Within the workshop “From Offer and Needs to Proof of Concept: Co-creating the Future of Blue Technologies”, organized by the Innovation Fund, the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro presented the RECONNECT project Creative Crafts for Industrial Symbiosis in Blue Economy Sectors.
Project manager Sandra Perić highlighted the key challenges in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, which reflect in fragmented circular economy practices, insufficient cooperation between industry and the craft sector, as well as environmental pressures caused by overexploitation, pollution, and high waste generation, especially plastics. She emphasized that these challenges also represent an opportunity to develop innovative solutions based on circular economy principles.
As she noted, through the RECONNECT project, waste from fisheries and aquaculture in the Mediterranean is transformed into high-value bio-products, thereby promoting circularity and sustainability in the blue economy. Special emphasis is placed on connecting industrial systems with small and medium-sized enterprises, integrating creative crafts into industrial symbiosis processes, and developing concrete tools and methodologies, which will be tested through pilot activities involving 130 companies from five Mediterranean countries.
The project’s results are expected to strengthen sector resilience, foster cooperation, and support the development of long-term solutions in the field of the blue economy.
The RECONNECT project, implemented under the EURO MED programme, is realized by nine partners from the Mediterranean, working together to create a more sustainable, innovative, and interconnected economic environment. The lead partner is t2i – Technology Transfer and Innovation Agency from Italy, while in addition to the Chamber of Economy, other partners are organizations from Italy, Spain, Croatia, Greece, and Albania: the Chamber of Commerce of Venice-Rovigo, Business Innovation Centre of Malaga, Andalusian Marine and Maritime Cluster, KINNO INNOVATION INTERMEDIARIES, AULEDA – Local Economic Development Agency, the University of Rijeka, and the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas.
The workshop, organized within the INNOVABLUE and ROBONETCBC projects, brought together representatives of the public sector, academia, non-governmental organizations, and technology companies to identify key challenges and develop initial innovative concepts for improving the monitoring and protection of marine and freshwater ecosystems.
“The presentation showed clear opportunities for circularity in fisheries and aquaculture. The Chamber of Economy will keep promoting RECONNECT, thus encouraging businesses to foster innovations and sustainability in the blue economy.“
