Partnerships

Partnerships

The Flemish government supports innovation & entrepreneurship in the blue economy through the Blue Cluster. The Blue Cluster is one of the six Flemish spearhead clusters and has been active since 2018.

The main focus areas of the Blue Cluster funding programs are: Coastal protection & use of mineral resources, Renewable energy & freshwater production, Maritime connection, Sustainable seafood & marine biotechnology, Blue tourism, Ocean health & waste solutions, Ecosystem approach and Smart sea.

With nearly 200 members and partners, 85% of which are enterprises, the Blue Cluster, together with its partners, can offer vast opportunities to create sustainable and innovative solutions and ground-breaking technology within the blue economy.

Ghent University is a partner of the Australian Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre (BE-CRC).

The BE-CRC is a partnership between between the University of Queensland, the University of Tasmania, approximately 45 private companies and several (inter-)national research institutes. The Blue Economy CRC aims to bring together national and international expertise in aquaculture, marine renewable energy and marine engineering to develop innovative, commercially viable and sustainable offshore developments that will see rapid increases in marine renewable energy output and seafood production. The five research programs are offshore engineering and technology, seafood and marine products, offshore renewable energy systems, environment and ecosystems and sustainable offshore developments.

The aims of the CRC program are to:

  • Enhance competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian companies, especially in areas where Australia is competitively strong;
  • Achieve results in line with the Australian government priorities;
  • Promote the involvement of SMEs in collaborative research; and
  • Support qualitative research to solve industry-specific problems through research collaborations and collaborations between companies and research institutions.

Ghent University and Campus Zeeland have combined their strengths in the Delta Collaboration Platform. As a result of climate change, the Flemish-Dutch Delta will have to adapt to a changing environment. The platform focusses on education and research in three different fields: energy, water and food. The outcome of their work not only applies locally, but can be put to use worldwide in various similar delta regions.

In November 2018 a cooperation agreement was set up between Ghent University and Campus Zeeland. Campus Zeeland brings together the business community, research institutions and government in Zeeland. The main educational partners are University College Roosevelt (UCR), HZ University of Applied Sciences, Scalda, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and Wageningen Marine Research (WMR).

This cooperation agreement officially launched the development of the 'Delta collaboration platform'. As a result of climate change, the Flemish-Dutch Delta region will have to adapt to a changing environment. The Delta platforms will unite researchers, governmental bodies and stakeholders to develop climate-proof solutions which tackle major global challenges in terms of:

  • The production of sustainable, safe and healthy food from the sea;
  • The sustainable production of renewable energy (offshore wind, tidal energy);
  • Optimal water management and water safety.

As such, the platform aims to become the hub that connects knowledge and research in the middle of a unique ‘living lab’. The knowledge and expertise obtained will be further exploited for similar Delta regions worldwide.

Ostend Science Park is a high-tech knowledge hub, entirely dedicated to marine and maritime business. It is the first of its kind in Belgium and is the perfect breeding ground to boost your blue business.

Ostend Science Park is a joint venture of three founding partners: Ghent University, Port of Oostende and POM (West-Flanders Development Agency). Together with leading companies in the Blue Economy, Ostend Science Park aims to build an unique ecosystem for research and development and valorisation in the Blue Economy.

The unique advantage of Ostend Science Park is the close collaboration between industry, academia and government. Ostend Science Park enables companies to stay in touch with state-of-the-art academics and allows scientists to get insight in the evolutions in business and supports governments to strengthen their vision on the blue economy.

BlueBridge is the blue economy incubator at the heart of Ostend Science Park. BlueBridge aims to boost the potential of entrepreneurship by acting as a knowledge broker for various blue economy stakeholders from start-ups and corporates to knowledge institutions and governmental bodies.

Aside from offices, meeting and event facilities, BlueBridge provides access to onsite marine and maritime researchers and facilities of Ghent University.