- Fact sheet
Name: Emporia4kt – Empower Academia for Knowledge Transfer for Value Creation in the Atlantic Area
Program: Interreg Atlantic Area
Grant Agreement number: EAPA_842/2018
Website - About the project
The European Union (EU) Blue Economy represents all economic activities related to oceans, seas and coastal regions and covers areas such as fisheries, shipbuilding, tourism and ocean energy. The sector currently provides employment for almost 3.5 million people in Europe, and continues to grow. However, investments in innovation are needed to create new business opportunities and to sustainably manage our ocean and sea resources. Commercialisation of technological innovations is a key driver of long-term economic growth, but Early Stage Technologies (EST) developed through academic research often do not reach market. To drive sustainable growth of the EU Blue Economy, better links are needed between academia, business and government – sectors which often have different motivations.
EMPORIA4KT improved transnational cooperation and synergies between the quadruple helix players of academia, business, government and society, to foster innovation and competitiveness in support of the Blue Economy in the Atlantic Area. The project did so by empowering researchers to transfer their knowledge outputs and innovations to different sectors.
- Our role in the project
La Palma Research Centre joined Emporia4kt in January 2022 to extend the Blue Economy Technology Transfer Programme to the Canary Islands in general and the island of La Palma in particular, after the volcanic eruption. The Canary Islands programme had three phases. First, the identification of the trends, challenges and needs for fostering the Blue Economy in the region through La Palma Bootcamp (celebrated on the 26 May 2022). Phase two consisted of a series of knowledge transfer and innovation capacity building workshops addressed to young researchers of the Canary Islands. Finally, stage three has been devoted to training and mentorship for the development of 3-5 early-stage technology commercialisation plans and pilot projects.
- More information
For more information, please contact Laia d’Armengol at laia.darmengol_at_lapalmacentre.eu.
