Periodic Reporting for period 1 - COOL BLUE (COmmunity Ocean farms and Local Business cLUstErs)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-04-01 bis 2024-09-30
The Horizon Coordination and Support Action called "COOL BLUE: Community Ocean Farms and Local Business Clusters" will lay the groundwork for community-scale regenerative aquaculture businesses to stimulate local markets, reclaim their local cultural heritage and build social capital by restoring ecosystems in their local area. In the long term, establishing Producer / Interbranch Organisations and subsidies could be the key to making community-scale regenerative aquaculture commercially viable, with products and services across B2B, B2C and B2G channels such as biomass production or ecological restoration services. If Regenerative Ocean Farming is made accessible to small-medium scale farmers in numbers comparable to agriculture, it can significantly contribute to both ocean and soil restoration, climate adaptation as well as employment in remote coastal communities. This potential must be recognised by national governments, who must allocate opportunity areas in their respective maritime spatial plans for regenerative ocean farming to be tested, validated and scaled in an ecosystem-based approach.
Three demonstration sites were established in Copenhagen (DK), Gothenburg (SE) and Vaasa (FI) where regenerative ocean farming is demonstrated to target groups.
Completed milestones and deliverables:
MS1 Kick-off meeting complete
MS2 Management guidelines complete
MS3 Business stakeholder list complete
MS4 Selection of monitoring techniques for citizen science data collection
MS5 Website and visual identity online
MS6 Stakeholder list complete
MS7 3x Regional Kick Off meetings
MS11 Draft results of mapping and interviews
MS13 Draft versions of business models selected
MS10 First draft of regenerative ocean farming manifesto
MS9 Digital map and community profiles online
MS12 Selection of 3-5 species suitable for low salinity farming
MS17 30 commercial actors engaged in the project (10 from each region)
MS15 Educational activities evaluation
MS18 Evaluation of community outreach activities
MS8 Protocols and infrastructure for citizen science data sampling in place
D4.3 Visual Identity Package & Dissemination Toolkit
D5.4 Project management plan and guidelines
D4.1 Communication, Dissemination, Exploitation & Followup Plan (CDEFP)
D4.2 Segmented stakeholder lists
D4.4 Project Website and Online Repository
D5.1 Data Management Plan (DMP)
D6.1 OEI - Requirement No. 1
D3.1 Regulatory assessment and policy recommendations targeting relevant authorities and institutions in each pilot region
D1.1 Stakeholder list of existing commercial initiatives, value chain actors and potential buyers relevant to regenerative ocean farming in 3 pilot regions
D2.1 Digital map of existing community initiatives relevant to regenerative ocean farming
D2.2 Regenerative Ocean Farming Manifesto
D1.2 Summary of interviews, surveys and market analysis to understand the needs and gaps where regenerative ocean farming can have the most socio-economic impact
D3.2 Factsheets (M12) on candidate species for low-salinity cultivation in community ocean farms, targeting local authorities and community groups in the pilot regions, with a full report and protocol in M34
D5.2 1st updated DMP
D6.2 OEI - Requirement No. 2
Completed milestones and deliverables:
MS1 Kick-off meeting complete
MS2 Management guidelines complete
MS3 Business stakeholder list complete
MS4 Selection of monitoring techniques for citizen science data collection
MS5 Website and visual identity online
MS6 Stakeholder list complete
MS7 3x Regional Kick Off meetings
MS11 Draft results of mapping and interviews
MS13 Draft versions of business models selected
MS10 First draft of regenerative ocean farming manifesto
MS9 Digital map and community profiles online
MS12 Selection of 3-5 species suitable for low salinity farming
MS17 30 commercial actors engaged in the project (10 from each region)
MS15 Educational activities evaluation
MS18 Evaluation of community outreach activities
MS8 Protocols and infrastructure for citizen science data sampling in place
D4.3 Visual Identity Package & Dissemination Toolkit
D5.4 Project management plan and guidelines
D4.1 Communication, Dissemination, Exploitation & Followup Plan (CDEFP)
D4.2 Segmented stakeholder lists
D4.4 Project Website and Online Repository
D5.1 Data Management Plan (DMP)
D6.1 OEI - Requirement No. 1
D3.1 Regulatory assessment and policy recommendations targeting relevant authorities and institutions in each pilot region
D1.1 Stakeholder list of existing commercial initiatives, value chain actors and potential buyers relevant to regenerative ocean farming in 3 pilot regions
D2.1 Digital map of existing community initiatives relevant to regenerative ocean farming
D2.2 Regenerative Ocean Farming Manifesto
D1.2 Summary of interviews, surveys and market analysis to understand the needs and gaps where regenerative ocean farming can have the most socio-economic impact
D3.2 Factsheets (M12) on candidate species for low-salinity cultivation in community ocean farms, targeting local authorities and community groups in the pilot regions, with a full report and protocol in M34
D5.2 1st updated DMP
D6.2 OEI - Requirement No. 2
The project so far has resulted in the establishment of a network of regenerative ocean farming initiatives across Northern Europe. Within this network, fishers are already experimenting with cultivation of seaweeds bivalves.
When it comes to assessing feasibility of regenerative ocean farming in the Baltic and North Seas, the following conclusions have so far been drawn:
Barriers:
• The licensing and regulation of ROF sites is unclear and therefore a bottleneck to economic development
• Social awareness of ROF’s benefits is low
• There are currently few ROF production lines and value chains in place
Opportunities:
• Existing fishers are in a unique position to become ROF practitioners
• ROF can provide employment and bring new economic (incl. spin-off) activities to rural coastal areas
• Dedicated licensing at multiple scales will enable a rapid uptake of ROF
• ROF can be both a non-commercial, or commercial activity for biomass production, education or bioremediation
Where ROF can have the most socioeconomic impact
Based on the above, in the short term, ROF can have the most socioeconomic impact as economic diversification in line with climate goals. It can keep the existing small-scale EU fishing fleet in work, create opportunities for young people as well as in transnational value chain development. It is crucial that licensing and allocation of marine space for demonstration-scale ROF sites are simplified to develop production and distribution lines. These proof-of-concept sites will then allow regulators and policymakers to extrapolate the number of jobs and GVA generated by ROF practitioners. They can also serve as showcase sites to raise social awareness and generate market demand for ROF products.
Recommendations
• To fund the co-development of a dedicated licensing and regulatory framework for ROF at multiple scales
• To allocate space in marine spatial plans for experimentation and business development
• To continue to collect data on impacts of ROF and develop a common monitoring framework
When it comes to assessing feasibility of regenerative ocean farming in the Baltic and North Seas, the following conclusions have so far been drawn:
Barriers:
• The licensing and regulation of ROF sites is unclear and therefore a bottleneck to economic development
• Social awareness of ROF’s benefits is low
• There are currently few ROF production lines and value chains in place
Opportunities:
• Existing fishers are in a unique position to become ROF practitioners
• ROF can provide employment and bring new economic (incl. spin-off) activities to rural coastal areas
• Dedicated licensing at multiple scales will enable a rapid uptake of ROF
• ROF can be both a non-commercial, or commercial activity for biomass production, education or bioremediation
Where ROF can have the most socioeconomic impact
Based on the above, in the short term, ROF can have the most socioeconomic impact as economic diversification in line with climate goals. It can keep the existing small-scale EU fishing fleet in work, create opportunities for young people as well as in transnational value chain development. It is crucial that licensing and allocation of marine space for demonstration-scale ROF sites are simplified to develop production and distribution lines. These proof-of-concept sites will then allow regulators and policymakers to extrapolate the number of jobs and GVA generated by ROF practitioners. They can also serve as showcase sites to raise social awareness and generate market demand for ROF products.
Recommendations
• To fund the co-development of a dedicated licensing and regulatory framework for ROF at multiple scales
• To allocate space in marine spatial plans for experimentation and business development
• To continue to collect data on impacts of ROF and develop a common monitoring framework