Last 10 and 11 February, partners of the Interreg Euro-MED project BLUE ECOSYSTEM met in Athens to fine-tune the structure of what will become one of the project’s defining milestones: The BLUE ECOMATCH event. BLUE ECOMATCH is not just another event but the moment when innovation meets opportunity in the Mediterranean blue economy.
- From regional challenges to 106 concrete solutions
The BLUE ECOSYSTEM project aims to foster innovation in the blue economy across the Mediterranean. Following the organisation of regional co-creation workshops to identify key territorial challenges, a total of 106 innovative solutions were submitted across the eight participating regions of the project. These solutions tackle pressing Mediterranean priorities such from sustainable tourism, aquaculture and fisheries, renewable marine energy, circular bioeconomy and water scarcity. What about a sneak peek of the innovative ideas received?
Albania (National approach)
Smart coastal routes that combine sustainability and digital tools.
Alentejo
An Agri-food bioeconomy project based on the sustainable production of “plant-based salt” from Salicornia plant.
Balearic Islands
The creation of the Women of the Sea Association
Cyprus
The development of a game aimed at both children and adults to introduce players in the water cycle, the challenge of water scarcity, and practical methods of water conservation and management.
Emilia Romagna
The conversion of organic waste into microalgal biomass for blue economy sustainable supply chains.
Greece (National approach)
The design and evaluation of an autonomous, floating, hybrid marine litter collection system utilizing offshore wind energy
Occitanie-Région Sud-PACA
A Hardware solution and digital management tool to monitor water consumption and take action on the network in the event of a leak or other need for remote shut off.
Zadar County
A circular initiative to track, collect and recycle used fishing gear, reducing marine plastic pollution and preventing ghost nets.
Stay tuned as in the coming months, we will launch a dedicated section showcasing all submitted solutions, accompanied by a catalogue to make them easier to explore, connect and replicate across the Mediterranean.
From this pool of ideas, two solutions per region will be selected to participate in BLUE ECOMATCH, taking place on 28–29 April in Marseille. Fully aligned with the objectives of the EU Mission Ocean and the Mediterranean Pact, the event will act as a Mediterranean matchmaking event to advance concrete, scalable responses to shared regional challenges. By connecting innovators with public authorities, investors and blue economy actors, the BLUE ECOMATCH event will contribute to pollution reduction, ecosystem restoration and the sustainable and innovative transformation of the blue economy, while fostering cross-border cooperation and mobilising investment across the Mediterranean basin.
- Unlocking funding and synergies
The meeting also welcomed Christina Deligianni, Policy Officer at VERIMPACT, who presented funding opportunities for the blue economy in Europe. VERIMPACT specialises in identifying and supporting access to EU funding instruments, including Horizon Europe, LIFE and other financial mechanisms, helping innovative initiatives move from pilot to scale.
Also, Loukia Prentza & Haris Paliogiannis, representing the Interreg Euro-MED Innovative Sustainable Economy Mission. They presented the ISE Community Mentoring & Twinning Programme, a flagship initiative that fosters the transfer, adaptation, and replication of sustainable and innovative practices across the Mediterranean. Coordinated by MIO-ECSDE with the support of Community4Innovation partners, it focuses on capacity building, cross-regional cooperation, and the capitalisation of Thematic Projects’.
Stay tuned to BLUE ECOSYSTEM social media for real-time updates: LinkedIn or website
For further information about the project, please contact jordi.juarez@crpm.org
