Network of 5 European port cities come together to promote innovation in the blue economy

by Jim Sims, BluAct Lead Expert

Following the success of the first generation of the Urbact BluAct Transfer Network – in which 6 European cities were supported to transfer a Good Practice in Blue Growth Entrepreneurship from the city of Piraeus between 2018 and 2020 – a further four cities have now also been given the opportunity to learn from the Piraeus Good Practice. 

Between June 2021 and December 2022, the cities of Koper (Slovenia), Liepaja (Latvia) Gdansk (Poland) and Boulogne-Sur-Mer (France) will participate in the Second Wave of the BluAct Urbact Network, through which they will seek to transfer the Piraeus Good Practice in running a Blue Growth Entrepreneurship competition to their own cities and share and learn from each other’s experiences in the process. 

The new partners in the BluAct Network will benefit from the rich experience of the city of Piraeus and will work alongside a nominated lead expert who led the original Transfer Network. With much of the hard work already done to break down the Good Practice into understandable blocks, it should be easier second time around to apply the transfer method.

The project is funded by the EU's URBACT III program, which helps cities develop sustainable, pragmatic solutions by integrating economic, social and environmental urban themes.

The BluAct Network follows the success of the Blue Growth Initiative of the Municipality of Piraeus, an award-winning business plan competition that offers support services to local entrepreneurs in the marine and maritime sector, stimulating innovation and job creation.

The BluAct Network aims to inspire the four new partner cities in the Second Wave of the Network to learn from the experience of Piraeus and hold entrepreneurship competitions to support local businesses in the blue economy.

Through the approach of setting up local URBACT Support Groups and engaging local stakeholders to support them to organise such a competition, the ultimate goal of the BluAct Network is to stimulate the growth of the blue economy in European cities.

At a recent meeting organised by the city of Piraeus, all partner cities presented their plans to activate local stakeholders, inviting entrepreneurs from the "blue economy" to participate in the competition and incubate the best initiatives, setting their goals for December 2022, when the project will be completed.

You can learn more about the BluAct Network at the project website: www.bluact.eu or by following their Facebook or Twitter accounts.