Directors of IHCantabria participate in the final day of Blue Growth projects and in the annual meeting of the Spanish Network of Knowledge Spaces

On Tuesday, September 26th, two events of great relevance for the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria(IHCantabria) were held in Madrid. In the morning, the final day of the Blue Growth projects and, in the afternoon, the second Annual Meeting of the Spanish Network of Knowledge Spaces (REEC, by its acronym in Spanish), a forum for the transmission of knowledge among the entities that collaborate in the promotion of the blue economy.

At the invitation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA, by its acronym in Spanish), IHCantabria’s Director of Training and Professor at the University of Cantabria, José Juanes de la Peña, and IHCantabria’s Director of Technology Transfer, Francisco Royano, participated in these two events.

The final day of the Blue Growth projects was aimed at presenting the final results of 5 projects that were financed within the framework of the Royal Decree 1155/2021, of December 28th, which are specialized in blue growth in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. One of the beneficiary projects is the ‘Inter-territorial Atlantic Platform for Sustainable Blue Growth (PLATICAS)’. José Juanes de la Peña, IHCantabria’s coordinator and Training Director, spoke about the final results of this project.

The 5 projects received grants managed by the Subdirectorate General for Economic Sustainability and Social Affairs, through calls for proposals under Investment 8 (Plan to promote sustainability, research, innovation and digitalization of the fishing sector), under Component 3 (Environmental and digital transformation of the agri-food and fishing system) and under the Plan for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience of the Spanish Economy.

During her speech, the Secretary General for Fisheries, Isabel Artime, highlighted the value of blue growth projects, since they are “decisive for improving the sustainability and profitability of the fishing and aquaculture sector”. According to Artime, these initiatives contribute to the modernization of the sector, resulting in a more competitive and environmentally friendly activity. She also underscored its commitment to the sustainability and health of the seas and oceans, as well as its contribution to job and wealth creation. For these reasons, Artime assured that fishing “deserves special support from the ministry to facilitate generational replacement and its progress in the new era of digitalization and decarbonization”.

Blue growth projects

These projects are financed by the Plan for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience of the Spanish Economy (PRTR), in the lines that seek to improve the sustainability, research, innovation and digitalization of the fishing and aquaculture sector, as well as its technological development and environmental transformation.

The grants for the different projects are aimed at the creation of public-private partnerships to implement initiatives that serve as catalysts for blue economy processes. 1.8 million, for initiatives that include activities throughout the processing and marketing chain in the fishing and aquaculture sectors.

Annual Meeting of the Spanish Network of Knowledge Spaces

The second annual REEC meeting was coordinated by Silvia Solís, Deputy Director General for Economic Sustainability and Social Affairs. Its objective was to generate a debate between the Ministry and the Network’s partners to define its strategy and the scope of collaborations for 2024. In addition to giving continuity to some of the initiatives already implemented in the projects executed, new collaboration proposals were discussed.

The “Knowledge Spaces” are structures that act as catalytic instruments for progress towards a blue economy in extractive fishing, marine and inland aquaculture, processing and marketing. These are public and private entities, mainly universities and technology centers, which form nodes in a territory or sector segment.