A boost for maritime research capacity
The aim of the REMCAP (Resource efficient maritime capacity) project was to improve the resource efficiency of Europe's maritime resource exploitation activities. The consortium brought together world-class EU researchers to accelerate innovation for sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors – so-called Blue Growth. Project partners built upon the earlier EMSAC project. Focused on marine science applications, the EMSAC initiative increased understanding of how marine regional research clusters can best stimulate capacity to supply growing marine markets. The initiative identified priority Blue Growth markets in the marine and maritime sectors. It also ensured that centres of research and engineering were fully engaged with business, finance providers and policymakers. Furthermore, the team created an evidence base to justify investment in these areas and target public and private sector funding. Key infrastructure was identified and an online database of relevant research projects and facilities created to help ensure past investment was fully utilised. Gaps in the provision of research activities and facilities were also highlighted to become Smart Specialisation areas for potential investment by regional or local authorities. This formed the basis for analysing the key technology platforms that could support innovative products and services and for identifying critical areas of additional research and technology development investment. In this way, project partners were able to assess the innovation priorities capable of fast tracking business investment in Blue Growth markets. The consortium also showed how maritime clusters could be improved by examining their strengths and weaknesses and by facilitating their access to finance. Moreover, the project highlighted the importance of cluster organisation, with coordinated cluster activities. The initiative thus helped clusters share ideas on how they should operate, based on currently existing models. The development and implementation of regional strategic plans will mean a growing need to build strong relationships among European maritime clusters. Therefore, REMCAP explored how this could be achieved in a sustainable way. This includes initiating the development of key strategic relationships outside of Europe, thereby providing greater knowledge of and access to global markets. REMCAP highlighted opportunities for involvement within and across European clusters and the potential for wider international cooperation. The innovation capacity generated by the consortium will support implementation of future research and innovation programmes and reinforce the specialist capabilities of each cluster region.
Keywords
Maritime, resource-efficient, REMCAP, Blue Growth, maritime clusters
