InnovaMare in Roadshow Rijeka and events in Venice and Brussels

InnovaMare strategic project in Roadshow Rijeka and in Interreg events „Our shared Blue Basin“ in Venice and an annual event “Interreg: better together” in Brussels 

Italy-Croatia, Rijeka hosted the 3rd InnovaMare Roadshow

Partners were focused on how to develop new Interreg projects to fight the Adriatic pollution by further involving maritime countries to implement the Blue Economy

Croatian and Italian partners of the InnovaMare strategic project came together in Rijeka for the 3rd Roadshow of the project, from Oct 24 to 26. The 3-day event showcased high-tech innovations reached after over two years of successful cross-border cooperation to promote a safer and more sustainable Adriatic sea. It also layed the foundations for new projects within the next 2021-2027 Interreg Programme aimed at further involving partners from the Adriatic region and strengthening the so-called “ecosystem of shared innovation” for a zero-polluted sea which is key to implementing the Blue Growth.

Organized by the Croatian Chamber of Economy, the leader of the project, and by the University of Rijeka, Department for Biotechnology, this event opened under the best auspices after the European Commission explicitly acknoledge the quality and usefulness of the project by selecting InnovaMare amongst many Interreg projects for showcasing in Brussels at the annual “Better Together” celebration (Oct 26 – 28).  Mateo Ivanac, InnovaMare project manager together with two project partners, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and CNR Ismar presented project with its achievments showing demonstrations of innovative solutions in marine industry. They have presented the project also to the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Mrs. Elisa Ferreira.

In the same time as the Roadshow Rijeka in Croatia has started, the annual event of Interreg Italy-Croatia in Venice, in Italy has also started (Oct 24-25). It was two day event „Our shared Blue Basin“ about new programm 21-27. Project InnovaMare with Lead partner representatives participated in this event, sharing ideas and the network for further activites. The Interreg Programm had strong support of Minister of Regional Development and Funds of the European Union, Nataša Tramišak.

In addition to a series of workshops on the theme of the Blue Economy, the 3rd Roadshow’s program included the movie projection (on Oct 25th) of “Blue Future”, a WWF production that turns the spotlights on the huge potential of the Mediterranean for sustainable growth and new jobs, followed by a “Blue Future” networking night in cooperation with WWF Adria. On Oct 26th the Croatian Faculty for Maritime Studies together with the Torpedo-based Center for marine Technologies organized practical “Bluetech demos” on how anti-pollution robots and sensors work focusing on how the public and private sectors could make the best use of them.

In the wake of European authorities’ appreciation, Italian and Croatian partners in Rijeka were keen to highlight crucial sea-saving and market-oriented innovations to leverage new potential partners (public sector, scientific world, and SMEs) ready to engage in transferring knowledge and jointly develop new project concepts. A “zero-pollution” long-term strategy to implement the Blue Economy in the Adriatic Region is just around the corner.