The overall RECONNECT project objective is to enhance circularity in Mediterranean area, promoting industrial symbiosis thanks to the contribution of innovative technologies and sustainable business models, and promoting the role of the craft sector (encompassing craft-based SMEs and broader socially innovative craft practices) as a crucial component for their development, focusing on blue economy sector.

The objective is to boost the recovery and reuse of waste from fisheries and aquaculture to recover residues into high-value bio-based ingredients. Additionally, the project aims to expand the notion of symbiosis beyond a strictly industrial dimension to a wider understanding of the social practices and economic processes that make circularity achievable.

RECONNECT is more than a project — it’s a movement to regenerate the Mediterranean through the power of circularity. At its heart lies the belief that sustainable change emerges when innovation meets tradition. By empowering small-scale craft-based enterprises and fostering industrial symbiosis, RECONNECT supports the recovery and reuse of waste from fisheries and aquaculture, transforming it into valuable bio-based resources.

In coastal communities where aquaculture sustains life and identity, local artisans play a key role in closing the loop — weaving recycled materials, restoring tools, and crafting new products that embody care for the sea. Their hands not only preserve heritage, but also forge new pathways for a blue economy rooted in regeneration, resilience, and respect.

RECONNECT links people, practices, and purpose — building a future where the sea thrives, and communities prosper.