MARINE project involves the development of a comprehensive mechanism combining capacity building and institutional development for marine ecosystem monitoring, capitalizing on the relevant expertise and know-how from EU higher education institutions and organizations. The institutional development component includes mainly the creation of equipped labs and infrastructure in each partner country that will allow the monitoring of marine ecosystems to be initiated according to recognized protocols and to be continued after the end of the project at the participating HEIs in all Partner Countries, while the capacity building component consists of the combination of:- Theoretical training via distance learning and face-to-face teaching in each partner country - Practical training in marine ecosystem monitoring in each partner country and in EU countries