TOWARDS LOCAL COMMUNITY-DRIVEN BUSINESS MODELS: REGENERATIVE OCEAN FARMING
COOL BLUE: Community Ocean Farms and Local Business Clusters
Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement ID 101112747. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
The COOL BLUE project is a Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action under Grant Agreement ID 101112747 (HORIZON-MISS-2022-OCEAN-01-10).
The overall objective is to assess the technical and operational feasibility as well as the economic viability of regenerative ocean farming.
The expected outcomes of the project are business plans, resources for education and skills development, as well as increased knowledge on the impacts of regenerative aquaculture.
Partners
- s.Pro - sustainable projects GmbH (DE) - Coordinator
- Havhøst (DK)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- Aktion Österbotten (FI)
Results
The 10 COOL BLUE innovations
1 - Market analysis and business model canvas for each pilot region
The project conducted a lengthy analysis and identified relevant regenerative ocean farming business models, from food production to tourism and ecosystem restoration.
2 - Summary business model tests comparing commercial performance, environmental and sociocultural requirements
The project partnership has assessed existing businesses in the realm of regenerative ocean farming to compare whether they fit with the COOL BLUE manifesto.
(COMING SOON)
3 - Regenerative Ocean Farming Manifesto
The manifesto lays out the guiding principles of regenerative ocean farming, developed in a participatory approach with other Nordic stakeholders.
4 - Educational activities
The CoolBlueFuture includes a Guide to Regenerative Ocean Farming, including "Meet the farmers" portraits. The partners have also contributed to a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) called "Introduction to Blue Bioeconomy Entrepreneurship" as part of the BlueBioTechPreneurs project.
5 - Regulatory assessment and policy recommendations
The project included a regulatory assessment to identify the main regulatory issues for regenerative ocean farming, from licensing to testing to spatial planning.
The COOL BLUE and COOL BLUE BALTIC partners also collaborated to make joint policy briefs, for both general audiences and for EU policymakers:
6 - Factsheets low-salinity species
The project has also produced factsheets on low-salinity species with potential for commercial cultivation.
7 - Report on ecosystem services monitoring
The project partners contributed to a Lesson on Monitoring your Farm. They also developed innovative monitoring methods for regenerative ocean farming, including Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV), eDNA and Autonomous Reefs Monitoring Structures (ARMS).
8 - Report comparing socioeconomic with ecological impacts
The project has also assessed the interplay between socioeconomic and ecological impacts.
(COMING SOON)
9 - Project Website and Online Repository
CoolBlueFuture.org is the main online hub for the project, with a Zenodo community as a data sharing network.
10 - Strategic Development Plan
The final output of the project is a plan for the strategic out-scaling of regenerative ocean farming with a focus on horizontal integration for smallholder-inclusive value chains.
(COMING SOON)