International Bootcamp to Boost Innovation in the Atlantic Area

An exciting event will take place this month in Brussels which will support Blue Economy innovation in Atlantic Area countries Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland and the UK. The International Bootcamp, "Blue Economy in the Atlantic Area – the role of Academia, Industry and Policy Stakeholders for fostering innovation in the Atlantic Area", will bring together expert stakeholders to evaluate the main transnational needs and opportunities in specific areas of the Blue Economy.

Climate Change and Environment

© AquaTT

The Blue Economy represents all economic activities related to oceans, seas and coastal areas and includes industries such as fishing, shipbuilding, tourism and ocean energy. This growing sector is hugely important to Europe, and currently provides jobs for nearly 3.5 million people, and is particularly relevant to Atlantic Area countries. However, investments in innovation are needed to create new business opportunities and foster sustainable management of ocean and sea resources.

EMPORIA4KT is an EU Interreg Atlantic Area European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project, consisting of 14 partners from 5 European countries in the Atlantic Area. The project is working to forge links between the triple helix players of academia, business and government, to foster innovation and competitiveness in support of the Blue Economy in the Atlantic Area. This Bootcamp is one of the project's tailored activities to support these aims.

The International Bootcamp was preceded by national bootcamps held in each of the aforementioned countries, where experts discussed the Blue Economy in their respective regions. Twenty of these experts, alongside EU representatives, will now meet in Brussels to exchange their ideas in relation to the Atlantic Area as a whole.

The participants will profile and validate the main identified barriers of communication and relationships between the triple helix players, and share best practices on R&D, technology transfer and innovation promotion initiatives (financial and policy). They will also seek to identify the current constraints for innovation.

These discussions will inform the next steps of the EMPORIA4KT project and help with the development of tools that will assist academic researchers to upgrade their skills in knowledge transfer and innovation. It will also guide the consortium on providing input into policymaking at regional, national and transnational level.

The EMPORIA4KT International Bootcamp will take place on 12 December in Brussels, Belgium. To keep up to date with this and other project events please follow @EMPORIA4KT on Twitter and visit the project website www.emporia4kt.com

For press enquiries, please contact Communications and Press Officer Rebecca Doyle at [e-mail] or contact Project Coordinator António Grilo at [e-mail] for more information on the project.

Notes for the editor
The EMPORIA4KT project will run from 2019 – 2022 with an overall budget of approximately €2.2 million. EMPORIA4KT (EAPA_842/2018) is funded by the European Union's Interreg Atlantic Area European Regional Development Fund.
EMPORIA4KT is coordinated by Universidade Nova de Lisboa – Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (Nova School of Science and Technology). AquaTT is the project communication and dissemination partner. The project involves partners from Portugal, Ireland, France, Spain and the United Kingdom - NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon (FCT NOVA), Fundación Centro de las Nuevas Tecnologías del Agua (CENTA), Frontier IP Group PLC (FIP), AquaTT UETP CLG (AquaTT), Agrocampus Ouest – Site de Begmeil (AOB), International Campus of Excellence of the Sea (CEIMAR), Strane Innovation S.A.S. (STRANE), Technopole Quimper-Cornouaille (TQC), Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (CTA), Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Direção-Geral de Recursos Naturais, Segurança e Serviços Marítimos (DGRM), Agencia Andaluza del Conocimiento (AAC) and Údarás na Gaeltachta (ÚnaG). Working collaboratively across these countries will enable the share of resources and knowledge by five countries with significant interest in the sustainable exploitation of marine resources.

The views in this press release are the views of the author and do not reflect the views of the European Union.

Keywords

Interreg, Knowledge transfer, blue economy, training