Day 1 replay
Day 2 replay
Projects Worked Through:
Here are the projects that were discussed during the workshop:
Building alliances for Bold Advocacy and outreach supported by the Escazu Agreement
Submitted by: Ruth Spencer
"Advocacy to protect 2000 acres of Wetland-breeding grounds for fish and the natural ecosystems along the coast that are the first line of defense for SIDS that are at risk from location now used for special economic zones activities".
The Mushrooming Effect
Submitted by: Renrick Bedeau
"Mushrooms form an eco-friendly cash crop that can be cultivated indoors on agricultural wastes providing employment and enhanced income opportunities. In addition, one kilogram of mushrooms requires approximately 28 liters of water for growth, whereas around 100 thousand liters of water are required per kilo of meat. Therefore, compared to meat production mushrooms are one of the highest producers of protein per unit of la nd area and time."
IYS VRET Biofertiñzer Project
Submitted by: Christopher Chinapoo
"Community based production of bio fertiñizers using fish waste."
Ocean Stories
Submitted by: Jewel Fraser
"Audio productions showcasing groundbreaking stories about the development of region's blue economy, for featuring at festivals and other fora."
Skeet's Bay Market
Submitted by: Michael Hinds
"Creation of a near-ocean marine commercial fish farm and tourism product. This project is envisaged as a cross sectoral sustainability initiative, intended to boost agricultural and manufacturing activities, enhance and complement our tourism product, create innovative and technologically advanced seafood processing and retail operations and deliver a new concept of seaside dining, all while thriving and based on the ocean, yet leveraging and protecting the blue economy at every step."
Aquatic Power Microgrid
Submitted by: Anthony Baro
"Aquatic Power Microgrid to power in situ electrical needs i.e., Recharging e-boats = www.power-docks.com."
BitEgreen Market
Submitted by: Simera Crawford
"BitEgreen Market web platform and app is designed to value sustainable actions and reusable & recyclable material as a currency and resource for all citizens; to inform on related best practices through educating and ethically analyzing data; and to motivate and assist all persons and businesses to efficiently produce, market, launch, sell or purchase their products and services while protecting the environment for future generations."
Utilizing the enormous potential of the macroalgae Sargassum for fuel production to combat climate change.
Submitted by: Ute Marx
"Since 2011 millions and millions of tons of the Macroalgae Sargassum are floating in the Atlantic Ocean, very likely due to eutrophication of the ocean in combination with global warming. On the one hand, Sargassum binds CO2 through photosynthesis. On the other hand, if Sargassum rots (e.g. on beaches after stranding) it releases CO2 again => nothing won. However, if only the biomass that is prone to beaching is used to produce biofuels (to replace fossil fuels), this will be an enormous contribution to combat climate change and also to reduce the burden of Sargassum inundations on impacted residents, the local economy, the environment and marine wildlife. We carried out a very thorough and conservative techno economic and life cycle analysis, which shows that the suggested process is very viable with an IRR of up to 27% depending on scenario (worst case still around 5%; base case: 18%), even without factoring in the millions of dollars spend by governments to clean beaches or any carbon credits. By sustainable harvesting of these algae blooms not only serious environmental problems can be solved but also the basis for a viable algae fuel industry will be provided. We have designed and optimized a detailed techno-economic analysis model to address the cost competitiveness of Sargassum-based fuel production. As a result, we have established a robust business case for large-scale ship-based Sargassum harvesting and processing that can directly compete with crude oil without the need for subsidies or carbon abatement credits (Marx et al. 2021 in Algal Research (peer-reviewed); https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211926421000072)."
About the initiative:
International organizations, donor agencies, business support organizations, non-governmental and governmental organizations along with commercial entities, startups, nonprofits who are looking to collaborate, grow and benefit from the Blue Economy in the CARICOM region.
Enable all projects related to the Blue Economy to:
1) Become investment or grant ready,
2) Get access to innovation tools & training,
3) Get access to key resources (like IP support) and partners,
4) Join a community of inspiring leaders who are serious about establishing the Blue Economy,
5) Creatively collaborate with projects in other industries.
By the end of the initiative we will have a self-sustaining and culturally relevant innovation hub co-designed by practitioners actively working in the CARICOM region to achieve the desired outcomes as stated above.
- Blue Economy community is fragmented.
- Finding the right people and organizations to collaborate with.
- Uncovering the right cultural and societal structure to make the hub accessible and self sustaining.
We will be using design thinking methodologies of empathy, ideation, consolidation, testing and prototyping to develop the societal and cultural structure for the hub while cultivating a culture of innovation and connecting the community to the endless possibilities the region has to offer.