On 9-10 May 2014, the PERSEUS project held an Interactive Stakeholder Consultation in Izmir, Turkey, in parallel with the GreInSus Congress. The focus of this consultation was on identifying barriers to 'Clean Seas by 2020' in relation to Tourism and Marine Litter. The 14 participants were carefully selected, including port authorities, coastal engineering companies, NGOs, etc from the Mediterranean Region.

The top barriers identified by the stakeholders were the lack of coastal and marine spatial planning and the low or lack of environmental awareness, while establishment of ‘best practice’ awards and innovative tools and methods for education and awareness were amongst the most popular solutions on the subject of Tourism, while on Marine Litter the stakeholders proposed that there should be more waste prevention (e.g. recycling) and innovative material.