AFRIMED Business Club

New Blue Growth Opportunities for Europe

Putting Business at the Heart of the Marine Restoration Agenda

Join the AFRIMED Business Club today at nadiapap@hcmr.gr  and/or luisa.mangialajo@unice.fr

The ecological restoration of marine environments is providing new opportunities for a wide variety of businesses in Europe, including coastal/ocean engineering, project management, finance, environmental, health, safety, risk assessment, social and law consulting services. A wide variety of skills are required for successful marine restoration.

The project AFRIMED (Algal Forest Restoration in MEDiterranean Sea) (2019-2022) is funded under the European Union’s EMFF programme for scientific research and blue growth. AFRIMED aims to improve existing and develop new restoration techniques to effectively restore degraded macroalgae forests and apply these at commercial landscape scales.

European Projects require a strong focus on stimulating partnerships between innovative science, businesses and policy development. AFRIMED aims to achieve this synergy by forming an interactive ‘Business Club’.

What you will get from the Business Club:

• Preferential access to results from field tests of new methods in marine restoration • A responsive ‘Industry Portal’ to answer your enquiries on marine restoration • A one-stop service for industry, scientists and marine managers specialising in marine restoration tool development and implementation• Opportunities to buy into field projects, to develop new technical solutions and influence the direction of research • Information on new business opportunities in marine restoration crossing borders and business sectors

The AFRIMED Business Club

The Algal Forest Restoration in MEDiterranean Sea (AFRIMED) project brings together the many skills required for successful marine restoration projects including • specialist scientific knowledge on the restoration of coastal and marine, shallow soft and hard bottom habitats, • methods for quantifying the returns from ecosystems services and their socio-economic impacts • cost-benefit analyses for different marine restoration options and measures • targeted legal-policy and governance knowledge to optimize marine restoration approaches in the different legal regimes in European waters • taking actions to put businesses at the heart of the marine restoration agenda.

The AFRIMED Business Club aims to develop a new method for stimulating business opportunities and blue growth in European and global markets.

Companies from a wide variety of business sectors will be contacted through key staff nominated by the companies to learn what businesses find useful in furthering their business interests, influencing how the business club develops and interacts with the Business Club members. AFRIMED sees personal contact as being critical for two-way conversations rather than passive methods of information sharing. In particular, the Business Club seeks to introduce its members to new business opportunities across Europe and across business sectors.

The Business Club will promote interactions between its member organizations and the scientific community to address new projects, bringing together SMEs, coastal engineers, socio-economists, lawyers, and marine scientists and restoration practitioners. 

Direct contact will be maintained with Business Club members through regular, direct e-mail contact with named contact points. In addition, the web pages and social media will provide the latest news on marine restoration around the world (including contributions from members of the BC), details of business opportunities and a method for companies to showcase their active projects in marine restoration, highlighting the problems faced and their solutions.

AFRIMED aims to make a sea change in how industries, academia and policymakers in Europe work together.

Co-Leaders of AFRIMED Business Club are Nadia Papadopoulou (nadiapap@hcmr.gr) and Luisa Mangialajo (luisa.mangialajo@unice.fr).