The BeMed case
ConsultantSeas, 2021
Setting up and coordination of a Business Club committed to the prevention of plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.
BeMed Association
Gathering and coordinating multi-stakeholder partnership
Providing technical expertise
Mediterranean area
24 months
ConsultantSeas assists the BeMed association in setting up and coordinating the BeMed Business Club. The Club brings together companies committed to the testing and deployment of concrete solutions to prevent plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.
Context
The BeMed Association
Every year, more than 229,000 tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the Mediterranean, which is the equivalent of 500 containers per day, making it one of the most polluted seas in the world. In reaction to this situation, 5 leading ocean protection actors joined forces in 2015 to launch Beyond Plastic Med: the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Mava Foundation, the Tara Ocean Foundation, Surfrider Foundation Europe and the IUCN.
BeMed acts on three major areas :
- Supporting and creating a networking of actors involved in this fight
- Implementing effective and sustainable solutions
- Mobilising stakeholders and the general public
The BeMed Business Club :
Since 2020, the BeMed association have been developing a Business Club to push its actions even further, involving the private sector.
Achievements
Support to the setting up of the Business Club
- Benchmark of 40 Mediterranean and global initiatives in order to extract the strategic positioning of the Club
- Co-construction of the Club’s project, ambition and activities
- Definition of the Club’s governance and clarification of its financing methods
Advice on the Club’s development strategy
- Development of communication tools and media
- Recruitment of companies to join the Club (12 members in 2021)
- Support in fundraising efforts
Support in coordinating and running the Club
- Coordination of a working group to translate science into strategic information for the private sector and create a constructive dialogue between companies and researchers.
- Coordination of a working group to imagine, test and develop concrete solutions together.
- Promotion of a shared governance model for the Club’s activities.
- Designing, organising and facilitating collaborative workshops, both face-to-face and remote.
Zoom on the preparatory study for the pilot project:
- Field study of the context in Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon and Marseille
- Realization of a literature review to i/ identify local issues, ii/ define the actions to be taken, iii/ map the stakeholders
- Conducting a field analysis based on interviews
- Elaboration of action scenarios based on a synthesis of previous work
« The BeMed Business Club is an opportunity to strengthen the momentum in the fight against plastic pollution in the Mediterranean initiated by civil society actors and carry out concrete projects together. »
White Paper “The BeMed Business Clubfor a plastic-free Mediterranean
Impacts
- A community of actors with diverse profiles (civil society, academia and business), dynamic and committed on the north and south shores
- A Business Club that will last thanks to an innovative governance model and financially committed stakeholders
- A Club that involves new companies every year
- A sustainable and constructive dialogue between scientists and companies to identify the most relevant solutions
- A first pilot project for a zero single-use plastic hotel is currently being implemented in Marseille.
Founding NGO and foundations
Companies
Members in total