Second session of scientific-technical coordination of the Complementary Plan for R+D+i in Marine Sciences, at IHCantabria
Raúl Medina, Raquel Somavilla and Carlos Beltrán
Its objective is to know the current status of the projects that, within the framework of this Complementary Plan, are being developed at the IEO, at the University of Cantabria and IHCantabria
The Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria(IHCantabria) has hosted this morning the second scientific-technical session of the Complementary Plan of R+D+i in Marine Sciences, ThinkInAzul, under the coordination of the Government of Cantabria, through the Ministry of Universities, Equality, Culture and Sport.
For its execution, this Complementary Plan is financed by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities(MICIU), with funds from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan(PRTR), through the European NextGenerationEU funds. At the regional level, the institutions that contribute to the execution of this Plan also have contributions from their respective autonomous communities, in the seven that participate, which are: Andalusia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, the Community of Valencia, Galicia and the Region of Murcia: Andalusia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Valencian Community, Galicia and the Region of Murcia.
In the case of Cantabria, the funds come from the Government of Cantabria and the three institutions participating in this initiative are: the Oceanographic Center of Santander of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), the University of Cantabria(UC) and IHCantabria. During this second day, as in the first -held a year ago in the Auditorium of IHCantabria-, more than 80 researchers and representatives of these three Cantabrian centers participated.
Among the authorities of these institutions, participated: Raquel Somavilla (IEO-CSIC) scientific coordinator of the program in Cantabria; Raúl Medina, managing director of IHCantabria and vice president of the Foundation Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of Cantabria (FIHAC), and Carlos Beltrán, vice-rector of Research and Science Policy of the University of Cantabria.
“The Marine Sciences program in our community is proving to be a fundamental driving tool in the development of synergies between the lines of research and projects of the different participating entities, as well as with the business fabric, which would not have been possible without the implementation of these complementary plans.” This was stated by Raquel Somavilla, representing IEO-CSIC and as scientific coordinator of the Marine Sciences program in Cantabria. “Effectively we are now at the halfway point of the program, and all projects are already at full capacity in all institutions. These meetings serve to amplify the benefits and impact of the new knowledge and expertise that distinguishes UC, IHCantabria and IEO-CSIC,” added Somavilla.
In the words of Raúl Medina, managing director of IHCantabria, “these meetings are essential to detect synergies between the different projects and thus be able to give society better results and meet the objectives of the Plan precisely to establish collaborations in R&D&I actions. It is therefore a matter of creating synergies and aligning the execution of funds with common priorities,” says Raúl Medina, managing director of IHCantabria.
For his part, the vice-rector of Research and Science Policy of the University of Cantabria, Carlos Beltrán, emphasized that “the Complementary Plan for R+D+i in Marine Sciences, the collaboration between the State (through the Resilience and Recovery Mechanism, MRR) and the Community of Cantabria, fits perfectly with the MRR objectives and represents an opportunity to continue making our region a source of innovation and development in everything related to water and the oceans”.
During the second scientific-technical day of the Complementary Plan for R+D+i in Marine Sciences, the different research teams presented the progress achieved in the development of the almost 30 projects that are part of this Complementary Plan in Cantabria. In addition to confirming the fulfillment of the objectives of each research project, this event confirmed some synergies and opportunities for coordination among the various projects, which favors collaboration and optimization of the resources allocated to their execution.
Complementary Plan for R+D+i in Marine Sciences, ThinkInAzul
In a sustainable and cooperative manner, this Supplementary Plan addresses new challenges in marine research, aquaculture, new technologies, the blue economy and impacts on the marine environment. It constitutes the joint strategy of seven autonomous communities – Andalusia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Valencian Community, Galicia and Region of Murcia – in the field of research and innovation in Marine Sciences. With the implementation of this Complementary Plan, these seven communities intend to contribute to the promotion of science as a basis for decision-making in the field of public policy.
This Plan is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations; it also coincides with the approach of the Decade of the Oceans, whose motto is: “The science we need for the ocean we want”.
