IHCantabria is making significant progress with its Marine Science Program

The Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria) has developed, in 2023, 15 projects within its Marine Science Program (PCM), which will continue in 2024. The PCM is framed within the Complementary Plan for R+D+i in Marine Sciences, ThinkInAzul, which is funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and by the autonomous communities of: Andalusia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Valencian Community, Galicia and the Region of Murcia.

The Marine Science Supplemental Plan is aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Decade of Oceans initiative. Its objectives are to address new challenges in marine research, aquaculture, new technologies, the blue economy and impacts on the marine environment, in a sustainable and cooperative manner.

To identify synergies and collaborations among the various projects and entities participating in the Complementary Plan, IHCantabria organized several events during 2023. On May 8, this institute brought together in Santander the scientific-technical coordinators of the seven autonomous communities that make up the Plan.

Previously, in April 2023, IHCantabria hosted the first scientific-technical conference of the Complementary Plan of Cantabria. Personnel from the Cantabrian research groups involved in this initiative participated in the conference: from the Santander center of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), from several departments of the Universidad de Cantabria (UC) and from IHCantabria.

The execution of the Complementary Plan for R&D&I in Marine Sciences is carried out in three lines of action: 1) observation and monitoring of the marine and coastal environment; 2) sustainable, intelligent and precision aquaculture, and 3) blue economy. Its implementation aims to promote science as a basis for decision-making in the field of public policy. IHCantabria contributes to strategic lines 1 and 3, through the 15 projects that make up its Marine Science Program (PCM).

“At IHCantabria we are working on two of these strategic lines: monitoring and the blue economy. We are doing work that is on the edge of science; for example, a digital twin of the coast, to help understand the impact of climate change on beaches, or a digital twin of wind turbines, to study the fatigue of these generators, in the long term. We are also analyzing problems with artificial intelligence, to help in the fight against marine pollution and to better analyze the evolution of the coast. We are developing programs to reduce the problem of marine litter, such as plastic, in coastal areas, and we are making a ‘marketplace’, so that all the data we generate will be useful for society and for companies.” This is explained by Raul Medina, General Manager of IHCantabria.

IHCantabria’s contribution with 15 PCM projects

Below are the titles of the 15 IHCantabria projects that make up its PCM, and links to news items detailing information on each project:

1. Adaptation of urban coastal areas to climate change through flexible adaptation strategies (ADAPTA CITY)
2. Analysis of the Effect of Vegetation Entrapment on the Transport and Dispersal of Plastic Debris in Estuaries (ARES)
3. Coastal Machine Learning (AutoCos)
4. Cantabria Smart Litoral.
5. Advancing the Understanding of Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Functioning Through Spectral Analysis (DIES)
6. Scientific-technical basis of a digital twin for coastal climate change risk analysis and adaptation (GDICOAST)
7. Global Ocean Surge (GOS-GLOBAL)
8. IH-DATA UPDATE
9. Shoreline Evolution Tools (IH-SET)
10. Towards the Implementation of Ecosystem-based Solutions as Coastal Adaptation Measures (IMECO)
11. Intelligent Digital Strategy for Civil Floating Structures (INTELLIGENT)
12. Operational system for the prediction of oceanographic variables and the prevention and management of marine pollution in coastal environments (MARION).
13. Plan Bahia
14. Development of advanced ecological modeling techniques for coastal ecosystems (SimuLIT).
15. Analysis of scour on unique offshore wind farm structures (SOCAVA)

Complementary Plan for R+D+i in Marine Sciences, ThinkInAzul

This is a joint strategy of seven autonomous communities for research, development and innovation in marine sciences. Its objective is to address, in a sustainable and cooperative manner, new challenges in the marine, aquaculture, new technologies and blue economy fields.

For its execution, this Complementary Plan is financed by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIN), with funds from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), through NextGenerationEU funds, in addition to contributions from the autonomous communities.

The complementary plan projects are a clear example of how European reconstruction funds are contributing to the development of science, technology and innovation in Cantabria.