The Living Lab methodology to foster anti-pollution innovation on the two shores of the Adriatic Sea will be under the spotlight in a workshop gathering partners and stakeholders of InnovaMare Project in Bari, on 14-16 July

[Bari, July 13, 2021] – Understanding the role of Living Labs (LLs) in promoting technological innovations to deal with the litter pollution threatening the Adriatic Sea. This is one of the main goals of a 3-day onsite blended workshop to be held in Bari, Fiera di Levante, and online in the framework of InnovaMare Interreg Italy-Croatia strategic EU Project. In the aftermath of Pandemics, partners and stakeholders of the project will have the opportunity to exchange views on how to implement innovative solutions, such as robotic vehicles and high-tech sensors to achieve a more sustainable sea. Among them, there is also the SWAMP prototype (Shallow Water Autonomous Multipurpose Platform) a robotic modular vehicle for polar, harbour and coastal applications that can easily be used to support research on Adriatic polution levels, that is in the primary tests phase.

SWAMP is the result of joint collaboration between the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing of Zagreb University and the Italian National Center for Research (CNR) with the Institut for Marine Science (Ismar). It has been already implemeted with last generation sensors to detect litter in the Adriatic Sea and will be widely tested the the next months both in the lagoon area of Venice and in the Croatian coastal areas.

The training sessions, organized by ARTI Puglia and by the leading partner – the Croatian Chamber of Economy – will be opened by ARTI President, Vito Albino and by the Puglia Region – Economic Development Department Director, Gianna Elisa Berlingerio together with Mateo Ivanac, InnovaMare Project Manager.

“We still don’t understand how serious the Adriatic ecosystem situation is, but the biggest changes comes only when decision makers are aware of the problem and this is the most important part for InnovaMare project” said Mateo Ivanac in the wake of the workshop opening.

”Human interactions are crucial to achieve a successful bilateral cooperation – he added – and in Bari we will finally have the opportunity to put together fresh ideas and energy to enhance our Project”. The goal of making the Adriatic a sustainable sea “is not around the corner”, he also said: “there are too many fragmented initiatives taken by too many different stakeholders but blue growth, a key challenge for the economy and the Region well-being, can be only achieved in a joint effort to create a new ecosystem for innovation”.

InnovaMare Project aims to develop and establish cross-border innovation ecosystem model in the area of underwater robotics and sensors to monitor and prevent Adriatic Sea pollution.

The most ambitious target of InnovaMare partners and stakeholders is creating a digital innovation hub that will be central place for networking, exchanging knowledge from all relevant stakeholders and connecting the supply and demand for highly innovative underwater anti-pollution technologies.

What is InnovaMare project

The Adriatic Sea is facing major impacts from overfishing and pollution, which can lead to significant poisoning and death of fish as well as the disappearance of the plant world on which human health also depends. Solid waste, direct discharge of wastewater and oil pollution are key negative factors for the degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems.

InnovaMare strategic project will jointly develop and establish an innovation ecosystem model in the area of underwater robotics and sensors for purposes of monitoring and surveillance sector with a mission-oriented on the sustainability of the Adriatic Sea.

Funded by Interreg Italy – Croatia CBC Programme 2014 – 2020 the project is coordinated by the Croatian Chamber of Economy – Sector for Industrial Development and Innovation System, and implemented with 13 partners, from both Croatia and Italy, representing universities, maritime institutes, business support institutions, SMEs, regional and local public bodies.

For more information:

ARTI – Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation

External Relation and Communication

stampa@arti.puglia.it | Tel. + 39 080 9674217

www.arti.puglia.it

Press office:

Susanna Bonini

sbonini@gmail.com / cell: + 39 348 51 61 183

https:// www.italy-croatia.eu/innovamare

https:// www.italy-croatia.eu/innovamare