Bioeconomy for Blue Growth in the Baltic Sea Region – a platform project to capitalize on the outputs of complementary transnational projects

Blue Platform

PROGRAMME 2014-2020

priority

2 Natural resources

objective

2.4 Blue growth

Blue Platform

The Blue Platform promotes results from eleven blue bioeconomy projects from Interreg, BONUS and Horizon2020 for authorities, business development organisations and companies as well as national and regional EU funding programmes dealing with blue growth. To improve the framework conditions for blue bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea region, the Blue Platform compiles a manual with joint standards for blue bioeconomy interventions, a Blue Platform Roadmap 2020, and policy papers on the alignment of funding and legislation.

Project summary

Advancing the Bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea: the Blue Platform Project

The blue bioeconomy covers activities that are based on the sustainable use of renewable aquatic resources, such as aquaculture, mussel and algae farming or marine biotechnology. Such activities are crucial to achieving blue growth, which meaning that maritime sectors are both environmentally and economically sustainable. Luckily, many actors across the Baltic Sea region are already very active in these sectors, and a wealth of past and on-going blue bioeconomy projects and products is available.

Increasing awareness and capacity

Blue Platform increases the awareness of existing blue bioeconomy knowledge in the Baltic, and focuses on streamlining activities both now and in the future. The platform partners develop a manual with common standards; policy papers on how funding and legislation could be better aligned; and develop a Blue Platform Roadmap 2020. The project website features more than 25 past and on-going transnational products developed by more than 10 projects database of baltic blue bioeconomy activities, projects, products and actors and is continuously updated: For example, a natural sunscreen extracted from organic seaweed produced by a Danish company; a Lithuanian start-up using Baltic Sea mollusk shells to prepare artificial bone tissue; a Swedish municipality developing a new type of fish feed from seaweed washed ashore.

Become involved with the Blue Platform!

The Blue Platform is leading the Baltic Blue Bioeconomy Community through a dynamic website and web-based products, as well as by bringing people together face-to-face. Meet the project platform partners at one of the seven transnational workshops during the Blue Platform Roadshow, follow #BluePlatform on social media or visit the website.

Projects represented in the platform

Interreg Baltic Sea Region: ALLIANCE | Baltic Blue Growth | BalticLINes | Smart Blue Regions | Go LNG | BalticRIM
Interreg Central Baltic: Plan4Blue
Interreg South Baltic: InnoAquaTech
Interreg North Sea Region: BIOCAS
BONUS: Blue WEBS
H2020: MUSES
EMFF: Baltic SCOPE | PanBaltic SCOPE

details

Budgets

Blue Platform
in numbers

1.05

Million

Total
0.79

Million

Erdf
0.05

Million

Eni + Russia
0.00

Million

Norway

Highlights by mid-term

The partners structured the knowledge from numerous EU funded projects along eight topics: mussels, blue biotechnology, aquaculture, macro-algae, maritime spatial planning, multi-use, marine litter, maritime cultural heritage at its hub https://www.submariner-network.eu/all-topics. They continued the development of a good practice manual on Baltic blue bioeconomy products, services and processes. More than 30 experts on the blue bioeconomy around the Baltic Sea shared what made these products, services or processes tested in the projects successful and how they could be used by other organisations like municipalities, companies, networks in the region.

The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region coordinator of policy area Bioeconomy / Fisheries was active in the platform activities, among others working on a policy paper to support national and regional public authorities dealing with EU financial support from different EU funds for the blue bioeconomy post 2020 on the national level in the Baltic Sea region countries.

Outputs

Project Stories

03.08.2021

Low-carbon mobility solutions to green our future

In line with the EU’s climate neutrality target, our Programme supported several initiatives tackling the diverse challenges faced by the Baltic Sea region’s transport sector. We united our efforts to make our region more accessible, better connected and less polluted, ultimately improving the overall mobility experience in the area while protecting the environment. Read how Interreg Go LNG, BSR electric and Sohjoa Baltic have contributed to green mobility and innovation in transport sectors in the region.
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11.05.2021

How water-smart ideas make the Baltic Sea region thrive

From a rich marine life to beautiful vacation places, the Baltic Sea offers numerous resources that can be exploited to boost the economic growth of the region without harming its ecosystem. Interreg Baltic Sea Region funded multiple cooperation projects that have contributed to a sustainable and innovative blue economy. Good and successful examples of smart blue initiatives include ALLIANCE, Baltic Blue Growth, Capacity4MSP and Blue Platform.
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30.09.2020

Great project pictures that tell great Interreg stories!

More than seventy pictures competed in the Interreg Baltic Sea Region photo competition. Which projects were the best in illustrating transnational cooperation, grasping the essence of a project and its result, and presenting the 30th anniversary of Interreg? Congratulations to the teams of BalticRIM, RESQU2, Baltic Game Industry, EcoDesign Circle and GoSmart BSR!
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15.07.2019

Coherent planning of shipping and offshore energy across borders with Baltic LINes

The Baltic Sea experiences an increasing demand for coherent spatial planning in order to bring shipping routes and offshore renewable energy infrastructure together. Project partners from nine countries worked across borders to tackle the challenge of scarce space available and competing economic interests of the different sectors active in and around the Baltic Sea in the Interreg project Baltic LINes.
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13.06.2018

Jointly creating sustainable products from a shared sea

Red algae growing in the Baltic Sea are the special feature of facial creams in the Estonian cosmetics line Berrichi. But what’s more, it is the first product developed with the support of the Interreg-funded expert network ALLIANCE. The ALLIANCE is a European cooperation project and a flagship of the EU Strategy of the Baltic Sea Region. It brings together blue biotechnology actors from around the Baltic Sea to create new products and services.
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13.03.2018

Helping spatial planners see the cultural heritage of the sea

The Interreg project BalticRIM integrates maritime cultural heritage of the Baltic Sea into maritime spatial plans to safeguard it for the future. Matthias Maluck from the State Archaeological Department of Schleswig-Holstein explains what maritime cultural heritage is and why and how it should be preserved. BalticRIM frames cultural heritage of individual countries in a transnational perspective and thus delivers territorial cohesion.
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23.02.2018

Think local, act global with Interreg! (Video)

Along with introducing strict EU environmental regulations to counteract air pollution in harbour cities, the maritime and transport industries in the Baltic Sea region turn towards alternative fuel and energy sources to reduce harmful emissions. The Interreg project Go LNG explores the demand and accessibility of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as one of alternative fuels that leads to cleaner shipping.
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20.12.2016

ALLIANCE plays matchmaker in blue biotechnology value chain

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20.12.2016

Making legal requirement accessible to establish an environmentally friendly aquaculture in the baltic sea

Establishing environmentally friendly mussel aquaculture requires to follow necessary legal obligations in the EU. The project Baltic Blue Growth is making a concerted effort in explaining these requirements to its projects partners and others who are interested in pushing forward mussel aquaculture in the Baltic Sea.
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