Acronym: BLUEAIR
Duration: January 2020 – May 2023
Project Partners: BLUEAIR project partnership covers the whole ADRION countries in order to contribute to its future inclusion in the EUSAIR area. Coastal, as well as inland countries, have been included to explore the potentialities and challenges of the inland water transport and economy as well. Next to the 11 project partners, the Project Consortium is consisted of additional 20 associated strategic partners.
Project Overview:
In the Adriatic-Ionian region, innovation policies for blue growth are fragmented, with more as well as less advanced regions seeking a common knowledge-based approach in their innovation strategies to improve the growth of the blue sector in their territories.
Regions and countries sharing the same seas and rivers need coordinated blue growth policies to plan future innovation initiatives in areas such as maritime transport, water pollution, energy connectivity, marine environment protection, promoting sustainable tourism and others.
The goal of the BLUEAIR project (full name: Blue Growth Smart Adriatic Ionian S3) is to strengthen the institutional capacities of the ADRION (Adriatic-Ionian region) territories in the definition of a common policy of smart specialization (S3) in blue growth and guarantee compliance of local initiatives with EUSAIR strategy through the development of a macro-regional strategy for smart specialization (S3) of blue growth and the establishment of a dedicated innovation community. A coordinated approach will improve administrative capacity, innovation and economic development for the territories involved, as well as for the whole ADRION area.
Improving the competencies of innovation actors in the field of blue growth, identifying sectors of macro-regional interest, exploiting the potential for transnational cooperation, supporting the development of a single macro-regional S3 blue growth for the Adriatic-Ionian region, are goals to be achieved in defining a common strategic vision by enabling tools, capacity building initiatives and effective EDP practices and instruments. With the support of scientific experts and technical documentation, BLUEAIR offers these actors a look into the future scenarios of the blue growth sector that will allow them to take advantage of the transnational opportunities of the sector.
The main goal of the BLUE AIR project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of ADRION countries and regions in defining a common approach to the implementation of S3 policies on blue growth at the macro-regional level.
Main results of the project:
- Establishment of the BLUEAIR innovation community
- Increasing the knowledge of innovation actors of the macro-region in the development of S3 blue growth
- Development of a comprehensive tool set for S3
- Development of the Innovation Strategy of the macro-regional S3 blue growth
- Action Plan for Investing in Innovation and Improving Blue Growth
More information: https://blueair.adrioninterreg.eu/
The BLUEAIR project is financed under the Interreg ADRION Programme, financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the IPA II Fund.