Matosinhos is one of the municipalities included in the Blue Hub, which is the Infrastructure Network for the Blue Economy. The Blue Hub network, which includes Lisbon, Oeiras, Porto, Matosinhos, Algarve, Peniche and the Azores, with a total investment of €87 million, will receive funding from the PRR – Resolution and Resilience Plan.
On Friday, the 11th, a first step was taken towards the Hub do Mar project, which will be installed at the Pedrouços Dock in Lisbon, with an application for €31 million in funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
The development of the project began with the signing of a consortium agreement between five partners, namely the City Council, the University of Lisbon, Docapesca, the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) and Fórum Oceano, at a ceremony attended by the Minister for the Sea, Ricardo Serrão Santos, which ended with a visit to the Doca de Pedrouços site that will host the Hub do Mar.
The Hub do Mar building will be constructed at Doca de Pedrouços, next to the Champalimaud Foundation and the Gulbenkian Foundation, and is intended to be a space to host ‘many companies’ in the maritime sector, promoting ‘value creation through innovation, technology and science’, bringing together universities and research centres.
The Minister for the Sea said that the PRR’s €31 million investment is 100% non-repayable, to build a new building at Doca de Pedrouços called Shared Ocean Lab, which will have several laboratories for different types of blue economy activities and scientifically equipped spaces, including for prototyping and biorefineries.
‘These will be shared-use infrastructures where multiple research and innovation projects can be developed,’ said Ricardo Serrão Santos, adding that the Sea Hub will also include “a space dedicated to a national biobank of marine resources, with all the laboratory equipment for its maintenance, as well as a “data centre” associated with the Blue Hub”, which is the Infrastructure Network for the Blue Economy.
Emphasising that marine science research in Portugal is ‘cutting edge’, including in terms of per capita production, which ranks first in the European Union according to the 2020 report by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the minister said that this ‘excellent scientific research and innovation’ at university level has not been reflected in terms of transition to the business world and the economy.
In this sense, the Blue Hub network, which includes Lisbon, Oeiras, Porto, Matosinhos, Algarve, Peniche and the Azores, with a total investment of €87 million, out of the €252 million earmarked by the PRR to develop a marine economy, will be ‘a very important starting point’ for linking science and innovation with the business world in this field, including blue biotechnology with pharmaceuticals, sensor engineering, autonomous underwater modules and aquaculture.
‘We have excellent research in the field of biotechnology. Now we need to move on to the productive economy,’ said Ricardo Serrão Santos, emphasising the importance of Portugal deepening its relationship with the sea, ‘recognising its potential to be a determining factor for the country’s economic growth’.
News published based on the original news item from Notícias Primeira Mão: https://noticiasprimeiramao.pt/matosinhos-faz-parte-do-hub-azul-juntando-ciencia-e-tecnologia-para-aproveitar-potencial-dos-recursos-marinhos/