The success of HeRe Lab lies in its multidisciplinary team, made up of professionals dealing with a wide variety of fields such as World Heritage, urban planning, architecture, art history, development, and economics.. The University of Florence acts as a catalyst for their involvement, through the participation of different faculties in the Lab and in the use of holistic approaches for the creation of sustainable solutions for challenges affecting the historic centre. The Lab has also played an important role in advocating for sustainable strategies in the development of the city, by taking into account urban green spaces, social inclusivity, tangible and intangible heritage protection, economic growth, sustainable tourism, as well as the requalification and enhancement of architectural elements.

The shared governance established in the HeRe Lab has ensured the creation of systemic synergies between municipal authorities and research institutions, in which the Head of the ‘Florence World Heritage and relations with UNESCO’ Office of the Municipality of Florence and the Dean of the Department of Architecture at the University of Florence act as scientific coordinators. This partnership has created an innovative model in which heritage research and practice are intertwined and the research produced responds to those practical challenges arising from the field.

Hortimare, a Dutch-based company, is one of the few companies in the world specialising in the genetics, breeding and propagating of seaweed. Hortimare works with Kelp Blue to create starting material, increase yield and research on best growing techiniques of the Macrocystis pyrifera specie.

Participatory management has been carried out since the establishment of the NPA at the request of the communities, with their benefit in mind, as well as that of future generations; however, over time this dynamism was focused on conservation with specific participation of the communities.

The life plans are a participatory process in which the opinion of the community members is obtained, reflecting on each dimension (cultural, environmental, social, political and economic), allowing for a diagnosis in order to coordinate actions aimed at sustainable behaviors that are also aligned with the objectives and vision of the ANP's master plan.

These visions contribute to more pertinent actions that help to articulate with other planning documents in the territory and the involvement of more stakeholders as part of a key strategy to achieve effective conservation.

The RCM leadership and the Maeni ECA develop technical and social capacities that promote the active participation of the communities in the elaboration and implementation of the life plans, oriented to the conservation of the NPA.

The Machiguenga Communal Reserve maintains an ecosystem conservation status of 98.8161 %, with a co-management model with the ECA Maeni that represents 14 native communities, 1 colonist settlement and 3 federations (COMARU, FECONAY and CECONAMA). In order for this model to work, it is necessary that the members of the communities themselves promote and encourage conservation for their own benefit in a win-win ideal, where the RCM conserves its natural and cultural values and the communities can be strengthened in their own organizational system and improve employment and income opportunities through sustainable economic activities.

The protected natural area and its buffer zone are territories where there is a great biodiversity of flora and fauna exploited by the communities, in order to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of resources with an associated landscape approach.The vision of the area is articulated with the vision of the communities, in terms of the management of their territories and resource management, which is why the life plans reflect their way of thinking and organizing themselves and reflect how they want to improve, seeking "good living" from their own form of governance.

This Building Block aimed to analyze potential future conditions of the Western Mediterranean in order to build three scenarios by 2030: trend scenario; conservationist scenario; and integrated scenario. The developed scenarios DO NOT represent official proposals for the area; instead, they are a starting point for a multi-sectoral and cross-border dialogue about the desired future. A technical report was developed and made publicly available.

This Building Block aimed to analyze the current conditions of the Western Mediterranean. Policies, data and information on the marine environmental and main maritime uses were analyzed to identify use-use and use-nature conflicts and compatibilities, resulting in the development of a technical report publicly available. Spatial data was compiled to develop the maps about the different uses. 

This BB aimed to develop activities to improve stakeholders’ capacities on MSP and sustainable blue economy by helping them understand the big picture of the MSP process, as well as the role that they can play in such policy.

I) Training course for governmental representatives included both theoretical and practical sessions. The theoretical ones covered topics such as the concepts of MSP and sustainable blue economy, stakeholder participation and data and information. Moreover, the competent authorities had the opportunity to discuss national initiatives on MSP. Putting theory into practice, participants were divided into groups to play the MSP Challenge Game, representing planners and stakeholders. They defined the vision, objectives, indicators, actions and stakeholders of fictitious countries to simulate an MSP process. After, they developed sectoral plans and used the tokens available to negotiate space and develop an integrated plan coherent with the national objectives. They also had to link aspects of the plan with the achievement of the 17 SDGs.

II) Seminars for sectoral stakeholders

Thematic seminars were organized to highlight the need for MSP in the Western Mediterranean: international cooperation, multi-use of the ocean space, and spatial dimension of aquaculture and port infrastructures.

In collaboration with the University of the West Indies – Open Campus (UWI-OC), Barbados a 12 module/30 contact hour Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) course in Social Enterprise for Caribbean Transformation Course to enable the creation of socially responsible businesses, was developed. This Certificate Programme in social enterprise aims to institutionalize training for ecotourism for long-term sustainability and development. In cooperation with the University of the West Indies (UWI) - Open Campus, this 6-month programme is now available to students and interested stakeholders in 17 English speaking countries in which the UWI-OC operates. 

One major incentive for participants in the social enterprise training was the possibility to transition on to the Barbados Youth Business Trust (BYBT) incubator and mentorship programme. This programme supported participants in the refining of business ideas, engage in business planning and development and included one on one coaching as well as presentation of business concept to garner financial support. Each person in the incubator was assigned a business mentor. The 1-year mentorship programme focused on lifting participants sketched projects or business concepts to the next level and support in the first phases of its implementation.