2020 WestMED National Event Spain

Version en Espanol

On September 23, 2020, the event ‘Opportunities for the Blue Economy in the Western Mediterranean’ was held virtually, the first national event that the WestMED Initiative Assistance Mechanism has organized in Spain through its executing arm in the country (Spanish National Hub- Dra. Marta Pascual) and in collaboration with the Spanish Maritime Cluster (CME) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as national coordinators of the WestMED Initiative.

The event served as a meeting point for agents of the Spanish blue economy, in order to inform them about financing and cooperation opportunities in the field of the blue economy from the perspective of the WestMED Initiative, highlighting 3 European projects as examples of sustainability, innovation and good practices and deepening into the discussion on new funding opportunities for projects in the blue economy for the post-2020 period (2021-2027).

The event was structured in 4 sections, which are included in the Final Event Agenda (Agenda):

1) An introductory part with a video presentation ( Link on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsQzviCtD2I) by the Honorary President of the Spanish Maritime Cluster (Mr. Federico Esteve Jaquotot) and a brief introduction by the national coordinators of the WestMED Initiative (Mr. Jaime del Olmo, Mrs. Lara Ventas and Mr. José María Solano).

2) A second part where the Spanish National Hub of the WestMED Initiative (Mrs. Marta Pascual) presented the Initiative, the Assistance Mechanism and the opportunities and services offered to Spanish agents in the area of the blue economy.

3) A third part where 3 projects presented their progress and achievements: MISTRAL Project – Mr. Javier I. Noriega – CMMA; H2PORT Project – Mr. Josep Sanz-Argent – Valencia Port Foundation; MEDUSA Project – Mr. Albert Rodríguez de Gea – CambraBCN.

4) A fourth part where two experts in the blue economy (Mr. Thanos Smanis and Ms. María del Cármen Hernández Martín) answered questions about financing opportunities, cooperation programs and current efforts to define post-2020 opportunities (financing period 2021 -2027).

Participation Analysis:

A total of 172 people registered for the event (168 from Spain + 4 Internationals from Belgium) of which a total of 104 finally connected to the event and around 90 people actively participated during the entire event.

Among the participants we find representation between the autonomous communities of the Western Mediterranean and the maritime sectors present in the different communities.

Note: “Others = geology, clusters, communication, territorial cooperation, consulting, mining, maritime salvage, railway sector, investors and maritime safety”.

In total, the event brought together a total of 112 organizations / institutions / agencies from Spain as well as two international organizations (EASME and the Junta de Andalucía Delegation in Brussels). The final list of organizations represented at the event can be downloaded through the following link.

During the last part of the event, the participants had the opportunity to send questions to the speakers.

The WestMED Initiative and the WestMED Assistance Mechanism would like to thank all the agents for their participation, the speakers for their interventions, and especially EASME and DG MARE for piloting the Initiative.