SMARTDEC workshop in Spain strengthens stakeholder insights on maritime decarbonisation

The SMARTDEC project continues its series of national workshops across Atlantic partner countries. The session in Spain aimed to collect stakeholder input and better understand maritime decarbonisation challenges.

The workshop was organised online by the Spanish partners, Bilbao PortLab and the Cluster Marítimo-Marino de Andalucía (CMMA), which leads Work Package 1 dedicated to the regional mapping of stakeholders and the identification of maritime transport decarbonisation priorities. It followed a common methodology shared across all partner countries to ensure consistency in the results.

Engaging a diverse maritime ecosystem

The workshop brought together a broad range of stakeholders from across the maritime ecosystem, including port authorities, engineering and consulting firms, technology providers, research organisations, clusters, and public institutions.

This diversity enabled rich discussions and the exchange of perspectives across sectors involved in maritime decarbonisation.

Structured discussions around key challenges

The workshop was designed to build on the preliminary findings of the SMARTDEC sectoral analysis and to validate them through stakeholder feedback.

Participants contributed through moderated discussions structured around four key thematic areas:

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

These discussions allowed stakeholders to identify and discuss key needs, barriers, challenges, and opportunities across the maritime value chain.

Key insights from stakeholder exchanges

Several important messages emerged from the discussions.

Access to financing remains a major challenge, particularly for SMEs, which often face difficulties in accessing European funding programmes and lack the internal capacity to respond to complex calls.

Stakeholders also emphasised the importance of strengthening collaboration across the ecosystem, notably through clusters, innovation networks, and pilot projects that support the development and scaling of solutions.

Regulatory complexity and lack of alignment between policy levels were identified as key barriers, creating uncertainty for companies engaged in decarbonisation efforts.

Finally, technological and digital challenges were highlighted, including data fragmentation, lack of standardisation, and the need for real-life testing environments to accelerate the deployment of innovative solutions.

Contributing to SMARTDEC next steps

The Spanish workshop contributes to a better understanding of maritime decarbonisation challenges across the Atlantic area and supports the ongoing stakeholder mapping activities of the SMARTDEC project.

The insights gathered will feed into the development of a project deliverable synthesising stakeholder input and identifying key priorities for maritime transport decarbonisation.

The workshop series will continue with the next session taking place in Portugal on 10 April, followed by additional activities in other partner countries.