Background
What can Portugal learn from Norway and Iceland on marine coproducts valorisation? How many coproducts do blue bioeconomy activities, such as aquaculture, generate in Portugal and how can the country monetize them by creating business opportunities and implement circular economy models?
That is what the EEA Grants project named Roadmap4MarineCoproducts aims to address. Based on the collaboration with key stakeholders from Norway and Iceland – two countries that operate on the vanguard of marine coproduct valorisation – Portugal will identify best business ideas and circular economy practices and try to implement them on the country’s seafood sector.
The initiative gathers strategic partners and their know-how through cross border collaboration such as the Norwegian Seafood Innovation Cluster (NCE Seafood Innovation) and the Iceland Ocean Cluster (IOC), and their associates, namely companies and other entities of their innovation ecosystems, and the Portuguese B2E CoLAB on a total of almost 200 entities.
About the project
Roadmap4MarineCoproducts is a Bilateral Initiative (BI) with a one-year implementation period (from January 1 to December 31, 2023) funded by the EEA Grants.
This initiative focuses on finding the challenges and opportunities within the marine coproduct valorisation sector, relevant for successfully steering the sector in Portugal.
The project will include visits and business knowledge exchange, and networking events with the participants’ institutions and innovation ecosystems.
Project goals
The main outcomes will be key information and partnerships to develop a beta version of a Portuguese strategic roadmap, with recommendations for, among others, new business models, new value chains, new technologies and processes, and new intermediary businesses.
Progress
The kick-off meeting of the project took place on January 10, a zoom gathering where the consortium members met and discussed several topics such as scheduling, tasks, responsibilities and KPI, all looking forward to making the most of this project and to accomplish its expected goals.
In May 2023, the collaborators visited Bergen at the One Ocean Week and participated in several events and activities.