As part of the Interreg MED 2014-20 “Blue Bio Med” strategic innovation project, ART-ER is organising a series of online multi-stakeholder workshops on innovation in sustainable aquaculture. Mediterranean aquaculture is an increasingly important contributor to sea food production and to economic growth in coastal regions, having the potential to balance the decrease of fishery landing and the trade gap – as underlined in the last UfM report, the majority of Mediterranean countries are seafood net importer - contributing to food security in the region.
Three hands-on meetings are planned where participants will have the opportunity to meet, discuss, ideate, ..., while tackling a key question: "How can different innovations (technology/social/business/policy-related) be promoted through interregional and transnational cooperation, to tackle the systemic challenge of sustainable aquaculture in the Mediterranean, in front of a growing global demand for food?"
These workshops are a ground for open dialogue; a unique chance for actors of the Med aquaculture innovation ecosystems to gather among peers, bringing their diverse point of view in the discussion.
The learnings from the workshops will feed into a model of governance of innovation policies suitable to tackle the challenges of sustainable development in the blue bioeconomy in the Mediterranean region.
The outcomes of this collective work on sustainable aquaculture will contribute as well to build the premises for a wider innovation alliance for the Mediterranean blue bioeconomy aligned with the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Participation is by invitation only. We invite interested innovation stakeholders from the quadruple helix (government, research and education, business, civil society) currently dealing with marine aquaculture in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries (SEMCs) to get in contact with ART-ER writing an email to arianna.cecchi@art-er.it and stefano.valentini@art-er.it.
The results will be shared through the project channels and on this platform by the end of the cycle.
The envisaged structure of the meetings is the following:
· Launch event. 28 September 2021, 10-12 CET.
A short seminar to introduce the project goals, explain how the activities in the two following workshops will be organised and, most importantly, start creating a community of people and organisations around the subject of sustainable aquaculture.
· 1st workshop. Building a common vision. 13 October 2021, 9-13 CET.
A participative workshop to: set a common ground and a shared vision on sustainable aquaculture challenges in the Mediterranean (Governance, Environment, Social, Economics aspects); identify critical points, needs and opportunities from the participants.
· 2nd workshop. Explore innovation potentials. 25 October 2021, 9-13 CET
A co-creation workshop to analyse sustainable aquaculture innovation opportunities, from the perspective of three levers of change:
- technical innovation
- innovation through cooperation
- knowledge-related innovation