SMARTDEC French workshop gathers maritime stakeholders in Lorient

Held on Thursday 12 February at the Lorient Congress Centre during Ocean BtoB, the SMARTDEC French stakeholder workshop brought together more than 30 participants to discuss challenges, needs, and opportunities related to maritime decarbonisation.

The workshop was hosted by the Pôle Mer Bretagne Atlantique, coordinator of the SMARTDEC project, together with Atlanpole. It forms part of the project’s stakeholder interaction and mapping activities, which include four local workshops organised across the Atlantic partner countries, one in each country.

Engaging stakeholders and validating sector priorities

The session aimed to engage regional stakeholders, present the objectives and activities of the SMARTDEC project, and support the identification and validation of sector priorities linked to maritime decarbonisation.

It also strengthened dialogue and cooperation among actors involved in maritime transport, port infrastructure, technology, research, and innovation across the region.

A diverse maritime ecosystem represented

The workshop brought together stakeholders from port authorities, maritime and logistics activities, infrastructure and technology providers, research and innovation organisations, public and private institutions, and advisory bodies.

Participants represented a broad spectrum of maritime-related sectors, including:

• maritime transport and port infrastructure
• offshore and naval industries
• energy and environment
• digital and embedded technologies
• data acquisition, instrumentation, engineering, and research
• biotechnology, underwater imaging, and aquaculture

A wide range of professional roles was also represented, from senior executives and company directors to engineers, researchers, consultants, and financial specialists.

Expert contributions structuring the discussions

Four expert speakers introduced the thematic areas explored during the workshop:

• Gwenaelle Benoit (EKIUM) – Decarbonisation solutions
• Frédéric Le Guillou (GO Capital) – Investment perspectives
• Corinne Fournier (Banque Populaire Grand Ouest) – Maritime finance
• Emmanuel-Marie Peton (MEET2050) – Partnerships and ecosystem collaboration

Their contributions provided contextual insights that supported the collaborative discussions.

Collaborative work across four key themes

Participants then joined a 1 hour 45 minute facilitated group session, using paperboards and sticky notes to structure discussions.

Work focused on four thematic areas:

• financial ecosystem for the green maritime transition
• collaboration for localised and high-impact innovation
• regulatory and policy alignment for decarbonisation
• technologies and digital readiness for a low-carbon maritime sector

Each group identified:

• gaps
• needs
• challenges
• opportunities

This structured approach enabled documented stakeholder input to be collected and shared within the SMARTDEC project.

Contributing to the next steps of the SMARTDEC project

The information gathered during the French workshop will contribute to the stakeholder mapping and assessment of sector priorities of the SMARTDEC project.
This process will continue through the forthcoming national workshops in the other Atlantic partner countries and will feed into the related project deliverable, led by Cluster Marítimo-Marino de Andalucía, with the support of Bilbao PortLab and the rest of the consortium.