Atlantic Area Maritime Decarbonisation Project Launches
Smartdec project kickoff meeting held in Brussels March 6th, 2024.Funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area Program, the Smartdec project held its kick-off meeting in Brussels on March 6th, 2024. The project, Smart Clusters for Maritime Decarbonisation, aims to accelerate and coordinate the adoption of emissions-reduction technologies by the maritime sector in the Atlantic Area.
All European partners involved in the 4 partner countries of the Atlantic area were in attendance, graciously hosted by the Pays de la Loire regional office in Brussels:
- Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique (coordinator)
- Universidade de Aveiro
- ATLANPOLE
- The Marine Institute
- Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe
- Clúster Marítimo-Marino de Andalucía
- Fórum Oceano – Associação da Economia do Mar
- Fundación Puerto y Ría de Bilbao
They are joined by a number of associated partners:
- Conseil régional de Bretagne
- Pays de la Loire Regional Council
- Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo
- Donegal County Council
- Surfrider Foundation Europe
This first in-person meeting allowed for partners to get to know one another and to draw up an action plan for the upcoming three years. The project began in January 2024 and will run through December 2026.
Fruitful discussions were held on the current landscape of decarbonisation in the Atlantic Area, strategies for engaging key stakeholders, and refining the scope of the project .
What’s next?
Smartdec aims to create and develop an Atlantic network of the maritime transport sector to provide the tools, knowledge and structure needed to rapidly meet the challenge of reducing the pollutant emissions of the waterborne transportation in the Atlantic Area (AA).
Organized into hubs with a quadruple helix approach, key players from the four regions involved will work to develop common strategies to achieve decarbonization of the shipping sector and stimulate innovation capabilities. The partners will also characterize the state-of-the-art in decarbonization innovations, and identify pilot technologies to be supported as part of the project.
The partners have launched the first phase of the project, identifying decarbonization initiatives and mapping key maritime players. Planning for the new platform is underway.
Follow the project’s progress via the project website and social media accounts.
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