The SUBMARINER Network, a consortium of top industry and research partners working in the blue economy sector, announced on Wednesday, May 24,the launch of AlgaeProBANOS project.
Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, the AlgaeProBANOS project aligns with the Blue Mission BANOS lighthouse initiative, which engages and supports stakeholders across the Baltic and North Sea to reach a carbon-neutral and circular blue economy.
The SUBMARINER Network’s initiative falls under the EU’s Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters initiative, which aims to protect and restore the health of our ocean and waters through research and innovation, citizen engagement, and blue investments.
The AlgaeProBANOS project
The AlgaeProBANOS project is scheduled to span four years and has been allocated a substantial budget exceeding €12M, including contributions of around €1M from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The primary focus lies in harnessing the exceptional properties of algae to develop new and valuable products and services for various applications.
During this project, the consortium, comprising 26 partners and affiliated entities, will establish acceleration networks and digital solutions to support algae-based businesses.
Additionally, they will conduct six business pilots across the Baltic and North Sea regions, utilising microalgae and macroalgae for applications in food, feed, nutraceuticals, textiles, cosmetics, and plant biostimulants.
The project will bring eight innovative algae-based products to market, helping to meet the growing demand for ecologically friendly, high-quality circular bio-based goods.
To ensure the social, environmental and economic sustainability and circularity of the algae sector, partners will develop a framework, while working directly with consumers to raise awareness and ensure new products meet end-user demands and trends.
Speaking from the project launch event in Berlin, Angela Schultz-Zehden, Managing Director of the SUBMARINER Network, says, “We are super excited to be embarking on this new Baltic and North Sea lighthouse project which is among the largest EU-funded algae projects. Only a decade ago, the cultivation and use of algae in Europe was very much at the research stage.”
“Today, many large-scale industry players are highly interested in algae as a new bio-resource to improve the environmental footprint of their products. AlgaeProBANOS will make a big contribution to mainstreaming the use of algae in very different industries throughout Europe, making it an everyday commodity for future generations,” adds Schultz-Zehden.
The SUBMARINER Network
The SUBMARINER Network aims to bring actors from the whole Baltic Sea Region together to actively promote innovative and sustainable uses of marine resources.
The platform operates across the whole knowledge triangle integrating perspectives from local to international scale, different science disciplines as well as policy and economic stakeholders.
Through meetings, workshops, conferences, and a comprehensive set of dissemination tools, network members are provided with a continuous platform for communication, exchanges of experience, joint project development, and implementation.