Working together to co-organise a hybrid event in Barcelona, three cooperation projects from the Mediterranean area promoted the importance of the emerging field of Circular Blue Economy to address cross-border environmental and social challenges related to the maritime sectors.

On May 10, 2022, the SwitchMed programme, the Interreg MED Blue Growth Community and the Interreg MED BLUEfasma modular project co-organised a hybrid capitalisation event entitled “Fostering Circular Blue Economy in the Mediterranean” in Barcelona and online. The event was the occasion to launch a report on the integration of Circular Economy in the Blue Economy sectors in the Mediterranean.

It was co-developed by MedWaves (former SCP/RAC) and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), with the support of Plan Bleu, as part of the abovementioned projects’ activities. Furthermore, the agenda included two plenary panels gathering stakeholders to reflect on opportunities for blue circular economy in fisheries and aquacultures, on the one hand, and on nautical tourism and port activities, on the other. The event was organised back-to-back to a brokerage session on Smart Specialisation Strategies in the blue biotechnologies sector organised by DG MARE on May 9.

The opening of the event gathered representatives from key Euro-Mediterranean institutions, including the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Mediterranean Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP MAP), the Union for the Mediterranean, the BLUEMED initiative, as well as DG MARE. It was facilitated by Mr George Alexakis, Crete’s Regional Councillor in charge of European & International Affairs and CPMR Vice-President for Maritime Affairs, on behalf of the CPMR.

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