Sustainable Blue Economy: international discussion in Brussels

The sea holds the key to our future. To make that future a reality, we must make a strong commitment as a society to sustainability and a sustainable blue economy.
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28 April 2022
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On 22 March, Blue Cluster organised an international workshop in Brussels on its core topic: a sustainable blue economy. Various Belgian and foreign companies as well as a host of experts on the blue economy, marine spatial planning and interaction with the environment participated in the meeting.

This meeting was part of the European eMSP NBSR project. The geographical region of this project is defined by the countries bordering the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It was an intensive, long day resulting in some interesting findings.

Investments

It became clear that, while there is a lot of investor interest in the blue economy, upscaling is currently too difficult and the risks are still too high, especially the administrative risks such as long licensing procedures. This is one of the main challenges for the industry.

Future marine spatial plans should be able to outline a framework in which a sustainable blue economy can be developed more easily and quickly. This is crucial, because a sustainable blue economy is the blue pillar of the EU Green Deal.

MariParks

One specific idea that was mentioned in our group (a so-called Community of Practice) was that of MariParks. A MariPark is best described as a nature-inclusive offshore business park.

The group plans to continue working together in the coming years and months to put a sustainable blue economy into practice. Our first international meeting was therefore a success.

Impression of the international meeting in Brussels

Context

This Community of Practice (CoP) is organised as part of the eMSP NSBR project (emerging ecosystem-based maritime spatial planning topics in the North and Baltic Sea Regions) and focuses on the learning strand of ‘sustainable blue economy’.

We invite several experts from the North Sea and Baltic Sea areas to establish a strong community centred around the development of a sustainable blue economy in which marine spatial planning is a potential driving force.

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