Bruges jumps on the blue economy bandwagon

The City of Bruges and the port of Zeebrugge have acknowledged the importance of the future-oriented blue economy and will focus more explicitly on specific aspects of this sector in the coming years. For instance, they aim to cooperate closely with the knowledge institutions and other stakeholders.
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17 December 2021
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On 9 November 2021, a round-table discussion on the blue economy took place in Bruges. Besides the Bruges city council, the management of the port of Zeebrugge, several knowledge institutions and various other stakeholders were present at this event. Blue Cluster was also present.

During the discussion, it was decided to focus on some relevant aspects of the blue economy and to set up concrete forms of cooperation. After all, a sharp focus will offer the best chance of actually making progress within the sector. 

The topics that best fit the strengths of the Bruges ecosystem are:

- nature-based solutions for coastal protection;

- blue tourism; and

- smart sea.

These aspects of the blue economy are briefly elaborated below. 

Haven zeebrugge
Port of Zeebrugge

Nature-based solutions for coastal protection

During the meeting, the city council and the port expressed their willingness to make Zeebrugge available as a test zone for nature-based solutions. KU Leuven will take the initiative to investigate the possibilities via follow-up meetings with relevant actors.

Blue tourism

One of the avenues being explored is the possibility to involve coastal stakeholders via social innovation in the change processes necessitated by factors such as climate change and the energy transition. Ghent University has already submitted a project proposal to Blue Cluster in this regard.

Furthermore, cooperation is possible within the European Interreg project FACET, which aims to encourage entrepreneurs in the tourism sector to adopt circular solutions within their businesses. Blue Cluster is a partner in this project and will explore what role the City of Bruges can play in this regard.

Smart sea

Many companies and institutions in the Bruges region are actively working on digitisation, automation and/or drones, including Citymesh, dotOcean, Prophesea, Howest & Vives. For this topic, Blue Cluster is looking at the possibility of setting up a COOCK project to translate the knowledge present in the knowledge institutions into concrete cases for SMEs.

Blue Cluster is currently also working with VIVES as part of the ERDF project Drone Innovations. This project (led by Provincial Development Agency West Flanders) invests not only in infrastructure, but also focuses on supporting drone innovations and communication. On 1 October, a theme day on underwater and floating drones was organised at the naval base in Zeebrugge.

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