BONUS, the joint Baltic Sea research and development programme to protect the Baltic Sea worth of EUR 100 million, was launched in 2010 with the support of the European Parliament to the European council's decision.
BONUS aim to bring together the research communities of marine, maritime, economical and societal research to address the major challenges faced by the Baltic Sea region, as full understanding of the Baltic Sea system is needed.
The BONUS programme is based on its strategic research agenda - backbone - on which all the BONUS calls and hence the projects funded are based on. It has been developed together with over 800 stakeholders across the region including scientists, policy makers and funders in order to ensure that the knowledge produced is fit-for-purpose and well communicated to those who really need it. The BONUS strategic research agenda focuses on five strategic objectives dealing with ecosystem, coast and catchment area, marine goods and services, societal responses, and observation and data management.