquaculture development in the Mediterranean Sea through by the construction of a global strategy to enhance social acceptability.

Testing protocols and tools for stakeholders’ engagement to support the emergence of social license associated to business models of aquaculture development at a local scale.