EMPORIA4KT applies its knowledge transfer training methodology to the Canaries’ Blue Economy
Press release: June 2023
In January 2022 the EMPORIA4KT project began an extension to the end of June 2023, granted by the INTERREG Atlantic Area funding programme, in order to continue developing novel tools and methodologies for forging links between academia, business, government and society stakeholders within the European Blue Economy. A key aspect of this period has been a focus on applying the project concepts to the Canary Islands, especially La Palma, as a means of reinvigorating the local blue economy in the wake of the 2021 Tajogaite eruption.
In May 2022 EMPORIA4KT ran a collaborative ‘bootcamp’ on La Palma. This workshop’s co-creation activities provided the 43 participants with insights into the perspectives of the broad spectrum of blue economy stakeholders in the archipelago. These findings were further expounded upon in the public Blue Economy Forums held in December 2022 and March 2023, wherein 85 representatives of blue economy stakeholders discussed cross-cutting opportunities for knowledge transfer across key sectors including blue recreation, fisheries, hospitality and environmental management.
Over this period the project once again ran its celebrated Blue Economy Technology Transfer Programme for training researchers on the development of exploitation plans for early-stage technologies, this time concentrated on ESTs with relevance to the Canary Islands. Over a nine-month period three teams of researchers each sought to develop feasible routes to market for their respective technologies, guided by EMPORIA4KT training workshops and groups of mentors from both the academic and industry sectors. This training covered topics such as science communication, negotiation skills, IP considerations, value propositioning, systems thinking, understanding the quadruple helix, blue economic policies, corporate finance basics, de-risking and pitching early-stage technologies.
The final presentations of the research teams will be presented at the upcoming EMPORIA4KT final event, being held on June 21-22. Titled Fostering Innovation through the Blue Economy: from the Canary Islands to the Atlantic Area perspective, this event will also feature the presentation of major outputs, conclusions and discussion points from the project overall. These will include the delivery of a white paper on blue economy innovation in the Canary Islands, roundtable discussions on the challenges and opportunities of blue economy innovation as well as policies and funding mechanisms for fostering this innovation, strategies for long-term implementation of EMPORIA4KT concepts and the overview of EMPORIA4KT tools such as the Blue Economy Risk Assessment Tool, the Blue Economy Dashboard and Academic Enhancer Learning Tool.
The EMPORIA4KT project is due to conclude at the end of June, 2023, however this highly successful practical demonstration in the Canary Islands, together with international recognitions such as the Atlantic Area Project Award it received in 2022, confirm the validity of the project’ concepts for promoting innovation in the blue economy. The consortium is dedicated to exploring means by which the outputs of EMPORIA4KT might continue to support knowledge transfer for blue economy stakeholders long after the project comes to an end.
The executive summary of the white paper on the promotion of blue knowledge transfer and innovation in the Canary Islands, in both Spanish and English, is available on the EMPORIA4KT website. There users may also find information on the various tools, outputs and publications developed over the course of the project.
Participants of the La Palma Bootcamp (Los Cancajos, 2022).