The recommendations, actions and objectives shown in this document have been defined in an intensive, wide-reaching process, in which we analysed the progress achieved within the Blue bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea in the period since the publication of our first SUBMARINER Roadmap in September 2013. This incorporates the latest environmental findings and developments, which inform the next steps the network should take. Overall, we are very proud of our achievements over the past eight years. With only a very few exceptions, we raised the necessary funding to implement the strategic actions we had originally planned. As a result, many of the topics, which were still very much in early research stages at the foundation of the SUBMARINER Network, are now being integrated into the market economy and European policies. Algae-based products can be found almost everywhere on the shelves of supermarkets and drugstores. More and more researchers and entrepreneurs are generating ideas for new blue products, supported by our Blue Growth Accelerator programme. Projects like BalticBlueGrowth and GRASS have provided the proof of concept that mussel and algae cultivation is possible in low salinity waters, simultaneously tackling the major environmental problem of eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. An increasing number of large energy companies are increasingly open to multi-use concepts, aiming for smart combinations and environmentally friendly uses in and around offshore wind parks.
But a lot remains to be done…. (read the full publication here)
