The first virtual BLUE DEAL Testing Lab of the INTERREG MED BLUE DEAL project involved 37 participants from 7 countries

37 members of universities, sectoral agencies, business support organizations, SMEs, interests groups and national public authorities, gathered yesterday to celebrate the first virtual BLUE DEAL Testing Lab.

The BLUE DEAL TESTING LABs are 2 virtual workshops where partners cooperate to develop and test Blue Energy design and planning processes and implement open innovation initiatives for blue energy deployment in the Mediterranean Area. On June 16th the first Lab has been focused on Malta. A first attempt to test the possibility of including Blue Energy in the planning of coastal areas has been discussed among BLUE DEAL partners.

BLUE DEAL Labs (BDL) are events conceived to increase the knowledge related to the possibilities offered by the exploitation of marine energies and include participatory activities to develop concrete cooperation mechanisms between SMEs, public authorities, knowledge institutions and civil society, in line with MED investment priorities.

This event has been organized by BLUE DEAL, a European project made up of 13 partners from 7 Mediterranean countries (Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Croatia and Malta) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Instrument for the Pre-Accession Assistance Fund, with a budget of 2.8 million euros.

“BLUE DEAL derives from the previous experiences in the two Interreg Med projects MAESTRALE and PELAGOS, and aims to capitalize their results” comments Professor Simone Bastianoni, University of Siena, coordinator of the project. “We will show that planning an energy transition that includes Blue Energies is possible and we will give practical examples in several places in the Mediterranean area.”

This European project tries to increase innovative networks in the BE sector, establish links and synergies between SMEs, public institutions, universities, research centers, etc. and the general public to establish transnational and regional alliances.

Its main objective is to create a favorable environment for BE's investments and to develop sustainable actions in the Mediterranean economy.

To do this, over 32 months, the 13 project partners will carry out different actions for the inclusion and deployment of Blue Energy in maritime planning and governance, as well as overcoming technical and administrative restrictions in this area.

In addition, 3 BLUE DEAL Labs are planned (virtual or face-to-face when current circumstances allow it) to increase knowledge related to the possibilities offered by the exploitation of marine resources through the different technologies available; 9 Open Days to present the results of the project in a non-technical way to the general public, an International School Contest and 2 Business Forums.

In this sense, Open Innovation activities will be carried out to support innovative companies in this sector through “challenges” that will allow them to present their possible solutions to a series of real challenges.

The project has also recently launched its website (https://blue-deal.interreg-med.eu/) where it publishes all activities and news as well as information and events related to the sector. BLUE DEAL is also present on all social networks and has just sent out the first issue of its newsletter.