The final cohort of BlueBio funded projects were kicked off on 2 and 8 November with two thematic meetings to facilitate knowledge sharing and synergy between projects.
The fourth and final call of the Blue Bioeconomy ERA-Net cofund was a particular call to amplify project reach and knowledge impact. The alternative funding approach was chosen to increase the impact of the 36 projects already funded in the ERA-Net. The areas of the call where chosen after analysis of mid-term evaluations and meetings and discussions with the projects, enabling them to carry out work that was not foreseen when the project began.
The e-coffee meetings were a practical way to “walk the walk” and facilitate synergies between projects. The four initial e-coffee meetings for the projects funded under the Cofunded call, showed that a lightly facilitated webinar, with participation of more than just the project coordinator, was very beneficial for a number of reasons. The longer presentations enabled the projects to better understand the scope and practicalities of the other projects, leading to more and less formal collaboration between several of the projects. The opportunity for peer-to-peer discussion created an open and friendly atmosphere that increased trust and lowered the threshold for the projects to laterally invite and include the other projects in events.
For the projects funded under the 1st and 2nd Additional Calls, the cohort sizes were smaller than the cofunded call, and all projects attended the same e-coffee meeting.
For the special case of the projects funded under the 3rd Additional Call, there were two thematic e-coffee meetings in November 2023. The thematic meeting on 8 November gathered the projects Dissemination of research and results (DISS) and Training, exchange and capacity building (TECB). The dissemination projects presented their wide range of dissemination activity plans, from more in-depth social media presence, handbooks for seaweed farmers, music festival presentations, large business conference representation to information videos. The projects discussed how the ideas for dissemination had come as the project developed and that the additional funding was essential for these dissemination efforts. The additional training activities included organizing a training course and information videos for a large range of stakeholders.
The 13 selected projects can be found here.